In Roy Halladay’s first ever playoff start last year, he pitched a no hitter against the Cincinnati Reds, who had the best offense in the majors. In the first game this year, Halladay fell behind 3-0 thanks to an early home run, but came back and retired the final 21 batters he faced. The Phillies offense looked like how they were from the playoffs last year when Kyle Lohse handled them for the first few innings. However, the Phillies offense exploded by scoring 5 runs in the 5th inning. The Phillies did not stop there though as they scored multiple runs in the next 2 innings to take the important first game by winning 11-6.
Halladay got into some trouble in the 1st inning when Rafael Furcal led off with a single then after striking out Allen Craig, he walked Albert Pujols. Lance Berkman followed with a moonshot to right field to put the Phillies down 3-0 within the first 4 batters of the game. After Skip Schumaker led off the following inning with a single, Halladay retired the next 21 batters he faced while striking out 7 in that stretch.
Former Phillie Kyle Lohse did not allow a base runner through the first 3 1/3 innings until Chase Utley doubled with 1 out in the 4th. After Hunter Pence struck out and Ryan Howard walked, Shane Victorino singled to drive in Utley to cut the Cards lead to 2 runs. Loshe started to unravel in the 6th inning when Jimmy Rollins led off with a single then after Utley struck out, Pence singled. Ryan Howard gave the Phillies the lead when he hit a towering blast to right field which gave the Phils a 4-3 lead. Victorino followed with a single before Raul Ibanez homered to extend their lead to 3 runs. Mark Rzepczynski came on in the next inning and allowed an infield single to Halladay then 2 more to Rollins and Utley to load the bases without any outs. Mitchell Boggs came in and got Hunter Pence to ground into a fielders choice which got Halladay out at home. Howard hit a sac fly to bring in Rollins and Victorino and Ibanez hit successive singles to score 2 more runs. With 2 outs in the next inning and Boggs still in the game, Rollins drew a 2 out walk then Utley doubled. Hunter Pence singled to drive in both of the runners to put the Phils up 11-3.
Michael Stutes came in the 9th inning, but got into some trouble. Craig led off with a walk then advanced to second on a Pujols single. 1 out later, pinch hitter Adron Chambers and Yadier Molina hit back to back singles to score 2 runs. Ryan Madson came in and allowed a double to Schumaker to make it an 11-6 game. Madson struck out Jon Jay and pinch hitter Matt Holliday to end the game.
Sunday will be Game 2 of the NLDS. If the Phillies take Game 2, they will have a 2 game advantage over the Cards who will have Phillie killer Jamie Garcia on Tuesday. Chris Carpenter is pitching on only 3 days rest since his previous start was on Wednesday when he pitched a 2 hit shutout against the Astros. He has never went out on only 3 days rest before. He will face Cliff Lee who shutout the Cardinals the last time he faced them back in June. Will Lee continue his success at Citizens Bank Park? Will Carpenter be fazed by the Bank in October with 46,000 white rally towels waving and by being back out in the field on short rest?
Caught: 0-0 (0)
Missed: 1-0 (1)<- (yes, even the splits reset during the playoffs!)
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