Halladay Strong In Return As Phils Beat DBacks
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Roy Halladay went to bed thinking he would be facing minor-league hitters Sunday before a late-night call woke him with a change of plans. The Diamondbacks hitters probably wish that his phone was on silent.
Halladay pitched six strong innings in his return from the disabled list and John Mayberry Jr. homered to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 9-5 victory over Arizona on Sunday.
Cody Asche had two hits with a double and two RBIs and Roger Bernadina had two RBIs for the Phillies, who have won six of their last eight games.
"I felt good and feel like each time out it's getting better," Halladay said. "I'm getting stronger and looking forward to continuing to build."
Halladay (3-4), who was working back from midseason right shoulder surgery and making his first start since May 5, originally was going to pitch his third minor-league rehab start on Sunday but was pressed into action when Sunday's original starter, Tyler Cloyd, was one of 11 Philadelphia pitchers used in Saturday's record-setting, 7-hour, 6-minute marathon.
Interim manager Ryne Sandberg got the go-ahead to use Cloyd and then Halladay, who was sleeping, was summoned in his Reading, Pa. hotel room, where he was resting in preparation for a Double-A start for the Fightin Phils against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
"I didn't know what was going on," Halladay said.
He went back to bed and made the 70-mile commute to Philadelphia on Sunday morning.
"It was nice having him out there," Sandberg said. "He was totally for it. He wanted to get back as soon as possible. He showed he's on his way back."
A.J. Pollock had three hits, including a three-run homer, for Arizona — which has lost four of five. The Diamondbacks return home Monday after a 4-6 road trip pushed them further back in the playoff race.
"It was a bad trip," manager Kirk Gibson said. "We have a big game tomorrow. We have to try to get some rest tonight and play a good game tomorrow."
The game started just 11 hours and 25 minutes after the final out at 2:12 a.m. that set a record for length of time of a game for both clubs. This one was more conventional, taking 2 hours, 49 minutes.
Halladay was helped by some generous run support.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first, the Phillies picked up Halladay with four runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to Asche's two-run double and RBIs from Darin Ruf and Kevin Frandsen.
Arizona pulled within 4-2 in the second on Tuffy Gosewisch's first career RBI, a sacrifice fly, but Halladay settled down after that. The tall right-hander, who struggled with velocity and command early this season, didn't allow another hit until Pollock's two-out single in the sixth.
Using a slow curveball and his trademark cutter that generally reached the high 80's on the stadium radar gun, Halladay struck out two, walked two and allowed four hits. It was his first victory since April 19 against the Cardinals.
"Each time out I'm progressing back to where I was," the two-time Cy Young winner said. "My arm slot and movement are back to where they used to be. I can be more consistent with location and, in talking to doctors, velocity is going to be the last thing to come."
The Phillies blew the game open in the sixth with three more runs off Patrick Corbin (13-4), who gave up a career-high eight earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. The All-Star left-hander, who had won his previous three starts, hadn't allowed more than five earned runs in any game this season entering Sunday.
"It just wasn't my day," Corbin said. "I left a lot of pitches up. I didn't have my best stuff. I feel bad about not going deeper into the game."
Arizona got three of those runs back in the eighth when Pollock hit a two-out, three-run homer off right-hander J.C. Ramirez.
Bernadina made two stellar catches in center field, robbing Matt Davidson of a two-run homer with a leaping grab over the fence in the third and sprawling to snare Gosewisch sinking liner to short center with an all-out dive in the seventh.
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