Fish Can't Seem to Solve Halladay
By: Mike Reisman
Roy Halladay has so many reasons to love Florida. Nice weather, beaches, and he can't seem to lose against the Marlins. Tonight was Halladay's 4th start against the Marlins, and his 4th great outing against them. He is 3-1 against Florida (not to forget his perfect game there) and in his only loss he went eight strong allowing only one run.
Today, Roy and the Phillies came into the game well rested from their day off, and looking to gain some ground in the NL East. The Phillies started off the run support for Halladay early, hitting back-to-back solo home runs to start the 2nd inning. The Marlins responded quickly with their only run of the game off a Dan Uggla home run the next half inning. That was the only solid hit they would get. From then until he left, Halladay only gave up four hits and one walk while striking out eight batters. He also helped his own cause with two-run single to put the Phillies up 4-1. Surprisingly, Halladay tied for the most RBI's of any Phillies hitter tonight.
The team would later add to that lead with Carlos Ruiz, and Wilson Valdez singles. From there, Chad Durbin took over pitching two scoreless innings to end the game.
The game would end 6-1, and the win, coupled with a Braves loss, cut the deficit in the NL East to only two games. That's pretty impressive for a team who really struggled for two whole months. Not to mention all the injuries to key players. Tomorrow the Phillies send the inconsistent Kyle Kendrick to the mound, to face Anibal Sanchez for game two of the series. Hopefully the Phillies bat's stay hot enough for Kendrick.