Photo Credit: Andrew Gillen
Roy Halladay was originally slated to take the mound for last night's ballgame against the San Diego Padres. However, 'flu-like symptoms' led to Cliff Lee jumping up a day and ultimately earning the Phillies their first win of the series. Tonight, Doc felt good enough to give it a go, but then had to wait another hour-plus as rain fell down upon Citizens Bank Park. How would the combination of illness and a desire to resurrect his once illustrious career impact Halladay's performance in tonight's contest? Well, he would first have to go through Tyson Ross.
Things did not begin as Doc probably had envisioned them. Will Venebal started it off with a solo homerun, his 22nd of the season. The shot immediately put the Padres out to a 1-0 lead.
Eventually, an offensive breakthrough would erupt in this game for the Phillies. Most of it happened in the first. It started when each of the first six Phillies batters reached base for the first time since September of last season. Cesar Hernandez and Jimmy Rollins each recorded singles in the home half of the first frame. They'd each move up a base on a passed ball, and were then moved another on a Chase Utley single into right field. Both Rollins and Utley would be brought home next when catcher Carlos Ruiz doubled into center field. A Darin Ruf single and a Cody Asche walk put runners on each base with nobody out. However, with plenty of RBI chances right in front of them, both Kevin Frandsen and Freddy Galvis were set down on strikes for the first two outs. Roy Halladay would help his own cause by not only walking and scoring a fourth run, he helped spell the end of Ross' quick night. Anthony Bass came on in relief, and instantly allowed a double to Hernandez that scored another two runs. It would be the last play of the inning, as Halladay was thrown out at home running from first. All-in-all, a 6-1 lead for the Phillies.
With Bass still pitching, Frandsen and Glavis each singled with one away in the third inning. Cesar Hernandez walked with two away to load the bases for Jimmy Rollins. A base on balls for Rollins would bring in the seventh run of the game for the Phillies.
After pitching well through the first four innings, Roy Halladay got into some familiar trouble in the fifth. With one out, Will Venable worked a walk. Then, Alexi Amarista worked a walk. Next, Jedd Gyorko worked a walk. Three free passes in a row loaded the bases behind Doc with nobody away. Then, Halladay continued the streak by walking Chase Headley to single-handedly bring in the Padres' second run of the night. Rookie Tony Medica then bounced a ball about 25 feet in front of the plate, which Roy Halladay picked up. An awkward throw to first ended up in foul territory and allowed two more runs to score. When he returned to the mound, Ryne Sandberg came out to relieve Halladay, who made his frustrations known. But after 101 pitches, the call had to be made. Mark Kotsay hit a sacrifice fly to bring in the fifth and final run of the inning, this one off of Justin De Fratus. The Phillies were now clinging to a 7-5 advantage.
A walk by Jimmy Rollins loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning after Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez had already singled. Chase Utley would lift a pitch into center field for a sacrifice fly, and Carlos Ruiz continued to hit the ball well with an RBI single to extend the Phillies lead back to four at 9-5.
One more run would score for the Phillies, a Darin Ruf sacrifice fly that brought Jimmy Rollins home in the bottom of the seventh. That would be the end of scoring, and the Phillies walked away with a 10-5 victory, and a series win. The bullpen combination of Ceasar Jimenez, Ethan Martin, B.J. Rosenberg, and Jake Diekman held the Padres scoreless for the final four innings to keep the Phillies in this one. The hot bat of Carlos Ruiz went 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs to aid in the Phillies victory. Tomorrow night, the Phillies will head to Washington, where Kyle Kendrick will take on Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals at 7:05.
