The aces are back in business.
After two subpar outings from Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton, Roy Halladay showed why he is the true ace of the staff. The Phillies offense slaughtered Mets’ pitching for 16 hits and 11 runs. Halladay pitched seven strong innings of no-run baseball on the way to a 11-0 Phillies win over the New York Mets in the series finale.
Halladay scattered six hits over his seven innings. He pitched into many deep counts in the early going and wasn’t getting his usual ground ball outs. Instead, the Mets were finding the holes, extending Halladay’s innings.
In the third, the Mets hit three singles, only to have Ike Davis leave the bases loaded when Halladay got him to ground out to second.
But Doc got it together and only allowed one hit in his final three innings of work.
Placido Polanco absolutely terrorized the Mets today as he drove in four runs. Wilson Valdez also had a huge day going four-for-four with three RBIs. Valdez is batting .429 so far this season and is making Phillies fans forget about Chase Utley.
Shane Victorino got the scoring started in the third inning when he singled home Valdez. Polanco followed that up with an RBI double that plated Victorino.
The Phillies added three more runs in the fourth inning and the game continued to snowball from there. Mets’ starter Jon Niese, who usually pitches very well against the Phillies, only lasted four innings as he was hit around by an explosive offensive attack from the home team.
It was also encouraging to see Raul Ibanez hit his first home run of the season. It was a two-run shot off reliever Tim Byrdak in the seventh inning.
The Phillies take their 5-1 record and travel to Turner Field to face the Braves in a three-game series beginning tomorrow night. Cliff Lee will take the mound and will be opposed by Tim Hudson.
WP: Halladay (1-0) LP: Niese (0-1)
2B: Polanco (4), Valdez 2 (3). HR: Ibanez (1)
TTB 