Philadelphia Phillies beat New York Mets in a low-scoring game, 2-1 – MLB News
Roy Halladay threw a seven-hitter to help Philadelphia Phillies overcome New York Mets by 2-1, in the second game of the three-game series at Citizen Bank Park, on Saturday, April 30.
This was Phillies’ 18th win in April, which is a record for the franchise’s history. Phillies won the three game series 2-0, as they won the first game of the series by 10-3, earlier on Friday.
Halladay set the tone of the game as his first 18 pitches went as strikes. He became the first pitcher after Sid Fernandez, who had a record of pitching at least 18 starting pitches for strikes. Sid Fernandez did this feat back in 1991, during his time with
Mets.
Halladay, while talking about his game, said, "You know I was just trying to be aggressive. I wasn't overly sharp in the bullpen as far as location, so coming out I was trying to focus more on making good pitches. That was really it. Was just trying to be
aggressive, trying to throw strikes and you know got some early swings for some quick outs early on. That helped."
The starting pitcher gave the only run for the Mets in the fourth innings, when he was hit by Carlos Beltran to the centre field for an RBI single. He went on to throw his 11th complete game, since joining Phillies last year. The National League
Cy Young Award winner threw 107 pitches to complete his nine innings, which included a high percentage of strikes. He was hit seven times in his nine innings and struck out eight batters.
Mets’ starter, Jonathon Niese tried his level best to match his counterpart, Halladay. He succeeded well, as his first six innings went scoreless. However, he couldn’t carry on the momentum in the seventh inning when he was homered by John Mayberry Jr, at
the start of the innings. Placido Polanco then hit an RBI sacrifice fly off his reliever’s pitch, to earn Niese another loss of the season.
Niese went on to praise his opponent Halladay and said, "With a guy like him, you've got to minimize your mistakes."
Taylor Buchholz replaced Niese in the seventh innings and allowed the all important hit to Polanco. Tim Byrdak and Jason Isringhausen combined to pitch a scoreless ninth inning.
Scoring Summary:
4th inning:
Carlos Beltran singled to the centre field to bring Daniel Murphy safe at home.
7th inning:
John Mayberry Jr. hit his first homer of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
Polanco hit lead-off sacrifice fly to the right field, Wilson Valdez completed his run.
Final Score: New York Mets 1-2 Philadelphia Phillies.
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