Poor weather forced Roy Halladay to take out his frustrations over his recent lack of work in the bullpen. Tonight, the former Cy Young Award winner gets to vent against some live hitters.
Halladay toes the rubber for the Philadelphia Phillies in the second of four straight meetings with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
The right-hander hasn't pitched since Aug. 21, when rain limited his outing in Washington to just five innings. Halladay did not get a decision on that day in a 5-4 loss, yielding two runs on seven hits and striking out five without a walk. He was then scheduled to start on Saturday versus the Marlins, but had the outing postponed due to Hurricane Irene.
Instead, the 34-year-old fired a 40-pitch bullpen session to try and stay sharp.
"Doc threw a bullpen like he just pitched today," pitching coach Rich Dubee said on the Phils' website. "He vented a little in the cage. But he'll be ready to go Tuesday, and those are all good signs."
Halladay, who is 15-5 with a 2.56 earned run average in 26 starts, did not get a decision when he last faced the Reds on May 25. He allowed three runs and 11 hits over seven innings in his first action against Cincinnati since his postseason no-hitter versus the franchise in Game 1 of last year's National League Division Series.
While Halladay will be happy to just get back on the hill, Reds starter Bronson Arroyo is aiming to win two straight starts for the first time since June. The righty snapped a nine-start winless drought (0-4) with a victory at Florida on Wednesday, hurling eight scoreless innings to win for the first time since June 25.
Arroyo worked around six hits and did not walk a batter in his first scoreless outing of the season. He improved to 8-10 with a 5.02 ERA in 26 starts.
"He looked great. He had his good fastball tonight, good location and good command of his breaking ball," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "We were trying to take him into the ninth, but it was a hot night out there."
The 34-year-old had a forgettable start the last time he faced the Phillies on May 23, getting drilled for nine runs over just 2 2/3 innings. He yielded homers to Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco while falling to 1-6 with a 7.13 ERA in nine games (eight starts) lifetime versus the Phils.
Arroyo will try to get the Reds even in this series after the Phillies won last night's opener, 3-2. Shane Victorino hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, pushing his hitting streak at Great American Ball Park to eight consecutive games.
Cole Hamels came off the disabled list to make his first start since Aug. 12 due to shoulder inflammation. He gave up one run and struck out seven over six innings.
"I think I did pretty well and I look forward to the next start," Hamels said after the Phillies avoided a third straight loss and pushed their advantage over the idle Braves for first place in the NL East to 6 1/2 games.
Homer Bailey was just as effective in his start for Cincinnati, allowing three runs over eight innings in a loss. He struck out a season-high nine batters without a walk, but the Reds left the tying run on base in the ninth inning.
"We had action in the ninth, could have tied the game up or gone ahead. They made some good pitches," said Baker.
Cincinnati failed to secure a season high-tying fifth straight win and has lost eight of its last nine regular-season matchups to Philadelphia.
