In the second game of their showdown with the Braves, Roy Halladay made sure to keep things on the up and up for the men in red pinstripes. As has been the case of late, he wasn't at his best, but he still managed to limit Atlanta to only 3 runs on 7 hits over 7 strong innings. Meanwhile , the Phils were able to provide at least decent run support for Roy as they faced another rookie on the mound in the Mike Minor. On this night it would Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez whose bats would come up the biggest. With 2 on and 1 out in the 2nd Werth lined a 3 run homer into the seats for a quick 3-0 lead. Later in the 6th Ibanez looped a 2 run double into right field corner to put the Phils ahead to stay 5-2.
The Phils could easily have had more than just 5 runs but squandered several opportunities while leaving 10+ men on base. Still they ultimately got the runs they needed so you can't complain too much. Anyway, given a 5-2 lead, Halladay was looking to 2 more innings and all but rap up the win, but a rough 7th inning did him in. With score 5-3, Ryan Madson took over in the 8th and survived a leadoff single. That left it up to Brad Lidge to wrap up his 25th save and Halladay's 20th win of the season. After allowing a leadoff single himself, Lidge was able to do just that relatively uneventfully with a few more devastating sliders. With his 20th win tonight Halladay becomes the first Phils pitcher since Steve Carlton himself in 1982, to win 20 games in a season. For the Phils the win means a 5 game cushion in the NL East and a magic number reduced to 6. Not bad for a team that at one point was 7 games out of 1st.
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2 comments:
Although the Phils left a bunch of men on base it doesnt really matter too much when your starting pitching is so good. Things continue to look good.
-to ph1llysports
yeah things are looking real good.
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