Giants beat Halladay, Phils in Game 1

The players and managers of both the Phillies and Giants said this because they know. They know how hard it is for pitchers - even ones with the biological and mental qualities of Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum - to repeat the motion of throwing a baseball approximately 100 times and expect precision when it leaves the hand.

They also know this undeniable principle: It is impossible for a pitcher to control every variable.

In the sixth inning of the Phillies' 4-3 loss to San Francisco in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, Halladay began his walk from the mound to the dugout after throwing a 90-m.p.h. cutter on the black to Pat Burrell with two outs.

Halladay executed his pitch. He thought it was a strike.

"Yeah, I did," Halladay said later.

But home plate umpire Derryl Cousins did not agree. It was close, Charlie Manuel said, that much is sure.

Burrell hit the next pitch for a run-scoring double off Raul Ibanez's glove to pad the Giants' lead. Juan Uribe followed with an RBI single for a 4-1 Giants advantage. That was the game.

And that's why you never know. The Phillies lost a Game 1 for the first time in eight series. The favorites to win a third consecutive National League pennant suddenly face some measure of adversity.

They lost with their ace and presumptive Cy Young Award winner on the mound. Halladay, 10 days removed from throwing a no-hitter in his postseason debut, was hittable. So was Lincecum, but he had enough go right on this night.

In seven innings, Halladay allowed four runs on eight hits. He retired the first seven batters he faced before Cody Ross, the 36th hitter to challenge Halladay this postseason, had the first hit against him. It was a solo home run, crushed deep into the left-field stands.

You never know because no one would have predicted Ross - San Francisco's No. 8 hitter - would hit two home runs off Halladay. Ross, the former Florida Marlin and noted Phillies killer, was claimed off waivers by the Giants at the end of August simply to block him from the San Diego Padres.

That makes him - along with Burrell, who was also released earlier this season - the unlikely Giants heroes of Game 1. At best, Ross did enough to show the rest of the baseball world that, indeed, Roy Halladay is human.

"It was a bit of a reality check," closer Brad Lidge said. "You're always surprised when Roy gets hit. It's once in a blue moon."