Phillies’ Roy Halladay Throws Historic No-Hitter In 4-0 Playoff Victory Over Reds
Oct 6, 2010 1 Comment ›› Pat Dollard
Reporting from Philadelphia — No active big league starter had gone longer without pitching in the playoffs than the Philadelphia Phillies’ Roy Halladay. So in Wednesday’s opener of the National League division series, he more than made up for the wait, no-hitting the Cincinnati Reds in a 4-0 win.
Halladay was masterful, retiring the first 14 Reds before walking Jay Bruce on a full-count pitch with two out in the fifth inning. But that was all Cincinnati would get as Halladay came within a pitch of his second perfect game of the season and the second perfect game in postseason history.
And he made it look easy. Facing a powerhouse lineup that led the NL in virtually every significant offensive category during the regular season, the right-hander threw first-pitch strikes to 25 of the 28 batters he faced, going to three-ball counts only three times.
“It’s just one of those special things I think you’ll always remember,” said Halladay, who found a bottle of champagne resting in ice next to his locker when he returned to the clubhouse. “But the best part about it is the playoffs take priority, and that’s pretty neat for me to be able to go out and win a game like that and know there’s more to come for us and more to accomplish.
“So that makes it a lot of fun.”
Of the 104 pitches he threw, 79 were strikes. In the eighth inning, when he should have been getting tired, he methodically retired the side on seven pitches, striking out two batters.
When he came back out for the ninth inning, he was greeted by a standing ovation from the towel-waving crowd of 46,411, which stayed on its feet, growing louder by the pitch, until Halladay retired Brandon Phillips on a nubber in front of the plate for the final out.
He was then mobbed by his teammates just in front of the mound.
“When it gets that loud, it’s hard to ignore,” Halladay said. “I thought especially the last three innings, it seemed like it got louder every inning. It’s probably, obviously, one of the most electric atmospheres I’ve ever been in. It was pretty neat.
“It’s something, you obviously can’t ignore, so it was a lot of fun.”
Halladay struck out eight batters and was so in control his defense was called on to make only two plays that weren’t routine — a sliding catch by right fielder Jayson Werth to end the third inning and a grounder that took a tricky hop off the mound to shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who stayed with the ball to get the second out in the sixth.
Catcher Carlos Ruiz also had a tricky play for the final out when the ball Phillips tapped in front of the plate came to rest against his bat. But Ruiz collected the ball, avoided the bat and made a throw to first base in plenty of time.
And as if that wasn’t enough, Halladay also contributed at the plate, driving in one run and coming around to score another in a three-run second inning.
Cincinnati shortstop Orlando Cabrera also played a big part in that rally when he fielded Wilson Valdez’s two-out ground ball behind second base but instead of throwing to first base, where he appeared to have an easy play, he made an awkward and wild flip to second base trying for a force out.
Valdez was given a hit on the play, but Halladay made Cabrera pay just the same, lining the next pitch to left field for a run-scoring single. And after Rollins walked on a full-count pitch to load the bases, Shane Victorino helped unload them, knocking another full-count pitch to center field for a two-run single that put Philadelphia ahead, 4-0, and sent starter Edinson Volquez to the showers.
After a day off Thursday, the Reds will try to even the series Friday when they send 17-game winner Bronson Arroyo to the mound against Roy Oswalt.
