Halladay did not allow a runner to reach base that night, and the Philadelphia Phillies have thought that this was the most he could not. But given the setting Wednesday, he found a way to top himself.
Halladay threw the second no-hitter in postseason history and the first since the perfect game Don Larsen for the Yankees in the 1956 World Series. He countered the Cincinnati Reds, the highest scoring team in the NHL this season in a 4-0 win in Game 1 of their division playoff series.
Halladay allowed only one runner on a walk to Jay Bruce with two in the fifth inning, and only a few hard hit balls. He struck out eight, with exceptional control of his fastball, cut into two sewing, gear change and curveball.
The game was bound to be memorable for Halladay, decorated right turn that had worked for 12 years with another competitor Blue Jays until the trade to the Phillies last December. His 320 career starts were more than any other active pitcher who had never appeared in the playoffs.
"It was fun," Halladay said last week, after closing the Washington Nationals to clinch the NL East title. "But it's only going more fun."
Halladay could not know the truth in this observation inelegant. He learned early in his career the difficulty of the non-striker may be, to lose one to two in the ninth inning of his second start as a rookie in 1998. It was not until this May 29, on the road against the Florida Marlins for Halladay to throw a no-hitter. He did it in style, with the 20th perfect game in major league history.
Its achievement is the starter Wednesday Halladay fifth in major league history to throw two no hitters in one season. The others are Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds in 1938, Allie Reynolds of the Yankees in 1951, Virgil Trucks of the Detroit Tigers in 1952 and Nolan Ryan of the California Angels in 1973.
It also continued a trend in the majors this season. Halladay gem was the sixth without batting since opening day, slightly less than the major league record in a season. Another potential source of non-hitter - a perfect game, in fact, by Armando Galarraga Detroit - has been ruined by blown call an umpire for two in the ninth inning.
Halladay, 33, went 21-10 this season, leading the league in complete games and sleeves, and he should win his second Cy Young Award. It was all the Phillies could have hoped when they traded three prospects to Toronto to do it, then it has signed a contract extension that could reach $ 80 million four years.
The movement has been something of a gamble for the Phillies, who traded their ace simultaneously 2009, Cliff Lee, the Seattle Mariners. Lee had beaten the Yankees twice last fall to the Phillies victory in the World Series.
Lee has remained an ace - now with the Texas Rangers, he beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday with a solid seven innings in Game 1 of a series of American League division - but Halladay injected a further element of despair for the Phillies' two-time reigning NL champions. If ever there was a danger of more and more of their complacency, their presence has cleared.
0 comments:
Post a Comment