Coming off several recent starts in which he pitched well and the Phillies lost anyway, Halladay flipped the script a bit last night by not pitching well in a loss. The Yankees were all over him in New York, hitting three home runs as they scored six times in six innings. The Phils are 2-5 in the last seven games that Halladay has started.
The offense was still terrible, mind you. The Phillies have scored 51 runs over their last 21 games, or about 2.43 runs per game. That makes it just about impossible to win and the Phils aren’t winning.
The starting pitching has also been atrocious of late. Over the last four games, the starting pitching has thrown just 18 innings and been charged with 22 earned runs. That includes a fantastic start from Hamels in Boston in which he allowed a run over seven innings. In the other three starts, Moyer, Blanton and Halladay combined to allowed 21 earned runs in 11 innings.
The Phillies are 32-30 on the season after an 8-3 loss to the Yankees last night. The Phils have lost four of their last five and are 4-8 in June. They remain in third place in the NL East, 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Braves.
Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks. Five of the hits went for extra-bases, a double, a triple and three home runs. He struck out five.
He threw a 1-2-3 first.
Nick Swisher singled to center with one out in the second. Jorge Posada was next and drew a walk, putting men on first and second for Brett Gardner. Gardner cleared the bases by lining a triple to center, putting New York up 2-0. Halladay struck out Francisco Cervelli for the second out before hitting Ramiro Pena with a pitch to put men on first and third. Derek Jeter grounded to third to end the inning and leave both men stranded.
Big strikeout of Cervelli with one out and Gardner on third for the second out.
Curtis Granderson started the third with a home run to right that put New York up 3-0. Halladay got Mark Teixeira to fly to right for the first out before Robinson Cano doubled to center. Swisher was next and he hit a 2-0 pitch out to right. 5-0. Halladay got the next two.
The Phillies had cut the lead to 5-3 when Halladay set the Yankees down in order in the fourth.
Teixeira homered down the right field line with one out in the fifth to put New York up 6-3. Cano was next and hit a ball hard to third, but Polanco made a nice diving play to field the ball and threw to Howard for the second out. Halladay struck out Swisher to end the inning.
Posada and Gardner singled back-to-back to start the sixth. It put men on first and second for Cervelli, who bunted them to second and third with the first out. Pena was next and he lined to Howard for the second out. Jeter walked on a close 3-2 pitch that was outside to load the bases for Granderson, but Halladay got Granderson to fly to Ibanez to leave the bases loaded.
Halladay got a break on the ball Pena hit that would have broken the game open. Pena hit it hard, but right at Howard to give the Phillies an out instead of giving the Yankees two more runs.
Bastardo started the seventh and hit Teixeira with a 2-2 pitch. Cano was next and hit a double-play ball, but the Phillies didn’t get a double-play because Utley didn’t handle it cleanly. Utley did recover in time to get Cano at first, with Teixeira safe at second and one out. Swisher flew to center for the second out. Bastardo hit Posada on the foot with a pitch to put men on first and second. Bastardo got behind the lefty Gardner 3-0 and walked him on a 3-1 pitch to load the bases. David Herndon came in to pitch to the righty Cervelli. Cervelli hit a ball in between short and third that went under the glove of Castro and into left for a two-run single. 8-3. Pena again hit the ball well, but Ibanez made a diving catch moving towards center to end the inning.
Castro should have made the play on Cervelli’s ball. It’s not a sure thing he would have been able to get Cervelli at first, but even if he didn’t it would have saved the Phils a run by keeping it in the infield. Bastardo was miserable in the inning, hitting two switch hitters and walking the lefty. Opponents are now hitting .358 against Herndon for the year.
Baez pitched the eighth. Jeter led off with a walk and moved to second when Granderson followed with a single. Baez struck Teixeira out for the first out before Cano hit a ground ball to first. Howard threw to second for the second out with Jeter going to third. With two outs and men on first and third, Baez got Swisher to ground to second on a nice play by Utley to end the inning.
For Baez it was the only time in his last five appearances that he hasn’t been charged with a run.
Baez threw 20 pitches in the game, Bastardo 18 and Herndon three.
The Phillies lineup against lefty CC Sabathia went (1) Victorino (2) Utley (3) Polanco (4) Howard (5) Werth (6) Ibanez (7) Francisco (8) Castro (9) Ruiz. Flipping Utley and Polanco is Manuel’s latest effort to get the offense going. Francisco is the DH with Castro playing short and hitting ahead of Ruiz.
The Phillies went in order in the first.
Ibanez walked with two outs in the second. Francisco flew to center to leave him stranded.
The Phils were down 2-0 when they hit in the third. Sabathia struck out Castro and Victorino as he set the Phils down in order.
It was 5-0 when they hit in the fourth. Utley led off and hit a ball back up the middle that went off of Sabathia’s pitching hand for an infield single. Polanco followed with a single that moved Utley to third and Howard was hit on the arm by a pitch to load the bases. Werth singled to left and everyone moved up a base. 5-1. Ibanez singled to right. 5-2 with the bases still loaded. Francisco hit a ground ball to Teixeira between first and second. Teixeira fielded and threw to second for the first out, but Sabathia didn’t cover first so there was nobody there to take the relay (that never came). Howard scored on the play, so it was 5-3 with one out and men on first and third for Castro. Francisco stole second before Castro struck out for the second out. Ruiz grounded to short to leave both runners stranded.
Lots of hits for the Phillies, but not the extra-base hit they need. Castro strikes out with a man on third and less than two outs.
Utley singled with one out in the fifth. Polanco was next and hit a ground ball to short. Utley was forced at second for the second out with Polanco safe at first. Howard walked to put men on first and second and the runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch with Werth at the plate. The lefty Sabathia walked the righty Werth intentionally to load the bases and got Ibanez to ground to second to end the frame and leave all three runners stranded.
Down 6-3, the Phillies went in order in the sixth.
Sabathia set them down in order again in the seventh.
Righty David Robertson pitched the eighth for New York. He walked Ibanez with two outs, but got Francisco to fly to left to leave him stranded.
Victorino was 0-for-5 and struck out twice. He’s 1-for-his-last-17 and on-basing .312 for the season.
Utley was 2-for-4 hitting second in the lineup. He’s hitting 159/253/188 over his last 59 plate appearances.
Polanco was 1-for-4 with a single. Again the Phillies didn’t have an extra-base hit in the game. He’s hitting .378 in June. He’s not a good three hitter, but Polanco hitting third isn’t near the top of the list of Phillies problems.
Howard was 0-for-2 with a walk. He’s hitting 289/360/511 this month.
Werth was 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and two strikeouts. Over his last 96 plate appearances he’s hitting 198/281/372 with 30 strikeouts.
Ibanez 1-for-2 with two walks. 10-for-his-last-25 with a double and a homer.
Francisco 0-for-4 with a strikeout and four men left on base. He’s 6-for-his-last-20.
Castro was 0-for-3, struck out twice and really should have at least kept the ball that Cervelli hit in the infield. He’s on-basing .246 for the season and .185 over his last 55 plate appearances.
Ruiz was 0-for-3, dropping his average on the year to .267. He’s 0-for-his-last-20.
Jamie Moyer (6-6, 5.03) faces righty AJ Burnett (6-4, 3.86) tonight. Jamie allowed nine earned runs in an inning against Boston his last time out. Burnett was rolling on this year until running into some trouble in his last two starts. He had a 3.28 ERA for the year going into his May 30 start against Baltimore, but has allowed ten runs in 12 2/3 innings his last two times out. He’s been better against lefties than righties this season, holding lefties to a 244/321/384 line while righties have hit 289/356/458 against him.
Happ says he didn’t throw well in a bullpen session last night in this article. I believe him.
Rollins was 0-for-3 in rehab with the Single-A Clearwater last night.