In two of the worst innings of his mostly spectacular season, Halladay was rocked for four runs on six hits, three of them doubles. He put the Phillies in a two-run hole in the first. Atypically, a lineup he could have sued for non-support on many occasions, hung a crooked number five in the third and he took a 6-3 lead into a seventh inning that ran his pitch count to 111. His afternoon ended with the Phils clinging to a 6-5 lead.
But in innings two through six against the Mets, there should have been a sign in front of the mound that read, "Genius at Work."
Halladay allowed three hits and fired eight of his 10 strikeouts while allowing a sixth-inning run.
So the great righthander's line was something of a contradiction of what we have come to expect in a game when he walks one and strikes out 10. Those numbers are what fans are accustomed to getting in a complete-game shutout by Doc. They suggest a surgical precision with four pitches that are at his beck and call.
But the rest of his line - the bottom line, as it were - suggests a veteran struggling with both location and command in those two innings, finding his release points and arm slot after the shaky first, then hitting the wall in the seventh inning of a game played, once again, with the temperature hovering near 90. It is never a good thing when a man as large as Halladay must execute his power delivery more than 100 times with the temperature exceeding the velocity of his fastball.
Once again, Charlie Manuel demonstrated his implicit faith in his ace - even when a game that appeared to be won suddenly was one more extra-base hit from the Mets regaining the lead.
