Game Recap:
With Roy Halladay on the mound, the Phillies could only manage four hits and a run off of Carl Pavano, who pitched a complete game victory for Minnesota.
What went right?
We might as well start at the bottom.
Wilson Valdez went 1-4 with his second home run in as many games.
What went wrong?
Shane Victorino was 0-3.
Jayson Werth went 0-4.
Raul Ibanez went 0-3.
Brian Schneider went 0-3.
Roy Halladay didn't pitch badly, but did give up a career high 11 hits in picking up his sixth loss of the season. He allowed four runs on those 11 hits while striking out eight and walking none.
Game Analysis:
A day after the worst loss that the Phillies had experienced all season long, the team managed to turn a Roy Halladay start into another poor offensive showing, as they let Carl freaking Pavano pitch a complete game against them in a 4-1 loss.
It's hard to say what's gotten into Roy Halladay right now, but part of it can't just be blamed on a poor offensive showing. Ever since he started the year 6-1, Halladay has gone 2-5. Sure, there's a perfect game thrown in there, but that's not the point right now. The Phillies traded for Halladay for him to win games that Cliff Lee and the other pitchers on this team couldn't win, and he's not doing that right now. In the month of June, Halladay has given up 35 hits in four starts, which is far too many for any starting pitcher, let alone one that's supposed to be the ace of a pitching staff. Halladay has always given up hits, because that's what kind of pitcher he is, but the fact of the matter is that he should be pitching better than he is right now. The offense, and the number of hits that he gives up, shouldn't matter as much as his success on the mound. Most people didn't think that he would lose six games all season, but now he's done it before the All Star break. This isn't a good thing for the Phillies or Roy Halladay.
After four straight good games, it was expected that the offense would calm down a little bit, but against Carl Pavano? That seemed unlikely. Either way, Pavano shut down the Phils on offense today, holding them without a hit for three innings and keeping them from mounting any sort of offensive attack all day long. Pavano pitched a complete game and had the Phils guessing for most of the day. When the big bats did manage to find the ball, it seemed like it was locked onto a Minnesota glove, but that's just the way things go some days. On other days, all of those fly balls and line drives would have found open space, but not today. The Twins had a good plan against the Phillies, and they worked it to perfection for their second straight win.
Considering everything that the Phillies had going for them before the ninth inning yesterday, to have back to back losses like this hurts. It's not even funny to say that. Blowing a five run lead in the ninth inning is one thing, and having your best pitcher lose to Carl Pavano, who was once considered good when he was traded for Pedro Martinez back in 1998, is something else. It's nothing to worry about yet, but Roy Halladay needs to get himself back to where he was a month ago, when he was dominating National League lineups with the best pitchers in the league. Now, he's lost his last three games, and doesn't look anything like the pitcher he was at the start of the year. Hopefully, he can pick things back up, because this 5.5 game hole that the Phils are in right now isn't going to take care of itself.
The Phillies have an off day tomorrow, which is followed by a three game series against the Cleveland Indians. Jamie Moyer (7-6, 4.76 ERA) goes for the Phillies, and he'll face off against Mitch Talbot (7-5, 4.21 ERA).
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