Those of us hoping to see some flash from the bats on Sunday were left wanting, and for the second straight outing, Roy Halladay pitched a complete game loss. Tim Hudson held the Phils to a pair of runs, and Dan Uggla knocked a game-winning homer in the bottom of the eighth to put the Braves ahead, 3-2.
Halladay had some bad luck, with several of the eight hits he allowed coming off of broken bats. One almost impaled him. Doc had some trouble getting leadoff men out, with Uggla in particular giving him fits. Uggla scored all three Braves runs, and he led off each of the innings he scored in (a single, a walk, and the homer). All this from a guy barely over .200 on the season. Just not a lucky day for Halladay, who wasn't bad at all.
It was Halladay's first loss to the Braves since joining the Phillies last season.
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MAYBE MAYBERRY?
Getting the start in right, John Mayberry Jr was the lone Phillie helping Doc out at the plate, walking twice, swiping a bag, and slamming a two-run homer in the top of the sixth. It reminded me of something Mitch Williams said when speaking to the WIP morning show earlier this week, to the effect of, if Mayberry got regular at bats, he'd probably run into 25 HR over the course of a season. Hmmm…
The rest of the offense was unable to get to Hudson, who worked them rather than the other way around (eg, Jimmy Rollins saw six pitches in his first three at bats). Most of the regulars went 0-fer the day, with Carlos Ruiz being the only exception. Chooch got his first hit in his last 27 at bats.
Not the finale to the weekend we were looking for, with the Phillies dropping the series to the Braves and lacking pop in the lineup.
NEXT UP...
Up next is a trip to St. Louis for a pair of games, where the Cardinals are swinging the bats well but not pitching anywhere near as well as the guys we've just seen. The Cardinals scored five ninth-inning runs today but still lost to the Reds by a 9-7 count. Cincinnati swept the Cards, scoring six, seven, and nine runs in the three games of the series.
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Can the Phillies get on that wagon?