Game Recap:
The Phillies only managed four hits, but a double by Raul Ibanez scored the game's only run, and that was enough for Roy Halladay to pick up his 16th win of the season.
What went right?
Chase Utley was 1-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Raul Ibanez had the only RBI of the game with a double in the third inning.
Roy Halladay pitched seven scoreless innings in earning his 16th win of the season. He allowed eight hits and walked three while striking out five.
Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge shut the door in the eighth and ninth innings, with Lidge picking up his seventh straight save.
What went wrong?
Mike Sweeney went 0-3.
Shane Victorino was 0-3.
The Phillies only managed four hits off of the Washington Nationals.
Game Analysis:
After being on the losing end of a few 1-0 games this year, it was about time for the Phillies to be on the right side of things. Last night, the Phils could only manage four hits and four walks off of Jason Marquis, but it was enough to get the job done. Raul Ibanez had an RBI double in the third inning, and Roy Halladay pitched seven strong innings before the bullpen did their job as the Phils got back on the winning track last night.
Halladay had some trouble with the strike zone in the first inning, walking two batters and getting called for a balk, but he got out of it with a nice double play ball to end the inning. After that, the Nationals only had one other man reach third base for the rest of the game. It was another strong start by Halladay, who has won six games in a row after dropping to 10-8 in July. He hasn't given up a run in his last two starts, and looks like he's even stronger now than he was at the start of the season. Considering he's already pitched 200 innings this year, that's quite impressive.
You have to wonder though if the innings Halladay has already pitched are going to come back and bite the Phillies later on this season. Remember, Halladay has never pitched in the playoffs before, and even though he's gone over 230 innings in each of the last two seasons, the playoffs are a different creature. The Phils are going to need him to pitch as deep into games as he can for the rest of the year because of the races that they are in, and with him going more and more, it might start to slow him down. Then again, Halladay hasn't shown any signs of getting weaker yet, so this might just be the thing he needs to keep going through the rest of the season. Either way, as long as he keeps pitching like this, no one is going to mind at all.
You can harp on how the offense has played in each of the last two games, but after winning last night, it's not as big of a deal. Had they lost with only one or two runs, as they did Thursday night, it may be more of a problem, but with Roy Halladay on the mound, all it takes some times is a single run. That's what the Phillies got last night. Jason Marquis shut down the Phillies, but made one too many mistakes in the third inning. After getting the first two outs rather easily, Marquis walked Chase Utley and Jayson Werth to bring up Raul Ibanez. Ibanez lined a shot down the first base line that bounced off of Adam Dunn and went far enough to score Utley. It wasn't pretty, but the Phils came up with a clutch two out hit to give them the only run of the game. Does anyone want to see the Phillies win like that all of the time? Of course not, but if they win, that's all that matters. Right now, the Phillies need all the wins they can get. It doesn't matter if they win by a run or ten runs, as long as they can keep winning, they'll have their shot to make the playoffs again.
Tonight, Kyle Kendrick (8-5, 4.45 ERA) goes for his ninth win of the season. He'll be facing rookie Stephen Strasburg (5-3, 2.97 ERA). You may have heard of him.
No comments:
Post a Comment