Roy Halladay struck out 14 in a complete game effort, but didn't get much support at the plate as Arizona scored twice in the top of the ninth to beat the Phils in the first game of a three game series.
What went right?
Shane Victorino was 1-4 with a two run home run, providing the Phillies with their only runs of the game.
Chase Utley went 3-4.
Roy Halladay was tagged with his 5th loss of the season, but it wasn't his fault. He allowed three runs on eight hits while pitching a complete game. He struck out 14 and walked just one while going 2-3 at the plate with his first career double.
What went wrong?
Jimmy Rollins scored on Shane Victorino's home run, but was 1-5 with two strikeouts, including a strike out to end the game.
Ryan Howard went 0-3 with two strikeouts.
Hunter Pence was 1-4 and struck out three times.
Michael Martinez was 0-3 with a strikeout.
Raul Ibanez was 0-4.
The Phillies left eight men on base, and only scored two runs on nine hits.
Game Analysis:
At first glance, you want to blame this loss on Charlie Manuel. After all, he let Roy Halladay go back out onto the mound after throwing almost 110 pitches through eight innings. By any stretch now in baseball, that's more than good enough for the win. After all, Halladay had already struck out 12 batters and hadn't given up a hit since the fifth inning. The Phillies were in great shape, right?
Well, not so much last night. The Diamondbacks have made a season out of late inning comebacks, and last night they did it against one of the best pitchers in baseball. Halladay managed to strike out another two Arizona batters in the ninth, but not before Lyle Overbay drove in the game winning run with a double into right. You can see why people would be upset with Charlie today. Halladay was gassed after throwing eight excellent innings, and after giving up back to back hits to start the ninth, Ryan Madson should have been warming up as quickly as possible in the bullpen. However, I'm not blaming Charlie or Halladay for this loss. Honestly, this loss falls on the offense, and their lack of run support.
When a team manages to get eight hits off of a pitcher in under seven innings, you would expect that pitcher to be out of the game fairly quickly, right? That wasn't the case last night, as the Phillies got eight hits and one walk off of Josh Collmenter in 6.2 innings, and only were able to score two runs. Both runs came on a home run by Shane Victorino, as he continued his excellent season. The problem wasn't Victorino or the top of the lineup, as Chase Utley went 3-4 in the game, but it was the middle of the lineup that had it's issues last night. Ryan Howard, Hunter Pence and Raul Ibanez went a combined 1-11 with five strikeouts.
The first lost chance game in the bottom of the third, when Pence struck out swinging with the bases loaded and two outs. In the bottom of the fifth, following Victorino's home run, Chase Utley singled, but Howard and Pence both struck out. Inning over. The bottom of the seventh started well, with Roy Halladay doubling and Jimmy Rollins advancing him over to third. However, Shane Victorino and Chase Utley couldn't drive home Halladay, and that lost chance ended up being the worst one of all. Just scoring Halladay there would have given the Phils an insurance run, and Overbay's double would have tied the game, rather than given Arizona the lead.
Despite the poor showing by the offense last night, everyone just needs to remember that this was one game in a long season. Even with the Braves winning last night, the Phils still hold a 7.5 game lead over Atlanta, and there's still a lot of time left to play this season. Tonight, Cliff Lee (12-7, 2.83 ERA) will try and get the bounce back win for the Phillies, as he faces off with Joe Saunders (8-9, 3.76 ERA).
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