Pitch Count

With a case of tendinitis in his right elbow, Billy "Moose" Ford had to work his way slowly into Malvern Prep's pitching rotation this season. Also, instead of regularly handling the catching duties, he was made a designated hitter. "It's hard just sitting in the dugout and watching," the senior captain said. "You want to be doing what you usually do. It's an adjustment. " Ford made up for the missed action on Tuesday. With the 6-foot-3, 235-pound righthander notching 10 strikeouts, the visiting Friars downed Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, 4-2, and clinched their third straight Inter-Academic League baseball championship.

Before each game Reading lefthander Jesse Biddle throws to one simulated batter as his final warm-up before taking the mound in the first inning. Biddle didn't do so well in the simulated version on Monday but had much more success in the real event. During Monday's 3-2 win over at Harrisburg, Biddle pitched seven shutout innings of one-hit ball. He struck out 16 and had a perfect game until walking a batter with one out in the seventh inning. "Before the game I always throw a simulated hitter to get myself in game mode and on Monday I walked the simulated hitter on four pitches," Biddle said.

"That stinkin' curveball. " The comment came from a frustrated Archbishop Carroll supporter after Archbishop Wood's Scott Boches had recorded one of his seven strikeouts late in Tuesday's Catholic League Blue Division baseball game. The senior righthander mostly kept the host Patriots guessing with his tricky curveball, and with the aid of three home runs in a small ballpark, the Vikings triumphed, 7-3, in Radnor. "It's really been my 'out' pitch this season," Boches said.

The rainouts for some high school baseball teams on Monday and Tuesday actually might be a good thing for preserving arms. The NJSIAA pitching rules appear to be lenient. For instance, under the rules, a pitcher can throw up to 10 innings on a Monday and up to 10 innings on a Friday. While this is an extreme example, the fact is that a pitcher can throw 20 innings within five days. Is that very stringent? One of the rules states that if a pitcher throws more than five innings, he must have three full days of rest.

ATLANTA - It is an obituary nobody wants to write, and only Roy Halladay can prevent it from being written. He forced us all to sharpen our pencils Wednesday night. If the question before this start was whether Halladay would be closer to his vintage self now that the games count, it is now this: If he isn't going to be that pitcher again, can he learn how to be effective in a different way? The guess here is that the answer will turn out to be yes. Halladay is just too competitive, too dedicated to his craft to be daunted by this challenge.

ATLANTA - Frustrated. That was the first word out of a distraught Roy Halladay's mouth following an odd outing in a string of troubling starts. On Wednesday night, Halladay needed 95 pitches to get 10 outs, nine of which came on strikeouts. He also served up two home runs and was out of the game before the fourth inning was over. But perhaps it was also the most predictable of outcomes when you matched up the aging, scuffling Halladay against the new-look, free-swinging Atlanta Braves.

Archbishop Carroll relied on the strong arm of Eric McGough and a late, fortunate bounce to edge host Lansdale Catholic, 5-4, in Wednesday afternoon's Catholic League baseball matchup. McGough didn't allow a hit in six innings, but was removed before the seventh as his pitch count totaled 93 and Carroll held a 5-1 lead. In the absence of the junior hurler, Lansdale stormed back with three runs and loaded the bases with two outs. Rick DiDominico's wild pitch bounced off the back stop and was recovered by catcher Dan Santoleri, who fired back to DiDominico for the game-ending out at home plate.

A hard-hit liner back to the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning knocked Eric Ruth to the ground. But the pitching ace quickly popped up, gathered his fallen cap, and continued, more determined than ever, to go about finishing what he had started. Down by 3-0, with one out and runners on first and second, Parkland would score a run and briefly threaten North Penn's once-comfortable advantage. But Ruth, as he had done throughout the season, doused the flame in never-a-doubt fashion.

For those lucky enough to still be involved in the state baseball tournament, there are two games left to win in order to earn that always coveted state title. That could also mean two more games for one pitcher to start. The way the NJSIAA pitching rules are set up, a pitcher could pitch in Tuesday's public school state semifinals or Non-Public sectional final and then also throw in Saturday's state championship game. At this time of year when others are looking at the strengths and weakness of state title contenders, it might be a better idea to examine the NJSIAA pitching rules.

For those lucky enough to still be involved in the state baseball tournament, two games are left to win in order to earn the state title. That could also mean two more games for one pitcher to start. The way the NJSIAA pitching rules are set up, a pitcher could pitch in Tuesday's public school state semifinals or non-public sectional final and then also throw in Saturday's state championship game. At this time of year, when others are looking at the strengths and weaknesses of state title contenders, it might be a better idea to examine the NJSIAA pitching rules.

With a case of tendinitis in his right elbow, Billy "Moose" Ford had to work his way slowly into Malvern Prep's pitching rotation this season. Also, instead of regularly handling the catching duties, he was made a designated hitter. "It's hard just sitting in the dugout and watching," the senior captain said. "You want to be doing what you usually do. It's an adjustment. " Ford made up for the missed action on Tuesday. With the 6-foot-3, 235-pound righthander notching 10 strikeouts, the visiting Friars downed Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, 4-2, and clinched their third straight Inter-Academic League baseball championship.

"That stinkin' curveball. " The comment came from a frustrated Archbishop Carroll supporter after Archbishop Wood's Scott Boches had recorded one of his seven strikeouts late in Tuesday's Catholic League Blue Division baseball game. The senior righthander mostly kept the host Patriots guessing with his tricky curveball, and with the aid of three home runs in a small ballpark, the Vikings triumphed, 7-3, in Radnor. "It's really been my 'out' pitch this season," Boches said.

Before each game Reading lefthander Jesse Biddle throws to one simulated batter as his final warm-up before taking the mound in the first inning. Biddle didn't do so well in the simulated version on Monday but had much more success in the real event. During Monday's 3-2 win over at Harrisburg, Biddle pitched seven shutout innings of one-hit ball. He struck out 16 and had a perfect game until walking a batter with one out in the seventh inning. "Before the game I always throw a simulated hitter to get myself in game mode and on Monday I walked the simulated hitter on four pitches," Biddle said.

TAKE AWAY a gem of a performance by Cliff Lee and a bases-clearing, pinch-hit double by Kevin Frandsen and the Phillies would be 0-6 heading into Roy Halladay's scheduled start against the Mets on Monday night. So things could be worse. But in the wake of a 9-8 loss to the Kansas City Royals that featured their second implosion in 3 days, they also could be much, much better. The root cause of the Phillies' fourth loss of the season was simple: Cole Hamels did not have as much success adapting to umpire Eric Cooper's strike zone as did Royals righthander James Shields, who allowed four runs in the first inning and then put up zeroes in the next five.

ATLANTA - Frustrated. That was the first word out of a distraught Roy Halladay's mouth following an odd outing in a string of troubling starts. On Wednesday night, Halladay needed 95 pitches to get 10 outs, nine of which came on strikeouts. He also served up two home runs and was out of the game before the fourth inning was over. But perhaps it was also the most predictable of outcomes when you matched up the aging, scuffling Halladay against the new-look, free-swinging Atlanta Braves.

ATLANTA - It is an obituary nobody wants to write, and only Roy Halladay can prevent it from being written. He forced us all to sharpen our pencils Wednesday night. If the question before this start was whether Halladay would be closer to his vintage self now that the games count, it is now this: If he isn't going to be that pitcher again, can he learn how to be effective in a different way? The guess here is that the answer will turn out to be yes. Halladay is just too competitive, too dedicated to his craft to be daunted by this challenge.

ATLANTA - Charlie Manuel raised his left arm at 8:38 p.m. Wednesday and looked to the bullpen. The steady rain that dampened Turner Field persisted. The gloom extended north to Philadelphia. With one out in the fourth inning of a 9-2 Phillies loss to Atlanta, Roy Halladay capitulated. He ditched the weapons that, for a decade, armed a dominant pitcher. When Halladay threw his fastball, Braves hitters mashed it. The constant diet of off-speed pitches elicited strikeouts, but at the cost of a rising pitch count.

Texas manager Ron Washington was certainly impressed as he watched Yu Darvish flirt with perfection Tuesday night in Houston. He was even more blown away when he saw a television replay of the Japanese star coming within an out of the second perfect game in Rangers history. "It wasn't as nasty looking from the side as it was when I saw it on TV," Washington said Wednesday. "He was nasty. I mean, his ball was moving all over the place. . . . To watch it after the fact, I said he was dominating.

It was a #badloss, and the line of questioning afterward appealed to Charlie Manuel about as much as his late-inning bullpen bridge to closer Jonathan Papelbon. Already grumpy after watching Antonio Bastardo turn seven shutout innings from Cole Hamels into a 3-1 deficit in the top of the eighth inning, Manuel also had to answer for his own handling of the bench Sunday as the Phillies tried to rally in the bottom of the eighth in the first game of a doubleheader. "You guys ought to sit in the dugout with me and give me all the scenarios if you don't think I know them," the manager told reporters, mixing his Southern drawl with biting sarcasm.