Am I dreaming, or did Phillies ace Roy Halladay throw a perfect game at  Florida?  Marlins starter Josh Johnson threw a brilliant seven inning 1 run, 7 hitter at the Phils on Saturday, but 2nd baseman Chase Utley reached in the third inning on centerfielder Cameron Maybin’s fielding error as shortstop Wilson Valdez scored from 1st base giving The Doc the only run he needed in an 11 strikeout, 115 pitch masterpiece as the Phillies’ Halladay goes perfect in a 1-0 win over the Florida Marlins.

With the win, the Phils held on to their 1 1/2 game lead over 2nd place Atlanta in the NL East division as the Braves kept pace by defeating Pittsburgh.  The  Mets and Washington both lost and fell to 4 games back.  The Marlins are now 5 games back in last place in the division.

Halladay’s el-perfecto was the 20th in MLB history and the 2nd this month.   Oakland’s Dallas Braden went perfect on the Tampa Bay Rays on May 9th.  It was the first time in modern MLB history that there were 2 perfect games in the same season and the first perfect game by a Phils hurler since Jim Bunning’s 1964 Father’s Day gem against the Mets. 

AP sports writer Tim Reynolds recaps the game and Halladay’s landmark performance for Yahoo:

At 9:23 p.m., when he got pinch-hitter Ronny Paulino to hit a grounder to third for the 27th out, only then could Halladay bask in his moment—breaking into a big smile and wrapping his arms around catcher Carlos Ruiz before disappearing in a joyous, jumping gray-and-red mob of teammates.

“It’s never something that you think is possible,” Halladay said. “Really, once I got the two outs, I felt like I had a chance. You’re always aware of it. It’s not something that you expect.”

Halladay struck out 11, and was cheered by a crowd of 25,086 throughout much of the night. Another fan called later—Vice President Joe Biden dialed up the Phillies’ clubhouse to offer his congratulations when it was over.

“Early in my bullpen I was hitting spots more than I have been. I felt like I just carried that out there,” Halladay said.

While there were a couple of good plays behind him—shortstop Wilson Valdez went deep into the hole for a grounder, backup third baseman Juan Castro went to his knees for another, second baseman Chase Utley ranged well to his left for another fine play—Halladay didn’t need any great defensive work in this gem.

“I think everybody knows you have to have those kind of plays to do something like that,” Halladay said.

Yes, but on this night, the 33-year-old righty known as Doc was a veritable one-man show.

“You’ve got to take your hat off to Doc,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “That’s why he is who he is. That’s what they got him for.”

Steely-eyed, standing tall and always working swiftly, Halladay (7-3) broke into a big smile as his teammates rushed in to congratulate him.

The Marlins said they would give Halladay the pitching rubber as a souvenir…  Working in the dark, four men went to work on the mound, digging up the slab where Halladay made history.

“Look who’s pitching,” Marlins outfielder Cody Ross said. “It’s Roy Halladay, the best pitcher in baseball. It’s not embarrassing.”

Halladay faced three Marlins pinch-hitters in the ninth.  Mike Lamb led off with a long fly ball, but Shane Victorino had plenty of time to backtrack in the super-spacious outfield at Sun Life Stadium and squeeze it for the first out.

Another pinch-hitter, Wes Helms, struck out, and the crowd… simply began to roar.

From there, it was all up to Paulino, who fouled the first pitch into the seats along the first-base side, took ball one, swung and missed for strike two, and then stabbed at Halladay’s 115th and final offering. Castro ranged to his left to get it and threw across to first baseman Ryan Howard, who caught the ball and jumped in the air.

…Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “We gave him one run. He made it stand up. That was good. Super for him.”

Halladay credited catcher Carlos Ruiz for a smooth ride.

“We felt like we got in a groove early and about the fifth or the sixth I was just following Chooch,” he said. “I can’t say enough about the job he did today. Mixed pitches. For me it was really a no-brainer.”

The NL East leaders’ lone run off Josh Johnson (5-2) came in the third, and fittingly in this battle of aces, it was unearned. Valdez singled, then scored when Chase Utley’s fly to center skipped off Cameron Maybin’s glove for a three-base error.

“It’s one of those things where everything has to go right and it did,” Maybin said. “J.J. did a great job of competing. Unfortunately, one play … that was the ballgame.”

Valdez scored easily. And Halladay had all the support he needed.

Phillies 3B Placido Polanco (bruised left elbow) was sidelined again, Castro getting the call to start for the second straight night. Polanco is expected to undergo an MRI exam on Sunday to see if the problem is more serious than originally thought.

To view the scores of all of Saturday’s MLB games, click here.

The Phils go for a sweep in the series final as ancient veteran lefthander  Jamie Moyer is opposed by Anibal Sanchez for the Marlins.

The Phils head for Atlanta following Sunday’s game for a 3 game series with the Braves to end the 9 game road trip.

To view all of Sunday’s games, click here.

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Lefthander Cole Hamels looked again like vintage 2008 on Thursday but the moribund Phillies offense continued in shut-down mode despite 5 walks by  Mets starter Mike Pelfrey. Shortstop and leadoff hitter Jose Reyes went 3 for 4 including a seventh inning 2 run double and leftfielder Jason Bay followed Reyes’ first inning leadoff single with a 1 out RBI double as the Phillies suffered through a 3-0 loss, a humiliating 0 for 27 straight inning shutout sweep by the Mets.

With the Phils’ 5th straight loss, 4 by shutout, the 2nd place Atlanta Braves crept to within 1 1/2 games of the NL East division leaders by beating Florida.  The Mets crept into 3rd place, 2 games back, with the win.  The Marlins dropped into a 4th place tie with Washington at 3 games back.  The Nationals lost their game to San Francisco.

The Phillies losing streak is now at 5 games, 4 of those losses being shutouts as the previously potent offense has gone comatose.  The sweep marked the first time since 1983 that Philadelphia was blanked three days in a row.  Centerfielder an leadoff hitter Shane Victorino went 3 for 4 with leftfielder Raul Ibanez collecting the only other hit off of Pelfrey, who was not exactly a pillar of control issuing 5 walks.  The Phils were wiped out 3 times on doubleplays, but still left 5 runners stranded and didn’t come through with 9 runners on base in another humiliating display of offensive underproduction and ineptness.

We could talk about the feat of the Met’s pitching staff holding the powerful Phillies off of the scoreboard for 3 straight games — a knuckle-baller, an odd delivery and Pelfrey’s sinker — that they mercifully missed facing Johan Santana. We could even talk about the perils of a long rain delay, which seemed not to bother either Pelfrey or Hamels.

The bottom-line, come what may after Charlie’s Wednesday team close-door, seems to be that when the offense is on a roll, on all cylinders — in a zone, they are torrid.  When they are not, it seems that they are horrid and there seems to be little in-between in that area called “consistency.”  They need shortstop, leadoff man and table-setter Jimmy Rollins back — badly.   They need to cut down their strikeouts which are again mounting; 2nd baseman  Chase Utley with 28 in 44 games, 1st baseman Ryan Howard with 49 in 46 games and rightfielder Jayson Werth with 43 in 46 games and they need to make consistent, solid contact with the ball.  It’s as simple as that.

Click here for AP sports writer Ben Walker’s game recap for Yahoo, I haven’t got the stomach to continue on this one — this losing string is indeed ugly.

To view the scores of all of Thursday’s MLB games, click here.

It’s on to Florida where the Phils play a 3 game weekend set with the Marlins.   Kyle Kendrick goes for the Phils in Friday’s series opener against Chris Volstad for the Marlins.  On Saturday, ace Roy Halladay hopes to regain his groove after 2 straight losses.  The Doc is opposed by Josh Johnson who has given up but 7 runs in his past 35 innings spanning over his last 6 starts, winning 4 of them.

To view all of Friday’s and Saturday’s games,  click here and here.

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Tuesday night’s game between the Phillies and the Colorado Rockies was postponed due to rain and so the first exposure of the Rocks to ‘The Doc’– ace Roy Halladay will have to wait for Wednesday’s doubleheader game 1.  I had slotted writing about Oakland A’s Dallas Braden’s perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays into Thursday’s Phillies open date, but due to the rainout, I’ll comment here on Oakland’s Braden’s perfecto against the Rays.

Young Oakland lefthander Dallas Braden managed to hit the bright lights of fame and glory having tossed only the 19th perfect game in all of MLB history this past Sunday.  And he didn’t accomplish the feat against some ordinary run-of-mill team like the Cleveland Indians, the Kansas City Royals or the Seattle Mariners.  Braden took on the hottest team in baseball, the team currently leading the MLB wins (23), winning percentage (.688).  Not an easy feat to even merely shut out those Tampa Bay Rays, let alone to no-hit them or to go el-perfecto.

Little did we know a few weeks ago when Braden took issue with Yankees 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez when A-Rod had the unmitigated chutzpah to cross Braden’s mound, that the lefty could back his words with talent, i.e. “To be the Man, you gotta beat the Man.”

AP baseball writer Janie McCauley recaps Braden’s masterpiece for Yahoo:

The closest the Rays got to a hit was Jason Bartlett’s liner to third leading off the game.  Evan Longoria tried to bunt leading off the fifth, drawing boos from the small crowd.

In fact, in light of the Bru-Ha-Ha a couple of weeks ago when A-rod crossed through the mound area, the media gave play to Longoria’s bunt attempt which went foul.  The Rays’ All Star 3rd baseman ended up going down on a swinging 3rd strike and Braden didn’t make a fuss at the fouled bunt attempt which might have constituted violation of another “unwritten rule.”

McCauley continues:

Braden pitched the A’s first perfect game since Hall of Famer  Jim “Catfish” Hunter’s gem on May 8, 1968, against the  Minnesota Twins. Only 6,298 were there to witness it. Sunday’s crowd at the Coliseum wasn’t much better: 12,228.

Braden (4-2) wasn’t fazed by anything, locating his fastball in every spot, throwing two-strike changeups and getting quick outs against a Rays team that lost on the road for just the third time this year. He struck out six in the improbable 109-pitch performance, throwing 77 strikes in his 53rd career start and first complete game.

Braden’s teammates mobbed him when the Mother’s Day masterpiece was over, leaving bats and gloves scattered on the field. The left-hander pointed to the sky in honor of his single mom, Jodie Atwood, who died of skin cancer when he was a high school senior. He shared a long and tearful hug with Lindsey, who helped raise him, in front of the dugout.

“It hasn’t been a joyous day for me in a while,” Braden said. “With my grandma in the stands, it makes it a lot better.”

Braden’s perfect game was the sixth no-hitter in Oakland history. The 26-year-old Braden, a native of nearby Stockton, was a 24th-round draft pick by the A’s in 2004. He improved his career record to 18-23.

To view the scores of all of Tuesday’s  MLB games, click here.

The Mets and Washington Nationals are now tied for 2nd place in the NL East, 2 1/2 games behind the Phillies after the Mets beat the Nationals in game 2 of their 3 game series.

On Wednesday. the Phils and Rockies make-up Tuesday’s rainout by playing a doubleheader.  In game 1, the Doc gets to hang out his shingle in Colorado for the first time — Phillies ace Roy Halladay is opposed by Aaron Cook for the Rockies.

In game 2, ageless lefthander Jamie Moyer opposes Esmil Rogers for the Rocks.

From Colorado, the Phils have Thursday off before heading to Milwaukee for a 3 game weekend series before heading back to Citizen’s Bank Park for a 7 game homestand.

To view all of Wednesday’s games,  click here.

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Phillies rightfielder Jayson Werth slammed a 2 out, 3 run third inning homer on Friday and leftfielder Raul Ibanez and shortstop Wilson Valdez each lined 2 run singles in the fifth inning, all off of Braves starter Derek Lowe.  Meanwhile, ageless lefthander Jamie Moyer, at 47 years old cranked up a complete game 2 hit shut out as the Phils pounded the Braves by a 7-0 score in their series opener.

With the win, the Phils maintained a 2 game NL East lead on the 2nd place  Mets who beat the Giants increased their lead to 3 games over 3rd place  Washington who lost to Florida. 

Moyer handcuffed the entire Braves lineup and pinch hitters except for
1st baseman Troy Glaus who went 2 for 3 against him.  After Glaus’s 1st hit, leading off in the second inning, he was wiped out on a ground doubleplay.  After leading off with a single in the eighth inning, he was again wiped out, this time by a fielder’s choice grounder.  In-between, Moyer retired 14 straight Braves.  And after Glaus’ 2nd hit, Moyer retired the final 6 hitters he faced.   He threw 120 pitches in the game while striking out 5 and walking none to earn his 4th win vs 2 losses in as dominating an effort as it is possible to have tossing slow-ball as Moyer does.

The offense showed plenty of pop as well as the 2nd through 6th hitters in the Phils lineup each had 2 hits with Ruiz and Valdez garnering 1 each.  The only Phils starter to go hitless was centerfielder Shane Victorino who took an 0-5 collar.

AP Reporter Rob Maaddi recaps the game for Yahoo:

…Moyer tossed a two-hitter to become the oldest player in major league history to throw a shutout…

The Phillies confirmed the feat by Moyer, who accomplished it at 47 years, 170 days old. Phil Niekro was the previous oldest at 46 years, 188 days when he tossed a four-hitter for the New York Yankees against Toronto on Oct. 6, 1985.

Moyer (4-2) struck out five and faced one batter over the minimum to earn his 262nd career victory. The soft-tossing left-hander baffled Atlanta’s hitters with an assortment of low-80s fastballs and pinpoint control.

“Jamie carved us tonight,” Chipper Jones said. “The guy is 87 years old and he’s still pitching for a reason. He stays off the barrel. He changes speeds, changes the game plan and keeps you guessing.”

Derek Lowe (4-3) allowed seven runs and 11 hits in five innings for the Braves.

Lowe was 6-1 against the Phillies before this season, but is 0-2 with a 9.90 ERA against them in his last two starts.

Moyer got some defensive help in the fourth when center fielder Shane Victorino made an outstanding running catch on Omar Infante’s drive leading off the inning.

Chase Utley got the Phillies started with a two-out single in the third. After Ryan Howard singled, Werth launched his second three-run shot in two games to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead.

Singles by Placido Polanco, Utley and Howard loaded the bases in the fifth. Raul Ibanez followed with a two-run single. After an intentional walk to Carlos Ruiz, Wilson Valdez drove in two more runs with a single for a 7-0 lead.

To view the scores of all of Friday’s  MLB games, click here.

In Saturday’s game 2, Joe Blanton is opposed by Kris Medlen.  In Sunday’s series final, leffthander Cole Hamels is opposed by Kenshin Kawakami for the Braves.

To view all of Saturday’s and Sunday’s games, click here and here.

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Phillies ace Roy Halladay, backed by two great defensive plays and just enough offense, stymied  Atlanta while tossing his first NL shutout on Wednesday.  A second inning RBI double by leftfielder Raul Ibanez and a seventh inning RBI double by rightfielder Jayson Werth, both off of Braves starter Tim Hudson provided the margin as Halladay threw a complete game 2-0 shutout at the Braves.

Many fans’ talk-backs on ESPN, Phillies Nation, etc. over-night indicated that Halladay’s 4-0, 0.82 ERA start is an eery duplication of lefthander Cliff Lee’s start after being acquired by the Phils in July, 2009.

Hudson plunked 3rd baseman Placido Polanco on the elbow in the first inning.  Polanco remained in the game until removed for until the seventh inning when he was removed for pinch hitter Wilson Valdez in the seventh. Valdez finished out the game at 3rd base.  The Phils reported that  Polanco suffered a left elbow contusion.  There was no further word from the club as to his status for Thursday’s game.

AP sports writer Paul Newberry recaps Halladay’s masterpiece for Yahoo sports:

Doc has worked 33 innings, allowing only 26 hits…. but Halladay’s latest masterpiece wouldn’t have been possible without a pair of brilliant defensive plays.

Center fielder Shane Victorino stole away a likely homer from Troy Glaus with a leaping catch in the second, and second baseman Chase Utley made a diving stop on a shot up the middle to start an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the seventh.

The Phillies didn’t make the same mistake as the night before, when they pulled Kyle Kendrick after eight scoreless innings with a 3-0 lead.  Ryan Madson squandered it away, giving up back-to-back homers… with two outs in the ninth, and Nate McLouth homered off Jose Contreras in the 10th to give Atlanta an improbable 4-3 win.

Halladay went all the way this time for his 16th career shutout, getting another big play from his defense leading off the ninth. First baseman Ryan Howard made a diving stop on a sharp grounder by Chipper Jones, then flipped backhanded to Halladay covering the bag.

Last season, Halladay led the majors with a career-high four shutouts.

Hudson worked six solid innings and got out of several jams. The Braves, though, couldn’t do much with Halladay, who retired the first 11 hitters, struck out seven and walked only one.

Werth and Ibanez led off the second with back-to-back doubles against Hudson, giving Philadelphia a quick lead.  Juan Castro followed with a single to put runners at first and third, but the Atlanta right-hander got Carlos Ruiz on a short fly to right, struck out Halladay and retired Victorino on a liner to center.

After Hudson worked around Utley’s double and an intentional walk to Howard in the third, the Phillies added to their lead in the sixth. Howard led off with a single, and Werth brought the big man all the way home with a double to left. Again, it could have been worse for the Braves.

Ibanez was walked intentionally and a forceout left runners at first and third. Knowing they couldn’t afford to get any farther behind against Halladay, the Braves pulled their infielders up to the edge of the grass. The move paid off when Ruiz grounded to shortstop Yunel Escobar, who threw a one-hopper toward home that was scooped by catcher Brian McCann in time to put the tag on Werth.

Glaus thought he’d gone deep for the second night in a row, hitting a towering drive to the deepest part of Turner Field. But Victorino ran back, timed his jump perfectly and reached over the yellow line at the top of the wall to steal away a homer.

The Braves threatened again in the seventh.

Jones and Brian McCann hit singles on the first two pitches of the inning. After Glaus struck out, Heyward worked Halladay for a walk to load the bases. Escobar then ripped a liner up the middle that looked to be headed for center field and possibly a tie game.

But Utley made a diving stop—perhaps helped slightly by the ball skidding off the side of the mound—and flipped to Castro, who threw on to first for the rally-ending double play.

To view the scores of all of Wednesday’s MLB games, click here.

Thursday’s final, veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer goes as fellow lefthander J.A. Happ misses a start due to mild elbow strain.  Moyer is opposed by  Derek Lowe for the Braves.  The Phils hope to leave Atlanta with a 2 of 3 series win.

The Phils next travel to Arizona for a 3 game weekend series with the Diamondbacks followed by 3 games in San Francisco with the Giants before returning home next Friday.

To view all of Thursday’s games, click here.

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If someone were to ask me who the top 5 pitchers in the NL that I would fear when the Phillies would face them, Colorado Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez would be right up there.  Young Jimenez walked six while striking out 7 on Saturday but singled in 1 of the Rockies’ runs in their 3 run fourth inning outburst against Braves starter Kenshin Kawakami.  Jimenez no-hit the Braves in the Rockies 4-0 win.
 
Although the Phils beat the Rockies in the 2009 division series, Jimenez gave them fits in game 1 and their series clinching game 4 win.   And Phillies fans have still not forgotten his clutch 6 1/3 inning 1 run, 3 hit  game 3 effort as the Rocks swept the Phils in the 2007 division series.   Jimenez is indeed one of the most dangerous pitchers the Phils will face in 2010.

AP sports writer Charles Odum recaps the no-hitter for Yahoo sports:

Jimenez pitched the first no-hitter in the Rockies’ 18-year history and the majors’ first this season, getting help from a spectacular catch by Dexter Fowler in the seventh inning… on Saturday night.

“It is every pitcher’s dream to be out there for nine innings and throw a no-hitter,” Jimenez said.

Firing fastballs that reached 98 mph into the ninth inning, Jimenez pitched the first no-hitter since White Sox ace Mark Buehrle tossed a perfect game in a 5-0 victory over Tampa Bay on July 23, 2009.

After walking the leadoff batter in the fifth inning—his sixth walk— Jimenez began working exclusively out of the stretch.

“In the fifth inning Bob Apodaca, he just came to me and was like ‘You’ve been throwing good from the stretch, why don’t you just give it a try?”’ Jimenez said of his pitching coach’s advice.

He retired the next 15 batters to end it, but the biggest assist he received was from Fowler, his center fielder.

With no outs in the seventh inning, Fowler made a diving catch in left-center on Troy Glaus’ sinking line drive, the Braves best chance for a hit.

“The way he dove, I was like unbelievable,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez (3-0) gave Fowler, an Atlanta native, a big hug.

“I appreciated that,” Fowler said.

Fowler said of the catch: “The ball hung up there long enough for me to go up there and get it. Usually if a ball goes up, I always think I had a chance to get it.”

There was no relief in the ninth, with the Braves’ 2-3-4 hitters coming to the plate.

“…Chipper and McCann,” Jimenez said. “They’re two of the best hitters in the league. Why did it have to be those guys? Can’t they give me a break or something?”

It didn’t matter. Jimenez was not going to be denied.

Martin Prado popped out…, Chipper Jones hit a flyball to left field and Brian McCann grounded out… on Jimenez’s majors-high 128th pitch to end the game.

Jimenez thrust his arms in the air and was swarmed by teammates as he celebrated history for himself and his franchise.

The 26-year-old right-hander struck out seven and had an RBI single in the fourth inning.

“That was domination,” Jones said. “Only one ball came close to falling.”

Added McCann: “I’d never been no-hit. I’d never even seen a no-hitter, except on TV. … It was probably the best performance I’ve ever seen. He’s impressive.”

Rockies manager Jim Tracy said he was worried as the walks piled up early in the game.

“Because it’s only his third start of the season, I start looking at the (pitch count),” Tracy said. “Is the pitch count intact enough to the point it doesn’t become ridiculous and you run the risk of jeopardizing a young man’s career?”

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