Oh No!! Oh ... NO No-No ... Like Somehow, That's Better

August 30:  Los Angeles 3, PHILLIES 0

Were the Phils going through a divorce, Roy Halliday would have grounds for lack of support.  Another quality start, wasted because the Phils can't hit their way out of a deep-fried Twinkie (mmmmm ... deeeeep friiiiiiied Twinkieeeeee ....).  Not much to say about last night's game, so let's take a look at the case of Halladay v. Philadelphia Phillies ...

Here are the hitting stats for the Phils in the 10 games in which Halladay has been charged with the loss (10):

                 AB  R  H 2B 3B HR BB SO
4/26 @SF L,1-5   31  1  4  1  0  0  7 11
5/18 PIT L,1-2   31  1  6  0  0  0  3  8
5/23 BOS L,3-8   35  3  8  4  1  1  2  2
6/10 FLA L,0-2   30  0  4  3  0  0  1  6
6/15 @NYY L,3-8  32  3  5  0  0  0  4  9
6/20 MIN L,1-4   31  1  4  0  0  1  0  2
6/30 @CIN L,3-4  36  3  9  0  0  1  1  8
7/18 @CHI L,6-11 36  6  9  1  0  3  7  8
8/25 HOU L,2-3   32  2  7  1  0  1  2  7
8/30 @LA L,0-1   27  0  1  0  0  0  2  7
                321 20 57 10  1  7 29 68


All that lack of hitting comes out to a .176 average, .280 slugging, and .245 on-base percentage.  Absolutely unacceptable for one of the most potent offenses in the National League the past four seasons.  The stats will tell you that Halladay has received 14 runs of support in his 10 losses, and the table above shows 20 ... that's because I took game-end stats and didn't back out the stats accumulated after Halladay left the game.  For example, the Phils scored three in the ninth against the Yankees, long after Roy had been knocked around on June 15.  So, in that game, they gave him zero run support.

It should go without saying that run support is crucial for two reasons.  First, and most obvious, is that you can't win if you don't score (or you don't score more than the other guy).  Second, and again, fairly obvious, is that a pitcher, any pitcher, pitches with more confidence and more daring when he has a lead to play with.  He'll throw stuff just on the black in tight situations because he has some runs to work with.  Umpires help, too, as a pitcher with a nice lead, who is around the plate, will generally get a lot of close calls, which simply reinforces the aggressiveness and establishes dominance.

The Phillies have to be careful; these Braves are not going away, and to expect the Mets, Marlins, and Nationals to be of any help (as we've seen the last two nights) is a pipe dream at best.  While everyone waits for the Braves' youth to implode, the Braves have the one thing in this race that no other team has ... one of the winningest managers in the history of baseball, and a first-ballot Hall of Famer, in their dugout.

Order up!