Halladay Complete Again; Helps Phillies Gain Ground
Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay threw another complete game in a win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night. The complete game was already his seventh this season and second in a row, leading the entire major league. Last season, he threw nine.
Halladay looked shaky in the opening inning when he allowed a home run to Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, with a first pitch fastball that Jones went for and hit cleanly for towards left center. After that inning however, the Braves would not get anything going against “The Doc.”
He settled down and of the next fifteen batters he faced, he retired fourteen of them. The run support he got was all he needed – the third run was actually an insurance that he didn’t need, especially on this day.
Halladay (10-7) allowed only five hits while striking out seven in a brilliant performance. What made it more astounding was the fact that he threw only 93 pitches for the entire game. His manager Charlie Manuel was all praises for him.
“He’s a horse,” he said. “Roy is good. He is going to win a lot of games for us.”
Manuel also noted the importance of this game and of the entire three-game series against their division leading rivals Atlanta. With this win, they moved within four games of the National League East lead and two back of the second place New York Mets. It would do well for the Phillies to rack up a few wins and gain even more ground before the All-Star break next week – especially if they manage to win the next two games and sweep the series, and Halladay himself knows this (and did his part).
“It’s an important series for us,” said the Phillies ace.
Needless to say, Halladay is a key figure if the Phillies want to make the playoffs and the World Series. And, if he continues to show the form that he displayed against the Braves, they have a great chance.
From a fan perspective, this particular game was a pitcher’s duel from the get-go and all throughout. Derek Lowe of the Braves was no slouch himself as he tried to keep his team in the game, allowing only 2 runs on 6 hits with 7 strikeouts himself. However, on the other end, that one run advantage was all Halladay needed, as he made pitching and getting outs look so easy.
Even Lowe himself had to give props to his pitching counterpart. He said, “You can’t hang your head when a guy pitches like that. He’s one of the best in the game.”
Some additional numbers show how brilliant Halladay’s performance was. Normally, pitchers tire as the pitch count goes up and the game goes into the late innings – however, in Halladay’s case, he needed only six pitches to get through the ninth for his below-100 complete game – showing superior control and physical fitness. The 93 total pitches for Halladay was the third fewest in his career (for complete games).
As for the seven complete games, only three teams in Major League Baseball have the same number or more complete games than Halladay. That’s three teams versus one pitcher – truly remarkable.
Halladay has helped his team gain ground on the division leader. However, he can’t do it alone. Baseball is a team sport – the team defense has to be spot-on and additional run support would be more beneficial.
The luxury for the Phillies is that they have a gem of a pitcher in Halladay – who needs little run support for the win.
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