Halfway through, Phillies get key win

The Phillies' 2010 season is half-over and if it feels as though their glass is half-empty, that's understandable.

Through 81 games, they have endured a long list of injuries and a scoring slump that lasted more than a month, costing them their hold on first place.

Despite it all, these Phillies after 81 games have an identical record - 43-38 - to the two teams that went to the World Series in 2008 and 2009. The major difference is that those teams made it to the halfway point in first place.

The 2010 Phillies, even after a 3-1 win over the first-place Atlanta Braves in the searing heat Monday night at Citizens Bank Park, remained in third place in the National League East.

Manager Charlie Manuel knew going into the three-game series with the Braves that this was a crucial time for his baseball team.

"I think we've got to win some games this week," Manuel said. "I think we need to win tonight."

With staff ace Roy Halladay on the mound against the NL East leaders, the Phillies needed to pick up a game in the standings. They did that, moving to within four games of the Braves.

A year ago, the Phillies had a two-game division lead and in 2008 they had one-game lead. This is the first time since 2007 that the team reached the halfway point not in first place. That year they were 41-40 and in third place.

The Phillies also needed to win for Halladay, who had lost four of his previous five starts, including a game at Cincinnati last week when he let an eighth-inning lead slip away. In his previous 10 starts, Halladay was 3-6 with a 3.16 ERA as the Phillies averaged just 2.5 runs per game.

"His determination was off the chart," Manuel said. "When he gets beat, he's not very happy until he pitches again."

After surrendering a first-inning home run to Chipper Jones, Halladay blanked the Braves over the final eight innings. He finished the night with seven strikeouts as he improved to 10-7.

Before the game, Manuel was asked about the long list of injuries that have made the first half so difficult. Jimmy Rollins has played in only 24 games and three other starters - Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, and Carlos Ruiz - are still on the disabled list.

"I think [injuries] play a huge part in it, but at the same time, I don't like to talk about it because you come to the ballpark and the guys you have, you plug them in there and, hopefully, they can help you," Manuel said.

Three of the guys being plugged in played a huge role in this victory.

Greg Dobbs, exiled to triple-A Lehigh Valley, then recalled last week after Polanco and Utley landed on the disabled list, delivered his biggest hit of the season in the bottom of the sixth.

With the Phillies trailing, 1-0, Dobbs followed a single by Jayson Werth by slamming a first-pitch Derek Lowe fastball into the seats in right-center for a two-run home run. It was just his second home run of the season.

"I feel good about my swing, and being able to see pitching on a daily basis always helps," Dobbs said. "I feel confident and I feel like I'm in a pretty good rhythm, but it's something you have to maintain and keep working on day by day."

Another reserve, catcher Dane Sardinha, made an eighth-inning throw that proved to be a difference-maker.

After Gregor Blanco led off the inning with a bunt single, he tried to steal but was nailed at second by a perfect throw from Sardinha.

In the bottom of the inning, Juan Castro, who entered as a defensive replacement for Dobbs at third base, went from goat to insurance-run hero in the same at-bat. After missing a suicide-squeeze attempt that accounted for the second out of the inning, Castro grounded a single to left field that scored Werth with the Phillies' third run.

This time, Halladay wasn't going to let a late lead slip away. He pitched a perfect ninth for his league-leading seventh complete game.

"I feel like for our team it has been a bit of a grind," Halladay said when asked about his first half. "I never believed that my half was any different than the team's half and I think we've all felt like it has been a bit of a grind, and, hopefully, this is something to build on."