The Phillies entered Houston with a 2-1 record looking to improve that mark to 5-1, and they did just that. This weekend was certainly a good one and it was capped off by another dazzling performance from new Phillies ace Roy Halladay.
On Friday night the Phillies sent second year man JA Happ to the hill. Happ has been recently criticized by those in the saber metrics community who claim his rookie year wasn’t as good as most think. He went out and proved them wrong on Friday. Happ went 5 IP, 5 K, 2 BB, and 0 ER. Astros batters did a good job battling Happ and fouling off his pitches which raised his pitch count resulting in only 5 innings of work.
Phillies hitters rolled to an 8-0 victory and never looked back. Hitters 1-6 in the lineup had at least 2 hits each including struggling LF Raul Ibanez who had 3 hits along with 3 RBI. When the dust had settled the Phillies had their third win of the season.
Saturday saw a Phillies first this season, a comeback win. The Phillies sent ageless wonder Jamie Moyer to the mound and looked good for the first two innings until the wheels came off in the third. You usually don’t expect a pitcher to start a two out rally but that’s exactly what happened when Astros starting pitcher Felipe Paulino stepped to the dish with two outs and nobody on base. Paulino hit a double over RF Jayson Werth's head. When it was all said and done the Astros batted around and Moyer gave up 5 ER.
Things were looking bleak for the Phillies until a Ryan Howard two run homerun put the Phil’s ahead. They tacked on three more runs as the Phillies won their fourth game of the season 9-6.
The third and final game of the series was the Roy show as the Phillies sent their ace Roy Halladay to the mound, and the Astros sent their ace Roy Oswalt to the mound. Oswalt was good with his only mistake being a leadoff home run to Jimmy Rollins in the first. Oswalt ended up going 6 IP, 2 ER, 8 K but his counterpart was just better.
Roy Halladay dazzled fans, and also Astros batters as he went for his first complete game of the season. In 9 innings Halladay had 8 strike outs, walking none and lowering his season ERA to .56. The Phillies left Houston with a 5-1 record, their best start to the season since 1993. The Houston Astros on the other hand are off to their worst start since 1983.
THE GOOD:
· In 28 AB this season Ryan Howard has struck out just 4 times. 3 of which came in yesterday’s game. League wide he is tied in HR (3) and RBI (10) and is hitting .357
· Roy Halladay is 2-0 on the season and he has an amazing .56 ERA. He is 2-0 now and has 17 K, with just 2 BB. Since 2001 Roy Halladay has 47 CG. In that same time period the Phillies have 51.
· Jimmy Rollins is hitting an amazing .391 with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 8 R, and 2 SB. Everyone knows how important Rollins is to the Phillies offense and he has looked like the 2007 Rollins, instead of the 2009.
· As a whole the Phillies offense has been the best I’ve ever seen. Everyone in spots 1-5 in the lineup is hitting over .300 with Placido Polanco hitting a remarkable .481
THE BAD:
· I don’t blame Jamie Moyer for Saturday's game but instead backup catcher Brian Schneider. Moyer is used to working with catcher Carlos Ruiz and the two have a good chemistry. If you watch the game on Saturday you would have noticed that Moyer was hitting the target Schneider was putting out there. Usually when a guy struggles it’s because he isn’t hitting his spots but Moyer was. I think if Chooch is behind the plate it’s a completely different ball game
· On a rehab start in Single A Clearwater Brad Lidge was LIGHTS ON! In 2/3 of an inning he gave up 4 ER and the worst part is he said he felt no pain, which means he just sucked. His velocity is done but I wouldn’t worry just yet, start worrying if he struggles with his next rehab start
Upcoming Series:
Phillies will look to make their home debut against the Nationals. They will throw pitchers Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, and JA Happ to the mound. The Nationals are coming off their first series win against the Mets this weekend (which was awesome) and counter with pitchers Jason Marquis, Craig Stammen, and Garrett Mock. All three Phillies pitchers need to have bounce back games. Hamels and Kendrick struggled a bit while Happ just looks to continue his success but go deeper into the ball game.
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