"Of course I was nervous," Brown said. "After that first at-bat, I sort of settled in and relaxed."
Meanwhile, it was more of the same from Roy Halladay, who methodically plowed through the Diamondbacks to continue his dominance when he pitches in South Philly.
The win was the seventh straight for the Phils and 10th in a row at home, their longest home winning streak since they strung together 16 straight at Veterans Stadium in 1991. They remained 3 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East.
"It's been a lot more fun the last little while," said Halladay, who pitched his eighth complete game and came within one out of a shutout. "It's important that we finish up strong here [Thursday] and carry it on the road. We seem to play well at home lately and we need to carry that over."
While Brown successfully overcame the natural jitters prompted by his major-league debut, Halladay calmly went about his business with cold calculation. He extended his streak of scoreless innings at home to 33 2/3 innings before Miguel Montero's two-out double in the ninth ruined his bid for his fourth shutout.
Montero's hit was misplayed in right field by Brown, who broke for the ball rather than play it safe and hold Montero to a single.
"I was trying to make a play for my team," Brown said. "Normally I don't go after that ball at all."
Halladay gave up six hits and struck out nine to run his record to 12-8.
Until Montero's double, Halladay had not allowed a run at Citizens Bank Park since the first inning of a July 5 game against Atlanta.
And Halladay made it look easy, retiring the Diamondbacks in order in five innings. He didn't walk a batter and needed only 114 pitches to complete his work.
