No-No Problems for Halladay and Phillies in Game 1
By: Mike Reisman
Just when you thought it could not possibly get any better. Just when you thought a perfect game was incredible enough. When you thought being a Cy Young favorite in his first year with the team was as good as it gets. Just when you thought 21 wins was good enough, and could not get better, you were wrong. Tonight marked Roy Halladay's first playoff start, and many critics, doubters, and even many fans were not convinced he could deliver as he had all season. Of course, with Halladay on the mound, and a 106% full stadium watching, anything can happen. Tonight proved that.
The game was the first of the playoffs for the Phillies, and the Reds, however, the Phillies jumped right in as if they had been playing in the post-season for a month already. After Halladay downed the first three batters, the Phillies were up, and would strike quickly. After a Jimmy Rollins out, Shane Victorino would double and steal third, leaving a chance wide open for Chase Utley. Utley would hit a sac-fly to get Victorino home and the game would be 1-0.
The Phillies would add to their one run lead in the 2nd. After the first two batters would get out, Carlos Ruiz would walk, and Wilson Valdez would reach on an infield single. This would bring up Roy Halladay, and you would think with two outs and the pitcher up, no problem right? Yea, not so much. Roy would single to left, just under the glove of Jonny Gomes, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead. The next batter was Jimmy Rollins who would walk to load up the bases for Shane Victorino. Shane would single, scoring Valdez and Halladay giving the Phillies a 4-0 lead.
Of course, the scoring was not the main story for this game, but it was the incredible pitching of Roy Halladay. Halladay would down the first 14 batters before finally allowing a walk to Jay Bruce. Of course from there, the Reds batters are just history in the making, as not a single one would get on base, giving Roy Halladay the MLB's second post-season no-hitter in his first career playoff start. He would finish with an amazing 8 strikeouts and a single walk, all on just 104 pitches.
Of course, one of the best things about this win was the fact that it was at home. Never-mind that it was a playoff win, forget that it was the second time this season he has allowed no hits, but this time, it was in front of a sellout crowd of 46,411 people. That is 106.3% of the stadium's capacity. All season the Phillies have been promoting the idea that maybe you will witness history. Well these fans certainly did. Once again congrats to Halladay, but it will still take two more wins to move on to the NLCS. So though we celebrate now, tomorrow will be time to get back to business.