Full Team Effort Produces Series Win

Throughout most of the year, Roy Halladay has not gotten a great deal of run support from his teammates.  Today, he had a rough time against the Mets, allowing 2 runs in the first inning alone to put the Phillies in a quick hole.  Halladay seemed off but he did pitch 7 innings; on 9 hits and a walk, he allowed 5 runs while striking out 10 batters.

But the offense did not let Halladay down this time.  After a Jimmy Rollins 1-out double in the 3rd, the Mets short stop Jose Reyes committed a fielding error that allowed Placido Polanco to reach base.  From there, a rally was born.  Remember yesterday when mascot J-Roll Smurf put the voodoo hex on Reyes?  Coincidence?  Well, who cares…it worked, whatever it was.

The Reyes error sent the Phillies on a huge tear; Ross Gload singled, which scored Rollins.  And then the super-hot Raul Ibanez extended his hitting streak to a career high 16 games with a 3-run homer.  Later, a Brian Schneider single scored Jayson Werth for the 5th run of the inning.  Werth had also homered the inning before.  Here are a few shots of the home runs and subsequent celebrations:

The effort was all around for the Phillies.  Not only did the offense score 6 runs for Halladay, they played solid defense as well.  Halladay kept running into trouble, but some good pitches, a double play and a few diving grabs helped him out.  Gload especially gave a great effort at first base filling in for the injured Ryan Howard.  Here are a few more action shots from the game:

Another huge positive to come out of this 6-5 win was the back-end of the bullpen.  Ryan Madson played “Bridge to Lidge” in his former excellent fashion, shutting the Mets down in the 8th.  And then Brad Lidge, with his usual tense moments, did finally get the save with only a 1-run lead.  Both pitchers have been up and down so it was nice to see the pen work the way it is actually supposed to in a tight game.

There was positive news before the game as well.  Both Chase Utley and Shane Victorino were out running around and playing Frisbee on the field.  This is meant to be a conditioning exercise, and Utley was quite serious about getting the job done.

Victorino, on the other hand, while still getting the job done, looked more like a kid playing in his back yard than a professional ballplayer.  He even raced someone’s kid at one point.  Nothing wrong with a little fun ;o)  Victorino was running very well and it looks like he may be activated soon.  He will start a rehab assignment on Tuesday and may be back by next weekend.

Also before the game, the Alumni Batting Challenge took place with 3 teams; Kevin Stocker with Ricky Bottalico, Jim Eisenreich with Mitch Williams and Darren Daulton with Dickie Noles.  Stocker and Bottalico took home the prize.  You can see many photos from the even in the full game Photo Album.

The Phillies have a day off tomorrow before the Dodgers come to town.  Kyle Kendrick will start Tuesday’s game which is scheduled for 7:05pm.