Philadelphia Phillies defeat San Diego Padres 3-1 to wrap up series sweep - Part 1
The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 to wrap up their series sweep at Petco Park, San Diego on Sunday, April 24.
The Padres could barely manage to score a couple of runs throughout the entire length of their series against the Phillies excellent line-up of pitchers.
The first chance the Padres got to hit against Roy Halladay was not until his 130th pitch. Even after they got their one chance against the talent laden pitcher, the only thing that Will Venable’s RBI single did was strip the Phillies of the chance
to have their third shut-out game of the series against the team. It did not make a difference in the situation for the Padres.
The game marked a career high for Halladay as he struck out 14. The only down point for Halladay through the duration of the match came when he allowed a two hitter in the ninth inning followed by three singles out of which was Venable’s hit that scored
a run for the Padres. With runners on first and the third base, Antonio Bastardo came on and allowed Nick Hundley, the pinch hitter to lob one towards the left side of the field. This was his first pitch and his first save as well.
The staggering 130 balls pitched by Halladay were the most in Major League Baseball this year. "I felt good," Halladay said. "Even at the end I felt good. If you're doing it with the bases loaded every inning, it takes a different toll."
The fact that no one from the Padres could manage to get past first base is proof of the world class pitching that Halladay managed. He was dominant and used his change ball and curve ball to his advantage. In total five singles and one walk was allowed
by Halladay throughout the game. With the exception of Wade LeBlanc, he managed to strike everyone else on the team. Until the ninth inning he retired 14 batters mercilessly, one after the other. This is the 12th time in Halladay’s career that he
was successful in striking-out more than 10 batters in a match.
About Halladay’s nearly flawless performance manager for the Padres, Bud Black said, "He's one of the best in all of baseball, he was on today. We got to him but it was a little bit too late."
Halladay’s fabulous pitching put a stop to the Padres’ offence and allowed the Phillies to sweep the series convincingly. The Padres just could not get their offence going and found themselves struggling throughout the series as they faced the best pitching
line-up in Major League Baseball.
Tags: