Halladay Blanks Mets for Second Shutout

Once Roy Halladay neared the end, he made sure to finish.

Halladay threw a three-hitter for his second shutout in three starts, Shane Victorino hit a three-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Mets 10-0 Saturday to end New York's eight-game winning streak.

Halladay (5-1) struck out six, walked one and recorded his 17th career shutout in his first outing since suffering his first loss with the Phillies at San Francisco last Monday. The six-time All-Star right-hander went the distance for the third time this season and notched his 52nd career complete game.

It didn't appear Halladay would stick around to close this one out when his pitched count reached the 80s after five innings, but he settled in nicely.

“It's one of those things you try not to pay attention to,” Halladay said. “You go as long as you can regardless. Being up 6-0 made it easier to be aggressive.”

Mets right-hander Mike Pelfrey (4-1) extended his scoreless innings streak to 27 before giving up six runs in the fourth. He ran into some bad luck, however. Two of the first three hits he allowed in the inning almost were caught.

Chase Utley led off with a liner off the glove of leaping shortstop Jose Reyes. Ryan Howard then lined a single to right and Jayson Werth followed with a bloop single that bounced out of second baseman Alex Cora's glove. Utley, who easily would've been doubled off second if Cora held onto the ball, scored for 1-0 lead.

After Raul Ibanez struck out, Juan Castro hit a two-run double down the left-field line. Carlos Ruiz singled to center, but Castro was thrown out at the plate on Angel Pagan's two-hop throw.

Halladay extended the inning with his fourth hit in six games. That brought up Victorino, who drove one into the seats in right for a 6-0 lead.

“Those things happen,” Pelfrey said. “After that things seemed to snowball. I didn't lose my focus. I kept pounding the strike zone but made a mistake to Victorino.”

Acquired from Toronto in the offseason, Halladay has lived up to high expectations. The former AL Cy Young Award winner has a 1.47 ERA. He tossed a five-hitter against Atlanta on April 21 for his first NL shutout.

“He's a bulldog, man. He's a grinder,” Howard said.

A crowd of 45,264 included plenty of proud Mets fans wearing blue and orange, and was pretty tame on a hot afternoon. It was the 50th straight sellout at Citizens Bank Park.

The strong start by the Mets, who entered leading the NL East, has energized the rivalry between these teams. The two-time defending NL champion Phillies surpassed New York in late September to win the division in 2007-08. But the Mets were never in contention last year when Philadelphia won its third straight NL East crown.

Though it was his first taste of the rivalry, Halladay didn't change his approach.

“As a pitcher, your focus every time should be to do as well as
 possible,” he said. “Your focus should be to be consistent.”

Ibanez ripped a two-run triple off Raul Valdes in the fifth to make it 8-0. The struggling Ibanez, an All-Star last year, is hitting just .222 with one homer and 11 RBIs. At the same point last season, Ibanez was batting .344 with eight homers and 21 RBIs.

The Mets' best chance to score came in the third when they had a runner on third with one out. But Pagan lined out to second and Cora grounded out to second.

“He kept us off-balance,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel said of Halladay. “We had a couple of chances, but he's a good pitcher.”

Henry Blanco caught Pelfrey even though Rod Barajas homered twice Friday and has six homers in seven games against the Phillies since leaving the team after the 2007 season. Blanco has been behind the plate for each of Pelfrey's starts.