Halladay Shuts Out Nationals

Roy Halladay is a candidate for the Cy Young award for a reason.  Philadelphia hasn’t seen a stud pitcher like this in a quite a long time.  Halladay only needed one run of support to defeat the Washington Nationals 1-0 tonight.

Halladay pitched seven solid innings giving up no runs on eight hits with four walks and one strikeout.  He got off to a rocky start in the first inning when he loaded up the bases with one out.  Halladay was able to strand the runners with a double play thanks to Roger Bernadina.  Halladay left a one run game to the bullpen where Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge held the lead.

The Phillies offense certainly wasn’t on fire tonight.  They only registered four hits, all coming off Nationals starter Jason Marquis.  Their only run came in the third inning.  Chase Utley and Jayson Werth worked two-out walks off Marquis.  Raul Ibanez  then hit an RBI double that kicked off the glove of Adam Dunn.  It was one of the Phillies only scoring opportunities on the night and it proved to be the only run they would need.

The Phillies stayed two and a half games behind the Atlanta Braves, who defeated the Chicago Cubs earlier today.  The Phillies send Kyle Kendrick to the mound on Saturday against young phenom Stephen Strasburg.  Kendrick has been pitching well lately, going 3-1 in his last five starts.  The Phillies are getting their first look at the young Strasburg and this offense should be able to string more hits together than they did tonight.

2B: Werth (41)  Ibanez (24)

WP: Halladay (16-8) LP: Marquis (0-6)  S: Lidge (17).

Boxscore

Gillies Charged For Coke Possession

No he was not just quenching his thirst. Phillies prospect Tyson Gillies was charged with a felony for cocaine possession. He was arrested back in June the Phillies statement said.

Gillies was acquired along with J.C. Ramirez and Phillippe Aumont in the Cliff Lee deal last December.

Here the details of the incident as I don’t feel like re-writing it in my words: Paul Hagen, Philly.com

Series Preview: Nationals

PHI: 68-52, 2nd in NL East.
WAS: 52-69, 5th in NL East.
Where: Citizens Bank Park (Philly, PA)
Discussion: Liberty Bell Sports

Probable Pitchers
Fri: Jason Marquis (0-5, 14.33) vs. Roy Halladay (15-8, 2.24)
Sat: Stephen Strasburg (5-3, 2.97) vs. Kyle Kendrick (8-5, 4.45)
Sun: Scott Olsen (3-5, 5.14) vs. Roy Oswalt (8-13, 3.36)

Broadcast
Fri: 7:05, CSN
Sat: 7:05, CSN
Sun: 1:35, MyPHL 17
All games on 1210 AM

Hot (last 7) – Shane Victorino: .391 (9-for-23), 4 R, 3 2B, 3 RBI, .440 OBP, .962 OPS.

Not (last 7) – Raul Ibanez: .107 (3-for-28), 2 R, 3B, RBI, 4 K.

Overview: The Phillies lead the series 5-4. The Phillies are in the middle of a playoff race while Washington is looking to play spoiler to any contender they face. Washington failed at it with the Braves and will hopefully not be effective against the Phils.

The Nationals 21-42 on the road, more good news for the Phillies. The Phils thrive in their home park, as they should, with a 40-21 record.

Ryan Howard could be back very very soon. His updated report was that he could return this weekend, as early as Sunday. He was originally to be back by Monday. If all goes according to plan and no one dies, the Phillies will have their projected line up in tact for the first time since May/June.

Roy-squared is pitching this weekend. Both are looking to drop their ERA’s. Doc is making a case for himself for the Cy Young and Oswalt is hoping to keep up the good work and become a reliable number three on a team loaded with talent. Kyle Kendrick will also look to improve on his recent success.

The Phillies still sit 2 1/2 games back to the Braves after both teams lost last night. With Atlanta playing the Cubs and the Phils playing the Nationals, expect that margin to stay about the same, barring one team slips up against a weaker foe.

*Sorry I forgot to change the Giants record from the previous series.