Trailing Kyle Lohse and the Cardinals 3-1 into the sixth inning, the Phillies righted the ship when Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez chased Lohse from the mound with five runs' worth of homers. That half-inning put the Phillies on top 6-3, and with Roy Halladay still on the hill, a win looked all but certain.
Phillies Bats Turn NLDS Game 1 Into A Laugher
A win is now even more certain than before. In the top of the seventh, Halladay retired his 16th, 17th, and 18th consecutive hitters to keep the score where it was. Then the Phillies added on against the Cardinals bullpen.
In the bottom half, the first three reached on singles, including Halladay himself, who reached on an infield grounder. Two batters later, Ryan Howard narrowly missed a backbreaking grand slam, but still successfully hit a sac fly to push the score to 7-3.
Then Shane Victorino singled to right field. 8-3. Then Raul Ibanez singled to right field. 9-3. Placido Polanco flew out, but no matter - the Cardinals needed a run for every remaining out just to tie, and that's how you know a game is in hand.
As I’ve written this, Halladay has retired the Cardinals 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth. That’s 21 in a row. He’s Roy Halladay.
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