Saturday, June 5, 2010

Phillies Recap: Phillies-3, Padres-2

Game Recap:
Roy Halladay allowed ten hits, but only two runs in seven innings as the Phillies won their first game since Halladay's perfect game last Saturday night.

What went right?

Shane Victorino was 2-4 with two runs scored, a home run and two runs scored.

Jayson Werth went 0-2, but had a bases loaded walk for the game winning run.

Roy Halladay was 1-3 at the plate with a run scored, and he picked up his eighth win of the season, allowing two runs on ten hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

Brad Lidge worked a perfect ninth inning for his second save of the year, striking out two in the ninth.

What went wrong?

Juan Castro was 0-4.

Chase Utley went 0-2 with a walk.

The Phillies still only managed six hits and left nine men on base.

Game Analysis:

As has been the case lately, it wasn't a pretty win for the Phillies, but they way that they've been playing of late, they'll take it. Roy Halladay won his second straight start, and despite only having six hits in the game, the Phils took the first of their series against the San Diego Padres by a 3-2 score.

It's been a running story now for the last two weeks, but the Philadelphia offense still couldn't get much done. To be fair, this time the Phillies were facing the best pitching team in the National League, so it's not like that much was to be expected of them. At the same time, a 3-2 win is still a 3-2 win, no matter how you look at it. Despite the poor showing on offense tonight, the Phillies still picked up the win, and after their four game losing streak, a win is all that matters right now.

Shane Victorino was on top of his game from the leadoff spot tonight, picking up two hits with a two run home run that would give the Phillies the lead early in the game. After going without a hit against the Braves in three games, it's nice to see Shane picking up where he left off again while facing the Padres. San Diego has the best pitching staff in the National League, so to hit them for any runs, especially a two run shot, was very important tonight. To make it even better, it was Roy Halladay that was on base when Victorino hit his home run, meaning that Halladay has continued to swing that bat fairly well with the Phillies.

Aside from Victorino, Jayson Werth had the other RBI tonight with a bases loaded walk. Once again, it wasn't the best at bat in the world, and the Phillies didn't get any other runs out of the inning, but they at least got one, and that's all that mattered tonight. When you win by just a single run, all you need is a little bit of luck some times. That's what the Phillies got at the plate last night, and they took advantage. It's not every night that you can win a game when you have six hits compared to ten, but it went well for the Phillies tonight. They got the hits when they needed them, and Roy Halladay was able to pitch out of trouble when he had to.

There would be no perfect game for Halladay tonight. After retiring the first two batters, Halladay allowed a base hit, and then he would give up nine more with a walk thrown in as well. Compared to last Saturday, he wasn't at his best, but to be fair, no one would be at their best following a perfect game. Halladay allowed two runs in seven innings and still looked sharp out on the mound. He struck out seven and even when he got into trouble, he kept San Diego guessing with good pitches. It's the kind of showing that you wish every Phillies pitcher would throw, and then you realize that they have, but the offense isn't doing enough.

Tonight, that wasn't the story. Roy Halladay only got three runs of support, but that was all he needed. It wasn't pretty, but the Phils got their first win in almost a week, and it came against the best team record wise in the National League. If that's how this series is going to go, then the Phillies might find themselves back at the top very soon.

Tomorrow, Jamie Moyer (5-5, 4.26 ERA) goes for his 100th win since turning 40 years old. He'll be facing Jon Garland (6-2, 2.15 ERA).

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