San Diego, CA (Sports Network) – Roy Halladay tied a career-high with 14 strikeouts and pitched into the ninth inning, as the Phillies eked out a 3-1 win over the San Diego Padres to cap a four-game sweep at Petco Park.
Halladay (3-1) was pulled after Will Venable hit his 130th pitch into center field for a run-scoring single with two outs in the ninth. Antonio Bastardo entered from the bullpen to face pinch-hitter Nick Hundley, who flied out to right field on the first pitch he saw to end the game.
Shane Victorino raced around for an inside-the-park homer, while John Mayberry and Ben Francisco each knocked in a run behind Halladay, who gave up just five hits and a walk in the team’s fifth straight win.
“Nothing surprises me about him,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said about Halladay. “I expect him to pitch good.”
Wade LeBlanc (0-1), recalled from Triple-A Tucson prior to the game, lasted eight innings and yielded three runs on nine hits and four walks for the Padres, who have lost 11 straight home games to the Phillies.
Both pitchers posted goose eggs in the run column until the Phillies opened the sixth with four consecutive hits. Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard each singled, and the former scored on Francisco’s base hit off the glove of a diving Ryan Ludwick in left.
Mayberry followed with a double to left for a 2-0 game, and though that was all the Phillies mustered that inning, they tacked on another run behind the speedy Victorino in the seventh.
The leadoff hitter poked a ball into right-center that Venable nearly caught with an out-stretched dive. But the ball hopped out of Venable’s glove as he hit the ground and caromed towards an unoccupied center field, and Victorino sped around the bases and slid in head first ahead of the relay throw.
“It was exciting. It’s something I’ll always remember,” said Victorino of his first career inside-the-parker.
Halladay struck out six straight at one point and was one inning away from his 20th career shutout. Cameron Maybin led off the ninth with a base hit to right and was erased on a fielder’s choice. Chase Headley brought the tying run to the plate with another single before Ludwick flied out to center.
Venable ended Halladay’s shutout bid with his hit, but Bastardo finished off the right-hander’s win with his first career save.
“[Halladay] was on today,” Padres manager Bud Black said. “We got to him, but it was a little too late.”
The Phillies outscored the Padres, 12-3, in the series, their first four-game sweep in San Diego since May 1979…LeBlanc’s outing was the longest of his career…The Padres optioned pitcher Pat Neshek to Tucson to make room for LeBlanc…Game time: 2:10.