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Roy Halladay has been everything Phils fans could imagine, and tonight was no different, as he pitched his first complete game shutout in the National League in a 2-0 win.
How about these numbers? Halladay is 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA in his first four starts with Philadelphia. He is 6-0 with a 0.53 ERA in his past six starts with four complete games and three shutouts.
But it took a team effort on this night. Shane Victorino robbed Troy Glaus of a solo home run in the second, making a leaping catch at the center-field wall on a ball that clearing would have been a homer. Juan Castro made a nice play up the middle and Ryan Howard did a split to complete the play at first.
Those were the coolest plays, but the biggest play might have been the double play to end the seventh. Yunel Escobar hit a grounder up the middle. The ball hit off the mound and Utley made a diving stab to his right and flipped the ball to Castro, whose momentum carried him across the bag as he made the throw to Howard to end the inning.
Halladay pumped his fist into his glove and showed true emotion for the first time this season. Howard also made a fantastic diving catch on a one-hopper to his right in the ninth. He flipped the ball to Halladay at first to retire Jones for the first out.
They took a 1-0 lead in the second when Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez hit back-to-back doubles, and took a 2-0 lead in the sixth when Howard singled and scored on Werth's double to left-center field.
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