Phillies return to .500 ball with sixth win in row

ROY HALLADAY picked up the rosin bag and violently spiked it into the dirt. Although the ground underneath him didn't shake, you wouldn't have been surprised if it had.

After watching his teammates bat around and tack on three runs to their lead in the sixth inning, Halladay watched his 10-pitch at-bat with Bryan Petersen come to an end when he left a fastball right down the middle and the Miami Marlins leadoff hitter didn't miss, ripping an RBI double to centerfield.

The hit brought Charlie Manuel out of the dugout to get Halladay. It also ignited the Marlins to match the Phils and also bat around, turning what looked like an easy win into a one-run game in the seventh inning.

It wasn't the first time Halladay blew up on Tuesday. After the third inning, he barked a few unknown words to himself (or to the home plate umpire?) after battling through a 26-pitch inning.

Halladay wasn't himself and he knew it. And he knew what was on the line, too.

With a chance to get to the .500 mark for the first time since June 4, the Phillies' offense picked up their ace. Chase Utley and Juan Pierre each had three hits and Jimmy Rollins hit his team-high 18th home run of the season as the Phils outlasted the Marlins, 9-7.

"Wins are wins," a more upbeat Halladay said afterward. "There are going to be games where you feel like you pitch well and it doesn't look good on paper and there are going to be games the other way around . . . Ultimately you win the game and that's what means the most. Once the game is over and you've won, the rest is kind of meaningless, really."

Thankfully for Halladay, the game did end with a win, the Phillies' sixth straight, tying their longest winning streak of the season. The victory was also a psychological lift for the wild-card-chasing Phillies (71-71), as they are officially no longer a losing team for the first time in over 3 months.

When the Phils take the field this afternoon to attempt to sweep the homestand, they'll have the opportunity to leave for Houston with a winning record for the first time since June 3, when they were 28-27.

"Being .500 has never made so much noise around here," Rollins said. "But I'm glad that it can."

Just as the long climb out from the National League East basement wasn't an easy task, getting back to the .500 mark by beating the Marlins wasn't as simple as scoring three first-inning runs and letting Halladay work.

The Phils had leads of 3-0 and 8-3, yet narrowly escaped thanks to the bullpen. After Phillippe Aumont escaped a shaky eighth with back-to-back strikeouts, Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth to fend off the Fish.

The Phillies, who were a season-high 14 games under .500 when they lost the first game of the second half, falling to 37-51, have won 14 of their last 18. In the race for the NL's second wild card, the Phils have closed to within four games of St. Louis, who currently hold that spot. Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, the two teams between the Cards and Phils, also lost Tuesday.

"This year we're trying to do something that we've never done and that's win a wild card," Rollins said. "We've gotten in other wins and we have a lot of flags hanging up but we don't have a wild-card flag, so it would be a good time to get one."

As with most teams riding a hot streak, the ball has began bouncing their way. Literally.

With one on and one out in the sixth inning, Rollins fouled a ball back behind the plate. Marlins catcher Rob Brantly dropped the easy out.

On the next pitch, Rollins ripped a two-run home run. Halladay had preceded the home run with a run-scoring single and the Phils turned a 5-3 lead into an 8-3 lead.

"I usually make an out after that," Rollins joked. "[But] the next pitch it happened. It was big because we needed every single run. We made an error right back and they capitalized on it . . . [Getting breaks] is definitely part of it, but you have to still go out there and take advantage of it. It's more than that. It's executing, playing better defense, getting good pitching, good relief, timely hitting. Those things have been coming together for us."

Halladay, however, continued his erratic return from the disabled list.

Although he entered Tuesday 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA in his last seven starts, Halladay has also allowed four or more runs in four of his 11 starts since rejoining to the rotation in mid-July. In 2011, he allowed four or more runs five times in 32 starts.

"I felt like he battled all night," Manuel said. "He got out of the gate OK, but he ran into trouble when he had to throw a lot of pitches. They made him throw a lot of pitches."

Handed a 3-0 lead after Rollins, Pierre, Carlos Ruiz and Domonic Brown fit the first four of the Phillies' 15 hits on the night, Halladay nearly gave it all back in the third, when he gave up back-to-back singles to the seventh and eighth hole hitters to begin the inning and walked Petersen to load the bases.

Halladay limited the damage to two runs, however, ending the inning by taking Giancarlo Stanton to a full count before striking him out with a curveball.

But Halladay never got on track. He was charged with five runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

If the Phils can complete their minor miracle and sneak into the playoffs, they would prefer to have Halladay Version 2010-2011 and not the uncertain, unpredictable pitcher he has been in 2012.

"He'll get there," Manuel said.