Philadelphia Phillies defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 in regular season - MLB Update
Philadelphia Phillies record their first regular season victory as they beat Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 at PNC Park, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania on April 5, 2012, as their starter Roy Halladay threw eight scoreless innings.
It was a low scoring pitchers dominating game. Sole run that somehow came off in the seventh was a result of hopeless fly out that allowed Phillies’ first baseman Ty Wigginton to complete the run.
Halladay lived up to his reputation and helped Phillies make up for their frailties in other areas of the play.
His performance is a real booster in light of negative feelings prevailing in the club after their offence dampened on the exclusion of star players like Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.
Impact of injuries to Utley and Howard is so big that experts all of a sudden lowered the expectation from the Phillies in their NL East 2012 top prospects.
Against all odds, Halladay stood up and struck-out five and gave up just two hits in eight innings he pitched.
"It was a good game for us," Halladay said. "It went the way we wanted and Papelbon came in and got his feet wet and got that out of the way. All in all I think it was a good way to do it."
Phillies’ catcher Carlos Ruiz for a moment can mask their greatest weakness in the season. Since he connected three hits in three at-bats and contributed one RBI, he can provide much needed support to the Phillies during the season.
Starter for the Pirates, Erik Bedard spent seven innings on the mound and gave up six hits in the process. He struck-out four, conceded one run and walked one.
A commendable performance as his contribution did not bring anything to his team as they still managed to lose the game.
"I've done it before so it wasn't a big deal but it was nice to get the chance to do it with a new team and it was nice to pitch well in front of the fans," Bedard said.
In the end, Halladay rightly claimed the win and Bedard the loss.
Win will keep Phillies’ confidence high for upcoming games. Only if they can receive support from their offence, their pitchers are highly capable of pulling off stunning victories during the season.
Tags: