Phils Fall Late as Halladay Suffers Another Loss

Snakebitten, again.

Roy Halladay was not at his finest, however, his outing was certainly good enough for a Phillies victory. With a series win at stake, they could not get the job done as the Reds took the game, 4-3. Jay Bruce went yard in the 8th inning off of Halladay to give Cincinnati a series win.

Doc was hittable, but at the same time he wasn’t. He allowed a season-high 13 hits, yet did not walk a batter and struck out 10. It’s one of the oddest lines you’ll see.  It was also Halladay’s sixth complete game of the season already, although his record dropped to 9-7 overall. He also tossed 119 pitches – and a ridiculous 89 for strikes.  Perhaps today, he threw too many strikes as the Reds pelted the diamond left and right when they did make contact.

As an aside (and personal opinion) on Halladay’s performance, Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee really didn’t need to keep him out there past the 7th. Just because he can throw 120 pitches every game, doesn’t mean he has to. Seven innings would have been plenty, and maybe today Doc didn’t have his best stuff, so pulling him early might have been the right thing.  There seems to be a reluctance to do that through the first two-plus months of the season.

In addition to Bruce’s game-winning blast, Joey Votto homered for the second straight day. He’s clearly one of the best first basemen in baseball, however, playing in Cincinnati allows him little recognition beyond his own town.

Some of the blame can be placed on the offense here (again). Dane Sardinha was the only source of runs today as he mashed his second home run of the season, this of the three-run variety. They were unable to capture last night’s late-inning magic and use  it in todays game. Sardinha’s homer was the only extra-base hit of the day and the middle of the order – Rollins, Howard, and Werth – combined for seven strikeouts.

Next up are the Pirates, which would seem like a winnable series. Nothing at this point can be taken for granted, however.