Sunday, May 15, 2011
Posted: 4:30 p.m.Updated: 5:59 p.m.
By John R. Finger
CSNPhilly.com
BOX SCORE
ATLANTAThe Phillies are stuck in a rut when it comes to their failure to support ace Roy Halladay. For the second consecutive start, Halladay went wire-to-wire only to be saddled with a complete-game loss.
On May 10 in Florida, Halladay allowed one earned run in a 2-1 defeat while pitching eight innings. On Sunday at Turner Field, Halladay again went eight innings, tossed 119 pitches, and lost, 3-2.
The big blow came in the bottom of the eighth when Dan Uggla led off the frame with a home run to send Halladays record to 5-3. The game marked just the second time this season that Halladay allowed more than two runs in a game and his first two-game losing streak since Aug. 25 and 30 of last year.
Yet, with Halladay getting his fourth complete game of the season, the Phillies offense again sputtered and stalled. After getting just three hits on Saturday, the Phillies got just four on Sunday against the Braves Tim Hudson. The first five hitters in the order went a combined 1 for 20, with rookie Michael Martinez getting the lone hit.
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Theres not much you can say. Tim Hudson is a good pitcher, of course, but at the same time we didnt hit too many balls hard, manager Charlie Manuel said. We skied them up in the air at times, hit them into the groundwe didnt hurt them. We didnt get nothing going.
Meanwhile, Halladay could not hold the one-run lead in the sixth, allowing a one-out run to tie the game on a sacrifice fly after a leadoff walk to Uggla. Uggla scored all three runs for the Braves, including the first of the game in the fourth when he singled to start the frame, later scoring when Freddie Freeman hit what appeared to be an inning-ending double play ball that Halladay deflected.
I think if I would have let it go it would have been a double play, Halladay said.
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins agreed with Halladay, saying he had it lined up to step on second and then fire to first for the twin killing.
Still, it was Ugglas homer in the eighth that dealt Halladay the hard-luck loss. For a hitter batting just .205 this season, and who was bumped up in the lineup to the cleanup spot because Chipper Jones was a late scratch with a knee injury, it was a good day.
It wasnt a very good pitch. I fell behind and made some close pitches and then just left one out over the plate, Halladay said. You know, I felt like we had to challenge him because you dont want to walk the leadoff guy. Hes struggling, but hes still a good hitter so its kind of a Catch-22. What I threw him just wasnt a good pitch.
Halladay may have been charged with the loss, but it wasnt like he had much help. With the first five hitters combining for one hit, John Mayberry, Pete Orr and Carlos Ruiz were responsible for providing the offense. Mayberry walked twice, swiped a bag and belted a two-run homer to account for all of the runs, while Orr and Ruiz both singled and walked.
Eight of the 10 base runners for the Phillies came from the bottom part of the batting order.
The difference just might be the quality of the opponents. After going 21-9 through May 5 with just two wins against teams better than .500, the Phillies are 4-5 against Florida and Atlanta. Worse, it doesnt get any easier for the Phillies until the end of the month when they travel to New York and Washington.
In between they face St. Louis, Colorado, Texas and Cincinnati. Over the past two seasons, all of those teams made it to the playoffs.
Were going to see winning teams for a while, Manuel said. Our offense is going to have to pick up.
The Phillies scored 10 runs in the three games against in Atlanta, but five of them came in the first game of the series, and 10 of the 17 hits came in that game, too. Clearly, Manuel wants to do something with his lineup and may have shown a glimpse of something to come by putting Mayberry in rightfield. Typically, Mayberry plays against lefty pitchers, but with regular rightfielder Ben Francisco batting .152 in his last 12 games, the manager made the switch on Sunday.
But whether its Mayberry, Francisco or anyone else, Manuel says the Phillies have to hit.
Our hitting has to pick up. We have to score some runs, Manuel said. But were going to find somebody. Well find the peoplewe will. And then well look until we find some people. Well keep experimenting until we get the people.
Manuel hopes to have All-Star Chase Utley back soon, but his absence isnt the reason why the Phillies arent hitting. Still, at 25-14, the Phillies lead the NL East by two games. They will return home in first place.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com
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