Nasty Curve: Phillies 3, Cardinals 1

Roy Halladay turned in another fine, fine performance tonight in the Phillies 3-1 win over the Cardinals. The evening began with Mike Lieberthal's Wall of Fame induction ceremony, and ended with Gregg Murphy interviewing Chase Utley on the field while Harry Kalas sang "High Hopes" in the background. Sandwiched between those two events were Roy Halladay's great outing, Chase Utley's go-ahead two-run homer, and Carlos Beltran's embarrassing and hilarious game ending rundown. Oh, and Pat Burrell held a baby.

It was a good night.

Kyle Lohse looked good for the Cardinals, fanning seven over seven innings and giving up four hits. His one hiccup came in the second inning when Ryan Howard doubled and Domonic Brown (hitting fifth and playing right field!) knocked him in with a single. Things didn't start getting interesting until much later. Jimmy Rollins got his first hit of the night to start the bottom of the eighth. (Elizabeth) Barret Browning, in to relieve Lohse, balked Rollins to second, and Juan Pierre (starting for the first time since July 31) sacrificed him to third. And then Chase Utley came to the plate and belted a two-run home run to give the Phillies the lead. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

But while Lohse was good, Hallday was better. Eight innings, 99 pitches, 72 strikes, two hits, one run, no walks, and eight strikeouts. He looked sublime tonight, and his curve ball was nastier than it's been all season. The only moment of doubt was when he allowed a home run to Carlos effing Beltran in the second inning. After that, Halladay went into beast mode, giving up just one more hit to Jon Jay. (Not to be confused with Founding Father, Governor of New York, and first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Jay. He's dead.). Beltran would single against Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth before getting caught in a ridiculous looking rundown to end the game. Yes, sometimes that stupid third-to-first move actually works. And by sometimes, I mean that this may be actually the first time in recorded history. (Ok, it's probably not the FIRST time.)

It's Alumni Weekend at Citizens Bank Park. At the game for Lieby's induction were Steve Carlton, Michael Jack Schmidt, Dick Allen, Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski, Tony Taylor, Bob Boone, Garry Maddux, Dallas Green, Juan Samuel (well, he does work there), Darren Daulton, and the red-faced parade balloon that is John Kruk (I kid because I love!). And then, Pat Burrell came out to present the plaque holding one of Lieby's adorable children. At that moment, my swoony sigh joined in with those of many, many, many other women across the Delaware Valley and indeed the world. I mean, Pat Burrell holding a small adorable child? Put that on a poster and sell it. You'll be a millionaire.

This Fangraph is not as cute as Pat Burrell holding a baby, but it's still pretty sweet to look at.

Source: FanGraphs