Roy Halladay loses as Philadelphia Phillies fall 0-1 against St. Louis Cardinals – MLB Update
Roy Halladay failed to keep up with St. Louis Cardinals’ ace and long-time friend Chris Carpenter in a highly anticipated match-up which saw the Philadelphia Phillies lose 0-1 to the Wild Card entrants in Game 5 of the National League Division Series on
Friday, October 7 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and subsequently crash out of the post-season prior to a dream World Series trip for the second year running.
Halladay’s pitching was satisfactory, but Carpenter pitched a three-hit complete game shut-out to outdo his opponent. Philadelphia’s starter allowed one run in the first inning, but then came back strongly to pitch seven scoreless innings to keep the lead
in check. However, the one-run lead proved to be enough for Carpenter to guide the Cardinals through to the Championship Series.
Carpenter’s effort made him just the sixth pitcher over the last 30 seasons to throw a shut-out effort in a decisive game and the first ever to achieve this feat in Game 5 of NLDS. In the regular season, Carpenter pitched four complete games, two of which
were shut-outs.
Speaking to reporters on the eve of this game, Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa had pointed out Carpenter’s ability to shut-out any quality batting line-up. He articulated that Halladay is undoubtedly the best pitcher on the circuit, but Carpenter’s versatility
cannot be challenged.
Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel was distressed by this defeat and voiced that his team was capable of going beyond this point in the playoffs. He said, "I know that we're capable of going farther in the playoffs. Our goal was to get to the World Series.
It's been that way for two years now."
Manuel added that the team’s record in the regular season was worthy evidence of their ability to go through to the World Series, but unfortunately that is not the criterion for qualification. Philadelphia went on to make an all-time record of wins in the
regular season, prevailing in 102 of the total 162 games played.
Offensively, the line-up seemed to be a shattered flock. Barring Shane Victorino and Chase Utley, no batter managed to connect even once.
This was Philadelphia’s fifth consecutive season of dominance in NL East. However, they have failed to reproduce their effort in the playoffs since the 2008 World Series title.
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