Roy Halladay Throws Fifth Complete Game

It's no surprise that Philadelphia's Roy Halladay is pitching some great games for the first place Phillies.  He gets his 10th win yesterday and throws his 5th complete game.

Roy Halladay is on a roll.  Yesterday was his 10th win of the season.  It improves him to 31-13 since joining the Phillies in 2010, making him the 6th pitcher in history with that many wins in 50 starts.  The only one with more is Pedro Martinez with 34  for Boston back in 1998-1999.

Halladay is also 30-3 in games where Philadelphia gives him a lead.  The Phillies have also won his last 8 starts and he is 5-0 over that period with a 2.64 ERA.

Yesterday the Phillies beat the A's 3-1.  Oakland was able to get 8 hits off of Halladay but couldn't put any runs across the plate.  That is something teams are all to familiar with.  Halladay will give up a lot of hits, but little runs and his teams explosive offense is a huge factor in that.

If we can score three or four runs, our starting pitchers have a good chance to win the game. We scratched out three runs and he did a tremendous job. It might not sound like a lot of runs but it gives him room to work.

-Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel

The Phillies have a bit of room to work in the NL East right now.  Atlanta is the next closest team to them, and they are 5 games behind.