Remarkable Halladay no-hits Reds
Talk about a post-season debut.
Roy Halladay threw the second no-hitter in post-season history, leading the Philadelphia Phillies over the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 in Game 1 of the NL division series on Wednesday.
Don Larsen is the only other pitcher to throw a post-season no-hitter. He threw a perfect game for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series against Brooklyn. The 54th anniversary of Larsen's gem is this Friday.
"It's surreal, it really is," Halladay said. "I just wanted to pitch here, to pitch in the post-season. To go out and have a game like that, it's a dream come true."
Halladay took the Year of the Pitcher into the post-season. The excitement spread beyond Citizens Bank Park — the last two outs were shown on the video board at Target Field, where the Twins were preparing to play the Yankees, and Minnesota fans cheered.
The all-star right-hander, who tossed a perfect game at Florida on May 29, dominated the Reds with a sharp fastball and a devastating slow curve in his first playoff start.
Halladay allowed only one runner, walking Jay Bruce on a full count with two outs in the fifth, and struck out eight.
Halladay spent 12 seasons with Toronto, far from the post-season. A trade last off-season brought him to the defending two-time NL champions.
With a sellout crowd standing in the ninth and chanting "Let's Go, Doc!" Halladay got a loud ovation when he jogged to the mound to start the inning.
Ramon Hernandez popped out to second baseman Chase Utley for the first out. Pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo then fouled out to third baseman Wilson Valdez.
Halladay then retired Brandon Phillips on a tapper in front of the plate to end it. Catcher Carlos Ruiz pounced on the ball, getting down on his knee as the ball rolled near Phillips's bat, and made a strong throw for the final out.
Halladay pumped his fist into his glove as Ruiz rushed to the mound. Just like catcher Yogi Berra did with Larsen, Ruiz started to jump into Halladay's arms. Unlike Berra, Ruiz didn't wrap up his pitcher in a bear hug.
"I felt like we got in a groove early," Halladay said. "Carlos has been great all year, he helps me get into a rhythm early, throwing strikes."
Kudos for Halladay
Phillies aces Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels ran out of the dugout side-by-side to congratulate the other member of Philadelphia's Big 3. Pretty soon, everyone in a Phillies uniform was part of the victory party.
"This is what you come here for," Halladay said. "It's a good team, they know how to win.… It's been a great year, a fun year, we obviously have a ways to go."
Cincinnati didn't come too close to a hit. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins made the toughest play, going deep in the hole and making a strong throw to retire Joey Votto of Toronto in the fourth.
"It's no fun out there," Votto said. "It's like trying to hit nothing. He's an ace among aces."
Pitcher Travis Wood hit a sinking liner to right that Jayson Werth caught in the third. Pinch-hitter Juan Francisco hit a hard grounder up the middle in the sixth, but Rollins scooted over and made it look easy.
Halladay became the fifth pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the same year. He joined Nolan Ryan (1973), Virgil Trucks (1952), Allie Reynolds (1951) and Johnny Vander Meer (1938).
The last time a pitcher came close to a no-hitter in the post-season was quite a while ago. Boston's Jim Lonborg went 7 2/3 innings against St. Louis in the 1967 World Series before Julian Javier broke up the bid with a double.
"To get a no-hitter in this fashion, in your first post-season game, you've got to put it right up there," Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard said.
The Phillies led the majors in wins (97) for the first time in franchise history, captured their fourth consecutive division title and are trying to become the first NL team in 66 years to win three straight pennants.
They are prohibitive favourites in this best-of-five against the NL Central champion Reds, who are making their first post-season appearance since 1995.
Game 2 is Friday at Philadelphia.
The Reds led the NL in average (.272), homers (188) and runs (790). But they couldn't do anything against Halladay, who won 21 games and is a strong candidate to win his second Cy Young Award.
A determined, intense Halladay got ahead of hitters and worked quickly. He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the first 18 batters.
Halladay even did it at the plate. He ignited a three-run, two-out rally in the second with an RBI single.
On the opposite side, 27-year-old Edinson Volquez looked like a post-season rookie. He never seemed to get comfortable on the mound, taking his time between pitches, tugging at his cap and long dreadlocks and breathing deeply. At one point, Hernandez, from his crouched position behind the plate, motioned for him to calm down.
Volquez allowed four runs and four hits in 1 2/3 innings. The hard-throwing right-hander was 4-3 in 12 starts this season after returning from elbow surgery.
Halladay was so eager to join the Phillies that he passed up a chance to test free agency after this season and signed a $60-million US, three-year extension to complete a trade. Halladay probably would have received the richest contract ever for a pitcher if he held off, but he wanted to play in Philadelphia.
There was much talk down the stretch about Halladay's inexperience in the post-season. The Phillies also have Oswalt and Hamels. Both pitchers have been dominant in previous playoff games, but Halladay got the ball and didn't disappoint.
Halladay got his first strikeout in the second, fooling Scott Rolen on an 85 m.p.h. change-up. He caught Rolen looking at a fastball on the outside corner to start the fifth, and fanned him again on a 79 m.p.h. change-up in the seventh.
The Phillies gave Halladay all the runs he would need in the first.
Shane Victorino sliced a one-out double down the left-field line. He stole third and scored on Utley's sacrifice fly to right. A fired-up Victorino slid headfirst barely ahead of Bruce's strong one-hop throw, got up and patted plate umpire John Hirschbeck on the behind on his way to the dugout.
Ruiz drew a two-out walk in the second and Valdez bounced an infield single that shortstop Orlando Cabrera fielded on the second-base side of the infield. Halladay then hit a hard liner to left that fell in ahead of Jonny Gomes's sliding attempt. Ruiz scored to make it 2-0. After Rollins walked to load the bases, Victorino chased Volquez with a two-run single.
With the crowd waving their white-and-red "Fightin' Phils" rally towels, Victorino fouled off consecutive 3-2 pitches before lining a hit to left-centre for a 4-0 lead.
The Phillies didn't have their regular lineup for three straight games the entire season, and they probably won't in this series. Third baseman Placido Polanco was scratched with a sore back.
The Phillies got swept by the Reds in the 1976 NLCS. Philadelphia won a franchise-record 101 games that season to snap a 25-year playoff drought. But the Phillies ran into the Big Red Machine, which swept through the post-season to win its second consecutive World Series title.
It's a reversed situation now. The Phillies — call them the New Red Machine — are perhaps in the middle of a dynasty, while Cincinnati is the young team on the rise.