One Way to Take Pressure of Doc: Phils Grab Rare Early Lead, Beat Cards 8-2

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They called the game after six-and-a-half innings this time, as the
rains descended upon CBP, but really, we only needed to play one
tonight. The Phils scored five in the first tonight--the first time in a
week, as Sarge and Wheels repeatedly reminded the folks at home, that
they had crossed the plate even once before the fifth inning--and that
was more than enough for Roy Halladay, looking far more like his old,
medically certified self tonight, who cruised for seven frames against
the Cardinals as the Phils ended up winning 8-2.

We'll talk
about Doc in a sec, but first and foremost, shoutout to our old friend
Ty Wigginton, who had arguably his best game as a Phillie tonight at
third base for the Redbirds, going 0-2 both at the plate and in the
field, his wide throw to first on a Kevin Frandsen grounder with two
outs pulling the ripcord on the Phils' first-inning rally. The Phillies
began teeing off against Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia, with Ben Revere
even notching his first extra-baser of the year with an RBI triple.
Five men passed, the Phils batted around, and the game was placed in Roy
Halladay's hands.

If this was the Roy Halladay of the first two
starts of the season, that'd still be cause for concern. But even if
his gas still peaked in the low 90s, Doc still had a far greater
resemblance tonight to the Cy Young winner of 2010 than the guy who got
shelled in the first two starts this season. His fastball was cutting,
his breaking pitches were landing with pinpoint control, and nothing was
wide in the dirt. He still let up two homers--both solo shots, which
just peaked over the wall--as well as two walks as he wore down a little
late, but those were the only four base-runners Halladay allowed all
night, and he made up for them with six strikeouts, his most since his
rocky first start in Atlanta. If this is the Doc we have to work with
the rest of the season--one who doesn't quite overpower anymore, but
still hits his spots, keeps batters guessing, and doesn't beat
himself--I think most of us would take it.

He also had some
major help in the field. Freddy Galvis, not exactly known as an outfield
patrolman, made two fine-ass catches out in left tonight, include an
awkward backhanded diver that really had no business being a successful
grab. And Ben Revere, who started the season looking like a Gold Glover
before badly misplaying a couple key fliers against the Reds, returned
to SportsCenter-worthy form on a shallow fly to center tonight, padding
what must be his league-leading diving-catch total.

Offense,
check, pitching, check, defense, check. If only all 162 could be this
simple. Cliff vs. Lance Lynn in Game 3 tomorrow night.

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