Halladay, big bats star in Phillies' opening win over Nationals

WASHINGTON - Three hours before game time in the nation's capital, and the ballpark seems consumed by martial law. There are bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors, ominous-looking guns and badges hooked to the hips of ominous-looking men and women, eyeing every passerby as not just a reporter or vendor or patron, but as a potential security threat.

Inside the visitors' clubhouse, however, there is peace. In fact, if a bomb did go off, somebody might have to tap Roy Halladay on the shoulder and let him know. He is sitting in a folding chair, an MP3 player streaming music into his ears, a look in his eyes that suggests he has entered a place that nobody is welcome to visit. Everything around him - the teammates and reporters and clubhouse staff - seems to exist in a mystical realm where objects are transparent and humans do not speak. He is staring at his right hand, which at the moment is gripping a baseball on one of the seams, his index and middle fingers pressed together like he is preparing to deliver a pitch.

"He's working on each of his pitches," pitching coach Rich Dubee said later, "making sure each one is where he wants it to be."

Baseball is a results-based business, so any recap of the Phillies' 11-1 domination of the Washington Nationals yesterday afternoon requires a thorough accounting. New third baseman Placido Polanco hit a grand slam and finished with a career-high six RBI. First baseman Ryan Howard used his second at-bat to launch a two-run homer into the second deck in rightfield. Shortstop and leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins, who began last season with a 3-month slump, hit an RBI triple and reached base four times.

But after it was all over, after the Phillies put the finishing touches on their first Opening Day victory since 2005, the topic du jour was process, specifically the one employed by the newly acquired veteran righthander who started his morning by practicing grips. The results? They should be familiar to anybody who has followed baseball box scores over the past decade. Halladay pitched seven innings, allowed one run, struck out nine, and needed just 88 pitches to get the game to the young mopup relievers who replaced him in the eighth. But it was the process that made it hard for a catcher like Carlos Ruiz to suppress a smile in the clubhouse after the win.