Halladay Quiets Pirates Offense, As Phillies Avoid Sweep

by Zane Heiple

Photo by Getty Images

Roy Halladay, along with a combination of poor pitching and defense helped the Philadelphia Phillies avoid a sweep by the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Halladay showed why he is considered one of the best pitchers in the Majors in the seven innings he pitched today.  The only blemish on his day was a two run home run that Neil Walker hit in the first inning.  After that he would allow only four more hits while striking out a total of six batters and walking one.  Roy would also go 1-3 at the plate with a walk.

James McDonald was not nearly as fortunate as his day would end after walking the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the fifth.  His first three innings were solid as he only gave up two hits to the first eleven batters he faced.  The fourth inning, he walked the first two batters and a passed ball by catcher Dusty Brown, allowed a Raul Ibanez sacrifice fly to put Philly on the board.  With the bases loaded, Chris Resop would enter the game and get one out before Ryan Howard would collect the first of three RBI today with a sacrifice fly to tie the game.  After an intentional walk, Resop would hit Carlos Ruiz to give the Phillies a lead they would not relinquish. 

Evan Meek would replace Resop in the sixth and give up a run on a single to Placido Polanco that scored Halladay.  The Pirates showed some life in the seventh, with runners on first and third, Chase Utley made a diving catch on a line drive by Jose Tabata to end the inning.

Both teams scored in the eighth inning.  Howard brought RBI number two in during the top part, while an Andrew McCutchen single would bring around Josh Harrison for the final Pirates run of the day.  Philadelphia then added two more in the top of the ninth to give themselves a 7-3 win over the Buccos.

It was a rough day for the Pirates as the Phillies capitalized on the mistakes that Pittsburgh made.  The Buccos needed to play a near perfect game when they face a great pitcher like Halladay and they were unable to accomplish that today.  McDonald will need to bounce back quick as he will be set to start again on Saturday.  Overall it was big of the Pirates to take two out of three from the top team in the National League.  They will have tomorrow off before starting a three game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

Record vs. Phillies:  2-1
Record vs. N.L. East:  6-10
Record at Home:  11-15
Overall Record:  28-30

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!!!