>>>I'd love to see him get it. You know, for a guy who has only given up 28 walks in 196 innings, you'd think he'd have given up more hits. He's always in the strike zone. If the Phillies had given him a few runs in some of those games, he could have a far better record than 17-10.
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>>>I agree, the run support for Halladay has been pretty weak. In several of Halladay's losses, he still pitched into the 7th inning. And even some of his wins have been the 1-0 and 2-0 variety.
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>>>He is a horse - 8 complete games. In the National League, that's especially amazing. He redefines the concept of consummate professional. If he has a strong September, I think he'll get the Cy Young. With Philly looking good for at least the WC, if not the division title, the combo of Hamels (who is pitching VERY well), Oswalt, and Halladay will be tough to beat.
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>>>But Philly's offense needs to improve - the only two reliable hitters in the lineup have been Placido Polanco and Chooch Ruiz. The rest of the lineup has underachieved, which is really unfortunate, considering how good the pitching has been.
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>>It seems to follow him. He had exactly the same problem in Toronto. On days when he pitched, the hitting just shut down. I wonder if hitters feel like they don't need to work as hard if he's throwing. Hard to imagine, but it's got to be something.
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>FWIW, it's not just for Halladay. In fact, I think the Phils have scored fewer for Hamels this year. Can't figure out where to look that up.
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>The Phils' offense has been maddening this year. Yesterday's a good example. Day-night doubleheader against the Marlins. Game 1: The Marlins start a 28-year-old making his ML debut. Phils get nothing off him, and end up with 1 run scored in the 9th. Game 2: Phils score 7 off Anibal Sanchez.
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>FWIW, Halladay has not looked great his last few starts. We were there to see him on Saturday night and he gave up 4 solo HRs. Phils won anyway, which I guess makes up for one of those 1-0 or 2-1 games earlier.

Well, ok, a home run looks bad in the stats, but still, he only gave up 7 hits. So 4 of them were long balls. If they'd been off the wall instead of over it, they'd have been doubles and nobody would remember them.

The real difference between a home run and a solid double isn't very much in terms of pitch placement.