Halladay gets knocked around in Phillies' loss to Cubs

CHICAGO - It had little shot of ending well once the second inning reached its conclusion. Not because Roy Halladay imploded, but because he wasn't flat-out dominant. And when Halladay hasn't been dominant, the Phillies haven't won many games. Last night was no exception, as the Cubs scored four runs in the second inning en route to an 11-6 victory, and the Phils limped out of Chicago having lost three of four.

"You guys are stat guys - take a look. If you can't see where the problem is at . . . ," manager Charlie Manuel said, leaving the thought unfinished. "I don't have to sit here and say anything about anybody. You should be able to read the stats and read what happens and watch the game every night. I don't have to sit here and say anything negative about anybody. It speaks for itself. Nobody can take away your performance. No one can hide it, though, neither."

Sometimes, though, the numbers are even worse than they appear. For example, the record will show that the Phillies scored 19 runs in four games in which they went 1-3 against the Cubs. But 10 of those runs came in the ninth inning of games in which they were thoroughly stifled. On Saturday, four were gift-wrapped by Carlos Marmol and Geovany Soto in a ninth-inning meltdown of epic proportions. Seven more came against mop-up relievers at the tail end of blowout losses, including solo home runs by Greg Dobbs, Ryan Howard and Ben Francisco in the eighth and ninth innings last night.

The record also will show that Halladay, who fell to 10-8, allowed six runs in six innings before departing after a season-low 87 pitches.

But underneath it all, there is the fact that Halladay has entered an inning with a lead exactly three times in his last three starts, and that he has pitched with a deficit in a career-high 36 percent of his plate appearances through 20 starts.

Last night, two key defensive lapses helped push home an unearned run in the four-run second inning. First, Howard was unable to track down a catchable, two-out popup from Derrek Lee in foul territory, which extended the inning with runners on the corners. Then, with two strikes on Lee, Carlos Ruiz one-hopped a throw to second on a stolen-base attempt by Starlin Castro, allowing Tyler Colvin to score from third. One pitch later, Halladay struck out Lee to end the frame.