Roy Halladay Takes Complete Game Loss As Braves Edge Phillies 3-2

Today was simply an unlucky one for Phillies starter Roy Halladay, who pitched well enough to win despite his bad luck, but got little run support from a weakened Phillies lineup.

The best example of Halladay’s bad luck had to be the fourth inning when Dan Uggla and Eric Hinske led off the inning each with soft broken bat singles that put runners on the corners with no outs. Freddie Freeman stepped to the plate and hit a weak ball off Halladay’s glove that dribbled to shortstop for yet another weak hit and an RBI. It was just that kind of day for Roy, who threw his second straight complete game loss today. It’s his 6th complete game loss since the start of 2009, which is twice as many as any other pitcher in the majors.

Shane Victorino sat with hamstring soreness and was replaced in center by Michael Martinez, who went 1-4. Jimmy Rollins was 0-5 from the leadoff spot and saw only 16 pitches. Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez were both 0-4.

The Phillies offense today came almost entirely from the bat of John Mayberry Jr., who is certainly doing his best to earn some more starts in RF. Mayberry was 1-2 with a couple walks and a two run homer in the top of the sixth.

The Phillies remain atop the NL East with the best record in baseball, while the Braves still sit in third. The Florida Marlins lost today as well, which means the Phillies lose no ground.

Roy Halladay, who celebrated his 34th birthday yesterday, will look to continue his recent dominance over the Braves this afternoon as the teams meet in the annual MLB Civil Rights game. Halladay is 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA in five career starts against Atlanta. He will oppose Tim Hudson, who has a mixed record against the Phillies, going 7-7 with a 3.70 ERA lifetime.

A guy to watch today will be Ryan Howard, who has hit Hudson well in his career. With a .318 average to go along with 6 home runs and 13 RBI.

The teams will be wearing throwback uniforms from 1974, which is the year Hank Aaron his his 715th home run to break Babe Ruth’s all time record. Aaron spoke about the role of baseball in the civil rights movement at a roundtable discussion earlier this weekend.

The Phillies will be without the services of CF Shane Victorino this afternoon after he left in the 8th inning of yesterday’s game with hamstring soreness. Victorino says he doesn’t expect to go on the DL or miss any significant time. Michael Martinez will take his spot in centerfield and will bat second. John Mayberry Jr will get a start in right field today.

The season series between the teams is even at 4-4 so far.

Martin Prado led off the game with a home run and the Braves never looked back, beating the Phillies 5-3 to even their three game series at two a piece.

Shane Victorino had his 15 game hit streak snapped and had to leave the game in the 8th with hamstring soreness. He will miss tomorrow’s rubber game of the series, but Charlie Manuel does not expect he’ll hit the DL.

Braves’ pitcher Jair Jurrjens got the the win for the second time in a week over the Phils. Jurrjens pitched well over the first five innings, actually carrying a perfect game into the sixth. He would allow three runs over the following inning and a third, but the Phillies could only close the gap to 5-3.

Prado, who has been on a tear as of late after a slow start, combined with Nate McClouth for back to back leadoff home runs for what looked like it was going to be a long day for Phils starter Joe Blanton. He would settle down however and keep the Braves off the scoreboard for the rest of his start. However, the Phillies normally solid bullpen this season made a mess of things in the 6th giving up three runs, thanks in part to a controversial call at second base, when umpire Gary Darling called Dan Uggla safe on a force play that appeared to get him.

Then Kyle Kendrick came on and things got ugly. He failed to field a bunt, walked the pitcher and then gave a up a two run single to Prado.

The teams wore uniforms of Negro league teams in celebration of MLB’s civil rights weekend. The Phillies wore the unis of the Philadelphia Stars, while the Braves wore the colors of (and I’m not making this up) the Atlanta Black Crackers.

The Phillies and Braves will both be wearing uniforms of Negro League teams this afternoon as part of Major League Baseball's civil rights weekend celebration in Atlanta. The Phillies will be wearing the uniform of the old Philadelphia Stars. We've got pics and some history on the stars right here.

Joe Blanton will make his second start since coming off the DL and will be opposed by Jair Jurrjens, who allowed one run over 6+ innings last weekend in a win over the Phillies. He has a career 2.45 ERA against the Phils and is unbeaten on the year.

Blanton will be looking last longer than he did in his first post DL start, when he went five innings.

"Five innings is never what you want to go," he said. "But you don't need to come back and throw a complete game after not throwing for two weeks."

The Braves will likely be without OF Jason Heyward again today as he works back from a shoulder injury. He's not expected to play this weekend, but was used as a pinch runner last night.

The Phillies hit the Braves early, but needed a comeback in the end en route to a 5-4 win to take the first of a three game series in Atlanta.

Ryan Howard got things started off quick with a mammoth 470 foot, three run homer in the top of the first of Braves’ starter Brandon Beachy. After laboring through two innings, Beachy left the game with what was being called an oblique strain.

The Braves immediately got a run back off Phillies starter Cole Hamels when Chipper Jones knocked in Martin Prado in the bottom half of the first. They would erase the Phils’ lead in the fifth when Hamels surrendered a two run double to relief pitcher Cristhian Martínez. It was arguably the ugliest swing I have ever seen... but it worked. In the bottom of the sixth, Atlanta would seize the lead on a wild pitch. Hamels left the game after six innings, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits and striking out 7.

The Philies mounted their comeback in the 7th when Shane Victorino singled home Jimmy Rollins to tie the game at four. Ryan Howard would lead off the following inning with a double and was brought home when Raul Ibanez narrowly slapped a ground ball between first and second. By all rights, Howard shouldn’t have scored on the play. Right fielder Joe Mather played the ball well and had a decent throw to the plate in time to get Howard, but Brian McCann dropped the ball on the tag and Howard was ruled safe.

After Hamels had left, the bullpen held the lead with the most notable appearance coming from Antonio Bastardo, who came on with the bases loaded and struck out the Braves’ disappointing rookie 1B Freddie Freeman. For his high leverage 1/3 of an inning, Bastardo got the win. Vance Worley pitched a scoreless 8th and Ryan Madson came on in the ninth for his 6th save in 6 chances. Madson lowered his season ERA to 0.56.

The Phillies maintain their lead on top of the NL East and still hold the best record in baseball. Atlanta remains in third, but is tied with the Nationals in the loss column.

The Phillies jumped on Braves starter Brandon Beachy early as Ryan Howard put the away team up 3-0 with a 3-run homer in the top of the first.

With Placido Polanco and Shane Victorino already on base, Howard absolutely crushed a pitch to dead center that you could tell was gone just by the sound it made. By my rough estimate, I’d say the ball traveled at least 420 feet.

Beachy doesn’t seem long for this game as he’s already thrown 40 pitches in just the first inning. He gave up five hits, but was able to limit the damage by striking out Cole Hamels with the bases loaded to end the threat.