ABOVE PHOTO: Roy Halladay has struggled in his last two outings of a sore right shoulder.
(Photo by Webster Riddick)
For the Chris Murray Report and The Philadelphia Sunday Sun
If you were wondering if there was something physically wrong with Phillies starting pitcher Roy Halladay after two disastrous starts in which gave up 17 earned runs in five innings, you absolutely right.
After the Phillies 14-2 loss at Citizen’s Bank Park to the last-place Miami Marlins in which he gave up nine earned runs in less than three innings, Halladay told reporters after the game that he had been experiencing soreness in his right shoulder since an April 19 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“My shoulder was bothering me,” Halladay said. “I woke up and I really didn’t think anything of it. I thought it was regular soreness. It kind progressed over the last two weeks or so. ..I felt good all spring, I felt good all year. It was after that start against Pittsburgh, I had soreness in there and I wasn’t able to get rid of it.”
Meanwhile, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. put Halladay on the disabled list on Monday and the pitcher consulted with doctors in Los Angeles. On Tuesday, it was announced that Halladay would have surgery to repair bone spurs in his rotator cuff. He hopes to return to the mound for the Phillies before the 2013 season ends.
Halladay apparently kept his condition from manager Charlie Manuel and Amaro. Because Halladay is a proven veteran, he felt that he was able to pitch his way through his soreness.
“Listen, he’s a competitor. If he feels he can pitch, he can pitch,” Amaro said. “Clearly, he wasn’t pitching to his custom level and it was apparent after his last outing.”
Going back to his last start against the Cleveland Indians, Halladay has given up a grand total of 17 earned runs, 12 hits, seven walks, two hit batsmen and four homeruns. He hasn’t been able to pitch beyond the fourth inning.
The competitive portion of Sunday’s game ended in the first and third innings. In the first inning, the Marlins scored five runs on two hits because Halladay had absolutely no command over his pitches. He walked three batters and hit another in the back.
“He couldn’t find his pitches ,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “He didn’t have his location and command. It was a combination of things. He kept falling behind and when had to come in and throw the ball in the big part of the plate he got hit.”
Halladay gave up a two-run double to Miami rightfielder Marcell Ozuna that was almost a home run.
Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria hit a bases loaded triple to put the Phillies in a 5-0 hole after one half of an inning.
But Hechavarria wasn’t done with Halladay. In the third inning, the Miami shortstop hit a grand-slam home run that sent Halladay to the showers. For the game, Hechavarria had seven runs batted in. It was 9-0 and the rout was on.
With Halladay definitely out of the starting rotation, the Phillies will be playing a stretch of games against teams with winning records with the exception of the Marlins.
Last May, Halladay wound up on the disabled list and the Phillies went from being a game above .500 to being 13 games below .500 prior to the All-Star break. They were in a huge hole from which they never recovered.
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