Chicago, IL (Sports Network) – Roy Halladay has been beating up teams lately, but he couldn’t beat the heat on Monday night.
With temperatures in the high 80s along with high humidity, the righty struggled to his shortest start in two years and the Chicago Cubs took advantage of that to grab a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a three-game series.
Halladay (11-4) came into the game 6-0 over his previous 10 starts and the Phillies had won all of those starts, but he was touched for three runs on seven hits and left in the fifth inning while facing Aramis Ramirez.
Sweating profusely and having already changed his jersey once, he worked the count to 1-1 before being pulled after a gathering at the mound of players, coaches and the trainer.
That broke a road streak of 63 games during which Halladay had gone at least six innings and it was his shortest start since June 12, 2009 when he was pitching for Toronto in a game against Florida.