4/4/13
The first game is in the books as we slowly progress through
this season. The Braves and Phillies put on an offensive display last game
while their aces were on the mound. Can the Phillies offense consistently put
up a high number of runs? Can the Braves continue to slug their way to a
victory? Before the game, the Phillies made a roster move. They claimed
outfielder Ezequiel Carrera off of waivers and designated Rule Five pick Ender
Inciarte for assignment. The Phillies have 10 days to trade Inciarte or return
him back to the Arizona Diamondbacks. If the Diamondbacks don’t want Inciarte,
the Phillies can reassign him in their minor league system. The Phillies lineup
stays the same as last night while the Braves made two changes to their lineup.
Juan Francisco played third base instead of Chris Johnson as part of their
platoon system and feel-good story backup catcher Evan Gattis got the start.
Roy Halladay started for the Phillies as Paul Maholm started for the Braves.
Halladay had one of his worst seasons last year and is hoping to have a bounce
back season. Last year he had an 11-8 record with an ERA of 4.49. Halladay’s
health and velocity has been in question since the start of spring training.
Will this be the year that he reinvents himself as a pitcher and tries to get
hitters out without being known as a power pitcher? Maholm had decent numbers
for the Braves last year. He was 4-5 with a 3.54 ERA.
The Braves took where they left off last game. Justin Upton
got the party started for the Braves as he blasted a two-run homerun off of
Halladay. Francisco continued the scoring as he knocked an RBI single to right
field to make it a 3-0 Braves lead. It took Halladay 40 pitches just to
complete the first inning. This looked like a bad sign of things to come.
Halladay looked decent in the next two innings. He struck
out nine hitters in the first three innings. The only problem was that he threw
79 pitches through three innings. This is what happens when you try and strike
hitters out by throwing a lot of pitches.
Feel-good story Evan Gattis hit his first homerun of the
season in the fourth inning as the ball barely cleared the wall and it was a
4-0 game. After two more hitters, Charlie Manuel had seen enough and took
Halladay out of the game. Halladay pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowed six hits,
five runs, walked three and struck out nine batters. Raul Valdes replaced
Halladay, and he did not look sharp early. He walked the bases loaded and
Freddie Freeman hit a shot into left field and bases were emptied making the score
7-0. Other than that blip by Valdes, he looked better as the game progressed.
Valdes pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowed one hit, two runs, walked two and struck
out three batters.
Paul Maholm was decent, but got out of some jams. He left
guys on base in every inning he pitched except for the fifth. He was bailed out
of trouble by the Phillies inability to hit with runners in scoring position.
Maholm pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowed six hits, walked one and struck
out six hitters. Cory Gearrin relieved Maholm and pitched 1/3 of an inning,
walked one and struck out one batter.
Antonio Bastardo and Mike Adams pitched the sixth and
seventh innings. They both threw scoreless innings and didn’t allow anyone on
base. Bastardo walked one and struck out one while Adams struck out two
batters.
Cristhian Martinez relieved Gearrin in the seventh and he
was terrible. He let Laynce Nix and Ben Revere reach base on singles and Chase
Utley delivered the blow in the inning hooking a two-RBI double into right
field and it was a 7-2 game. That blow led to the departure of Martinez. He
pitched 1/3 of an inning, allowed three hits and two runs. Luis Avilan relieved
him and got the final two outs of the inning. He struck out one batter too.
Jonathan Papelbon relieved Adams in the eighth inning and he
did not look sharp. He allowed a two-run homerun by Jason Heyward that made it
a 9-2 game. He finished the inning with one strikeout and allowed two hits.
Anthony Varvaro finished the game for the Braves and pitched
scoreless innings and struck out one batter. The Phillies lost by a final score
of 9-2.
Overall, Halladay showed signs of what he displayed in
spring training. He did not go deep into the game, and the Phillies had to use
their bullpen early. I like that he struck out nine hitters, but that doesn’t
equate to the five runs that he allowed. Could the rain have played a factor in
Halladay and the rest of the Phillies pitching? Perhaps, but the umpire seemed
one-sided and favored the Braves more than the Phillies. Halladay didn’t get
the calls that Maholm was getting. Also, the rain has an effect on pitchers
because of the way certain pitchers grip the ball. The Braves are showing teams
who they are by launching homeruns and striking out a lot. Their pitching is
just good enough to win games. The Phillies are getting players on base, but
they are not driving the runners’ home. There were multiple instances in this
game when the Phillies could have scored more than two runs and they didn’t
execute. The one play that I thought was critical for the Phillies was when
Michael Young did a swinging bunt towards the first base side of the diamond
and was called out for running out of the basepath. I bring this up because
Young was not out of the basepath and he was safe as Avilan made a throwing
error to first. Chase Utley would have scored on the play had Young been called
safe and it would have been a 7-3 game. All in all, we have to move on from
this game and focus on the final game of this series. Cliff Lee will start for the
Phillies as Kris Medlen will start for the Braves.
Should we be
concerned about Roy Halladay? Sound off and stay tuned until next time…
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