Sweepin' Up the 'Stros

The Phillies have their first sweep of the season. And wow. Roy Halladay sure knows how to get the job done. Today marks his 150th career win, and 50th career complete game. Yes, you read that right. A full one third of his wins are complete games (Update: It's been pointed out to me that not all of his complete games were wins. Nevertheless, the numbers are still pretty unbelievable). That, my friends and fellow fans, simply does not happen anymore. But it just did, today.

(Photo courtesy of Dave Einsel / AP)

I haven't updated since the Phillies left my area on Thursday, so I'll give a brief rundown of this recent sweep and then some thoughts on what the Phillies have shown so far.

Friday night's game saw a solid start from J.A. Happ, giving up no runs in 5 innings. However, as with Cole Hamels in game 2 against the Nationals, Happ labored through those 5 innings. The bullpen, however sparkled. David Herndon continues to be one of the better Rule 5 picks around lately. His strong innings were followed by an inning each by our favorite pair of former Cuban defectors, Danys Baez and Jose Contreras, who were both unhittable. Among Baez, Contreras, Herndon, and Madson the Phillies have 4 relievers who have touched 95 and above on the radar gun, each with a solid mix of pitches to boot. This raw stuff was simply not there in the bullpen last year. Backing up this combined 4 pitcher shutout, the offense did its job and scored 8 runs on 16 hits, including 3 hits by the reawakened Raul Ibanez. I'm going to pretend that he had a stunt double standing in for him before that point and hope for the best from this point forward.

(Photo courtesy of Todd Zolecki)

Moving on to Saturday night's game, our favorite 47 year old pitcher got his first start of the season, playing on "turn back the clock night" in Houston, where the Astros wore 1965 throwback uniforms. Incidentally, as has been pointed out elsewhere, Jamie Moyer is the only active player who was alive in 1965. It's those little details like that that make his career all the more astounding. His start was not all that astounding, however, giving up 5 runs including 2 home runs in the 3rd inning, which now puts him at 493 homers given up in his career. That means he's 12 short of the all-time record set by the Phillies' own Robin Roberts. Not bad company. That start aside, a 2 run shot by Ryan Howard in the 6th inning put Moyer in line for the win and the bullpen did its job once again, limiting the Astros to one run in 3 innings of relief. Shane Victorino, the last lackluster piece of the Phillies offense, came alive with a 2 run homer in the 8th after an RBI single earlier in the game. The Phillies took it 8-5.

And then there was one. One game left to earn the first sweep of the season. One game left, if all went well, for Roy Halladay to win his 150th game. It was a pitchers' duel from the start, well at least after Roy Oswalt gave up a leadoff homer to Jimmy Rollins, J-Roll's 34th career leadoff blast. That and a sacrifice fielder's choice by Ruiz in the 2nd was all Halladay needed. He went 9 innings, struck out 8, and gave up one unearned run. That included a 6th inning where he loaded the bases with no outs, then got a sacrifice double play and a quick 3rd out when Carlos Lee popped out to shortstop. Halladay gave up 2 singles to start the 7th, then after allowing the runners to advance on a Kaz Matsui bunt, Halladay induced a grounder back to him and a strikeout. Oh, and he even had a single in the top of the 7th. He cruised through the 8th and 9th, though Carlos Lee hit a monster foul ball that was feet away from being a homer to start off the 9th that likely gave all Phillies fans watching a near heart attack. Clearly the baseball gods were smiling on Roy today. When he got Pedro Feliz (yes, that Pedro Feliz) to pop out to Utley to end the game with the Phillies winning 2-1, it became clear to all just why the Phillies went to great lengths to acquire this guy.

Needless to say, the Phillies season so far has been an exciting one. With a 5-1 record, the Phillies came into today leading the majors in most offensive categories, but they showed in today's game that they can win with more than just their frightening offense. The bullpen got its rest in today, but they've all looked sharper than us fans could have hoped for coming out of spring training. About that offense, every single regular has now contributed solidly, even a few of the pitchers, though that's really the icing on the cake. I won't make crazy statements on how many wins, runs, etc. the Phillies are on pace to get, but I will say this. Assuming that there's more to this first week's performance than completely destroying a few mediocre (or worse) teams, this is going to be a damn good year.