So this Roy Halladay guy pitched Sunday afternoon, and went the route against the Boston Red Sox to pick up his 11th win and fourth complete game of the 2009 season. As you've probably heard, the Phillies think this kid might amount to something, and are considering making a trade offer. Meanwhile, their own shutdown pitcher put an exclamation mark on a successful weekend in Miami. J.A. Happ ran his record to 7-0 with seven scoreless innings against the Marlins as the Phils won their third straight against Florida and eighth straight overall by a 5-0 score.
In his rookie year, Happ has outperformed his solid but unspectacular repertoire of pitches with superb composure. He showed it again in the sixth inning when, with the Phils ahead 4-0, Florida loaded the bases on singles from Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla and a Pedro Feliz error on a Cody Ross grounder. But Happ got Ronny Paulino to pop up, then struck out Brett Carroll and pinch-hitter Wes Helms to preserve the shutout.
The Phillies scored three second-inning runs with two outs. Happ started the rally with an infield single, Jimmy Rollins blooped a hit to shallow center and Shane Victorino reached on another infield hit. Florida starter Andrew Miller, who had escaped the first inning without any damage despite allowing a triple and two walks, hit Chase Utley with a pitch to force in one run. Raul Ibanez plated two more with a line drive single to left. The Phils added a fourth run in the third inning when Jimmy Rollins doubled in Carlos Ruiz with two outs, and stretched their lead to 5-0 in the ninth when Utley scored on a Brendan Donnelly wild pitch.
The win lifted the Phillies 13 games over .500, their high-water mark thus far in 2009, and improved their league-best road record to 29-15. They lead the second-place Atlanta Braves, who took three out of four from the Mets this weekend, by 6.5 games.