Another great effort Phillies fans have come to expect from ace Roy Halladay was wasted last night at Citizens Bank Park. His opposite number for the Florida Marlins made sure of it.
Josh Johnson tossed eight overpowering innings to lead Florida over the Phils 2-0.
When the two pitchers last met on May 29th in Miami, Halladay twirled the 20th perfect game in major league history in a 1-0 victory.
This time around, Johnson (7-2) gave up three hits, walked one, and struck out five.
"I was ready to go tonight,“ said Johnson.
Halladay (8-4) was just about as dominant, allowing one run and six hits over his eight innings. Doc fanned eight and walked one. The only run he allowed came on a Jorge Cantu sacrifice fly in the first inning.
"He’s been on a roll, so that makes it tough," Halladay said of Johnson.
The Marlins' Dan Uggla hit his 14th home run of the season off Phils reliever Danys Baez.
Johnson escaped a first-inning jam by striking out Jayson Werth, then retired 17 straight after allowing a one-out double to Shane Victorino in the third. Leo Nunez notched his 13th save, striking out Ryan Howard to end the fast moving game (two hours, 23 minutes).
One game after scoring 10 runs, the Phillies were shut out for the seventh time this season. That matches their entire total from 2009.
“It was two great pitchers tonight, so we knew base hits were going to be tough to come by,” said Howard.
With the loss, the Phillies drop 2 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East. Tonight, the Phils begin a stretch of interleague baseball at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox at 7:10 p.m. Jamie Moyer starts for the Phils against John Lackey for the Bosox.
