Halladay quietly keeps Phils on roll

Roy Halladay is always searching for serenity before his starts. On this day, he put on his black earbud headphones, sat with his legs crossed at his locker and watched the seventh inning of the Braves-Cubs game on a clubhouse TV.

Mike Sweeney, late for stretching, raced through the room and yelled, "Go Cubs!"

Halladay didn't flinch. After a few minutes, he needed a change. He stood up and walked out of the room.

Hours later, the Phillies beat Washington, 1-0. Halladay pitched seven scoreless innings, escaping multiple jams and handed the game to Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge, both of whom pitched scoreless innings.

Halladay is pitching in his first true pennant race. He has excelled at every other challenge put before him in 12 major-league seasons, and so far this is no exception.

"That's what he was brought in here to do," centerfielder Shane Victorino said. "He's definitely living up to the expectations."

With the tying run on first in the seventh inning, Halladay walked Adam Dunn, which tied a season-high three walks. Ball four was Halladay's 113th pitch of the night, and that finally prompted Manuel to have coach Rich Dubee pick up the bullpen phone.

But as Jose Contreras barely began to warm up, Halladay's 116th pitch - a 93 m.p.h. fastball - set off a series of fortunate events for the Phillies.

Ryan Zimmerman lined the pitch to left field. Raul Ibanez was in perfect position to make the catch. Ian Desmond, who took off stealing from second just as Halladay released the ball, slid into third base only to realize he had to scramble back to second.

Ibanez's throw was wild but, Desmond slid over the bag, and Chase Utley acrobatically placed the tag on Desmond. The inning was over, and so was Halladay's night.

"I'll take them any way I get them," Halladay said.

Pause, for a moment, to digest Halladay's season in a Phillies context: His 2.16 ERA would be the lowest for a Phillies starter since Steve Carlton's magical 1.97 season in 1972.

He leads the National League in innings pitched (200) and strikeouts (180). He would become the first Phillie to accomplish both of those feats since Curt Schilling did it in 1998.

And with 16 wins, Halladay has a decent chance at becoming the first Phillies pitcher to win 20 games since Carlton went 23-11 in 1982.

Then, there's this: Halladay, 33, is having the best season of his career. His ERA has never been this low this late in a season. It's third-best in the league, trailing just Adam Wainwright and Tim Hudson. He has never led the league in ERA. He has never led the league in strikeouts.

Granted, there are 41 games remaining (and possibly eight Halladay starts), which leaves plenty of chance for something to go awry.

But Friday was a testament to how good Halladay can be even without his best stuff. Yes, he was facing last-place Washington. Still, Halladay allowed eight base runners in the first four innings and avoided being scored upon.

His counterpart, Jason Marquis, entered with a 14.33 ERA and had yet to pitch five complete innings in any of his five starts this season. The Phillies scored only one run, courtesy of an Ibanez double in the third. The five-inning outing lowered Marquis' ERA to a cool 11.39. It was enough for the Phillies.

Shortly after Halladay stopped watching the Braves game, Atlanta rallied for yet another last-inning victory, keeping the pace in the NL East. But every fifth day, the Phillies have their own pacesetter in Halladay, and he's not bad, either.

"He's having a special season," Manuel said. "A 2.16 ERA nowadays is absolutely outstanding."

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