Roy Oswalt got an extra boost from the sellout crowd, and then gave them more reason to cheer in his home debut.
Oswalt pitched seven impressive innings, two relievers finished off the six-hitter and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The two-time NL champions are 15-4 since July 22, but lost another player when Ross Gload left with a strained right groin.
Oswalt (7-13) allowed five hits, walked two and struck out five. Relying on a powerful fastball and sharp curve, he mowed down the Dodgers to earn his first win in his third start for the Phillies.
The three-time All-Star right-hander, acquired from Houston before the non-waiver trade deadline, pitched twice on the road before putting on the red pinstripes for the first time.
“There’s a lot more adrenaline than when your pitching in front of 15,000 fans trying to get to the end of the season,” Oswalt said. “I don’t get caught up looking around, but you can hear it’s a lot louder.”
Dodgers starter Clay Billingsley (9-7) gave up two runs and five hits in six innings.
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After Oswalt blew a 95 mph fastball past pinch-hitter Matt Kemp on his 109th and final pitch, manager Charlie Manuel turned to his bullpen.
Ryan Madson worked around a leadoff double in the eighth, striking out two batters. Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save in 19 chances. Lidge saved a bunch of Oswalt’s wins during their days together with the Astros.
“It’s great to be pitching behind him again,” Lidge said. “It’s just like old times.”
The injury-depleted Phillies already were missing All-Stars Ryan Howard and Chase Utley and Shane Victorino before Gload got hurt running out a double in the sixth. The backup first baseman will be evaluated on Thursday.
Oswalt has received the lowest run support of any starter in the majors this year. It was 2.48 runs per game coming in. He didn’t need much this time.
“He had all his stuff working and didn’t give us a chance to get him on the ropes,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.
The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Billingsley struggled with his control. Placido Polanco led off with a single. Gload followed with a sinking liner to left, but Jay Gibbons made a diving catch to rob him.
Billingsley then walked Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth to load the bases. Polanco scored on Domonic Brown’s grounder.
“You could tell from the beginning he was going to throw a good game,” Billingsley said of Oswalt. “You can’t make mistakes in these kind of games.”
Ibanez made it 2-0 with an RBI double in the sixth. Gload led off with a double, limping to the bag after getting hurt. Ibanez hit a drive to the gap in left-center to knock in pinch-runner Mike Sweeney.
Philadelphia wasted a leadoff triple by Wilson Valdez in the fifth. Oswalt and Jimmy Rollins grounded out to drawn-in infielders and Polanco flied out.
