Coming from behind, the Phils support a strong effort from Roy Halladay as they defeat the Mets, 2-1.
A strong effort by Roy Halladay is supported by a two-run seventh, as the Phils come from behind to defeat the Mets, 2-1.
The Mets took the lead in the fourth as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Carlos Beltran hits an RBI single, knocking in Daniel Murphy, who had earlier singled, and then moved up to second on David Wright’s infield single, beating out Placido Polanco’s throw to second base, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead, while sending Wright, who had just singled, up to second base. Roy Halladay would then get out of trouble by getting Jason Bay to fly out to center field for the first out, as Wright would move up to third, then get Ike Davis to foul out to the third baseman for the inning’s second out, before ending the inning by getting Josh Thole to ground out, 6-3. The game would then be a pitcher’s duel, with Halladay giving up just one run for seven innings on six hits, as he struck out seven, helped along by a double play, while Mets’ starter Jon Niese kept the Phils off-balance for six innings, scattering four hits and one walk, while striking out two. The Phils would then tie the game up at one-all in the seventh as John Mayberry, Jr. hits a lead-off home run, his first home run of the year. The Phils then took the lead five batters later as, with the bases loaded, via a single by Wilson Valdez, a walk by Dane Sardinha, sending Valdez to second base, and a single by Shane Victorino, sending Valdez on to third, and Sardinha to second, and with one man out, Polanco hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Valdez, giving the Phils a 2-1 lead, while sending Sardinha on to third. That would be more than enough for Roy Halladay, as he would give up only one more hit, and a walk, being helped by a double play in the eighth and his eighth strikeout in the ninth, before ending the game by getting Davis to ground out, 3-1.
Roy Halladay (4-1, 2.14) gets the win as he pitched a complete game, giving up a run on seven hits and a walk, while striking out eight. He started the game with eighteeen straight strikes, and would end up with a strike/walk ratio of 80/27. Jon Niese (1-4, 4.71) took the lost as he went six and one-third innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out three. Taylor Buchholz pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up a hit. Tim Byrdak pitched a third of an inning, getting out the only man he would face. Jason Isringhausen pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up a walk.
The Phils had only seven hits in the game, with Placido Polanco, with a single and a double, while knocking in a run with a sac fly, and John Mayberry, Jr. with a single and a home run, with an RBI, both leading the team with two hits apiece. Shane Victorino (Single), Jimmy Rollins (Single) and Wilson Valdez (Single) had the other three Phils’ hits, with Valdez ending a hitless streak. With his two hits, Polanco now has 41 hits in April, establishing a new team hits record for the month, while the team won their eighteenth game, establishing a new team wins record for the month.
The Phils (18-8, 1st) will conclude their three-game series with the Mets (11-16, 5th) tomorrow, with a night game that will be televised by ESPN. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 8:05 pm EDT. The Phils will send to the mound Cliff Lee (2-2, 4.18), who is coming off a bad start against the D-backs on April 25, as he would go seven innings, giving up four runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out twelve, in the Phils’ 4-0 lost. He will be looking to lead the Phils to a sweep over the Mets, while improving on his last start. The Mets will counter with Chris Young (1-0, 2.65), who is coming off a no-decision against the Nationals on April 26, as he went four and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks, while striking out three, in the Mets’ 6-4 win. He will be trying to keep the Mets from being swept. The Phils will be trying to start the home stand with a sweep.
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