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.