An injured Halladay guts one out

FROM THE MORNING CALL

SAN FRANCISCO -- The prediction was that Roy Halladay would be at his best.

Hardly.

Blame his groin.


Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said Halladay suffered a mild right groin pull and told pitching coach Rich Dubee after the second inning that he overextended on the delivery of a pitch to Cody Ross.

In turn, his command was off. His fastball was all but missing. His emotions seemed out of whack.

"You could see it on his face in the dugout, Like wow," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. "But it's expected at this time of you that if it doesn't fall off, you keep going."

Halladay did.

It took him 108 pitches to get through six innings and it marked just the fifth time in 36 starts this season that he did not record at least one out in the seventh inning.

But he, his bullpen and Phillies hitters, did just enough to force a Game 6 in their 4-2 win over the Giants on Thursday night at AT&T Park.

"Probably as gusty and crafty as I've seen him," Dubee said. "A power, sinker, cutter guy had to go to curveball, changeup and cutter still and that changed his whole game plan."

San Francisco owns a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven NLCS, which returns to Philadelphia on Saturday. Two more wins would give the Phillies their 16th, three-game winning streak of the season (most in the majors) and a third consecutive trip to the World Series, something that hasn't been done by a National League team since the 1942-44 Cardinals.

That thought is exactly what kept Halladay, who is in his first postseason ever, on the mound.

"I tried to shorten up" he said. "It never got any worse. It just stayed the same, and it was something I felt like I could pitch with. It's not ideal, but I think at this point, nobody wants to come out. So you do whatever you can to find ways to make adjustments.

"All year, we've never had heroes."

They do now.

Just ask closer Lidge.

"It won't go down as this, but I think it was one of the more impressive outings he's ever had," Lidge said. "He gutted it out with a lot less than 100 percent out there, despite not having one of legs underneath him. That was huge for him to grind out those six innings. You can't imagine how important that is, giving our bullpen those innings while injured."

Halladay turned the game over to the bullpen in the seventh. Jose Contreras, J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson and Lidge allowed just one baserunner in the final three innings to keep the Phillies in the hunt.

Lidge retired the side in order on just 10 pitches and is now a perfect 12-for-12 in postseason saves with the Phillies (the most in club history).

"There was no way we were giving anything up," Lidge said.

Halladay, who rode a stationary bike to stay loose between innings, also injured his groin last year and it forced him to miss some time, but he said he doesn't think this one is as serious.

Until the seventh, the only inning the Phillies had baserunners was the third (they went down in order in the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings).

They scored three in the third inning and Jayson Werth's home run to right field in the ninth gave Lidge an insurance run.

Trailing 1-0, the Phillies, who coming into the game were 34-55 when their opponent scored first, got to Lincecum, and the Giants defense, in the third.

They scored three times, sent eight batters to the plate and took advantage of an error and hit batsman, making them look a lot more like the Phillies of recent years.

The guy to start it all was Raul Ibanez, who was benched Wednesday and was 0-for-11 in the NLCS. But he singled in the bizarre inning before Carlos Ruiz was hit by a pinch.

Halladay, up there to bunt, got one down that appeared to be foul. But catcher Buster Posey snatched it and fired to third and couldn't get Ibanez. Halladay, though, thinking the bunt was foul, never ran to first, and Pablo Sandoval fired to Aubrey Huff for the first out.

Shane Victorino then hit a grounder to first that Huff misplayed. The ball bounced away, allowing Ibanez and Ruiz to score, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

Placido Polanco's single scored Victorino, which gave Philadelphia a 3-1 cushion. Chase Utley then contributed a base hit that put runners at the corners for Ryan Howard.

But the cleanup hitter whiffed on a change-up that Utley stole second on.

With two runners in scoring position and another chance to add to the lead, Werth flied out to left to end the rally.

San Francisco cut the Phillies' lead to 3-2 when Pat Burrell and Cody Ross hit back-to-back doubles.

The Giants had runners at the corners in the fifth, but Halladay got Huff to hit a nubber to end the inning. San Francisco had two more runners on in the sixth for Juan Uribe, but he chased a Halladay curveball for out No. 3.

In very un-Halladay-like fashion, the right-hander walked the leadoff man (something he'd never done this year), gave up a single to Freddy Sanchez and got behind Huff 2-0, prompting a visit from Dubee.

Halladay wound up retiring Huff and got Buster Posey to hit a routine grounder to Utley that should have been a double play ball to end the inning.

Utley thought he had the ball in his glove and went to tag Sanchez on his way to second. But he had never grabbed a hold of the ball, and he was only able to get Sanchez at second base for the second out, which extended the inning. Torres scored from third on the play to let the Giants strike first.

DINGERS: Jimmy Rollins stole his first base in 44 and then swiped third base, giving him two stolen bases in a game for the first time since Aug. 18. … Werth's ninth-inning home run tied him for most in NL postseason play (13).

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