PERFECT! Phillies’ Halladay Throws First Post-Season No-Hitter in Half a Century, Phillies Beat Cincinnati Reds, 4-0 (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on October 6, 2010
One for the sports record books… Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies threw a perfect no-hitter today (his second for the year) — it was baseball’s first post-season no-hitter since Don Larsen did it for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series against Brooklyn. Here it is, more than half a century later… amazing!
Halladay is a pitching dynamo… no doubt Philadelphia is going wild tonight.
Phillies’ Halladay Tosses 2nd Perfect Game of Year | October 6, 2010
From New York Times, Halladay: First Postseason No-Hitter since Don Larsen:
Roy Halladay threw a masterpiece, and he made it look easy. In his first career postseason start, Halladay threw the first playoff no-hitter since Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956. Halladay cruised: 104 pitches, 79 strikes, and only three three-ball counts.
The Phillies needed a gem on a night when they needed to scratch four runs off shaky starter Edinson Volquez. The Phillies manufactured a run on a double and stolen base by Shane Victorino and a sacrifice fly in the first. Victorino’s two-run single capped a three-run second inning that started with a four-pitch walk to Carlos Ruiz and an infield single by Wilson Valdez. Halladay helped himself with an RBI single. The Reds bullpen then shut the Phillies down, but the Reds bats never challenged Halladay.
Halladay, who threw a perfect game on May 29th, became the first pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1973 to throw two no-hitters in one season. Halladay allowed just one runner to reach base: right fielder Jay Bruce, who walked on a 3-2 pitch in the fifth inning.
The first no-hitter in the postseason since Don Larsen in 1956. Roy Halladay’s second no-hitter of the season, making him the first pitcher since Nolan Ryan to accomplish that feat.
In the ninth inning, Halladay was still throwing in the low-90s, with movement, and outstanding control. The last out added to the drama, with a ball hit in front of catcher Carlos Ruiz, whose throw just beat out batter Brandon Phillips to first base.
A masterpiece.
Reported by FOX News:
PHILADELPHIA — Talk about a postseason debut.
Roy Halladay threw the second no-hitter in postseason history, leading the Philadelphia Phillies over the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 in Game 1 of the NL division series on Wednesday.
Don Larsen is the only other pitcher to throw a postseason no-hitter. He threw a perfect game for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series against Brooklyn. The 54th anniversary of Larsen’s gem is this Friday.
“It’s surreal, it really is,” Halladay said. “I just wanted to pitch here, to pitch in the postseason. To go out and have a game like that, it’s a dream come true.”
Halladay took the Year of the Pitcher into the postseason. The excitement spread beyond Citizens Bank Park — the last two outs were shown on the video board at Target Field, where the Twins were preparing to play the Yankees, and Minnesota fans cheered.
The All-Star right-hander, who tossed a perfect game at Florida on May 29, dominated the Reds with a sharp fastball and a devastating slow curve in his first playoff start.
Halladay allowed only runner, walking Jay Bruce on a full count with two outs in the fifth, and struck out eight.
Halladay spent 12 seasons with Toronto, far from the postseason. A trade last offseason brought him to the defending two-time NL champions.
With a sellout crowd standing in the ninth and chanting “Let’s Go, Doc!” Halladay got a loud ovation when he jogged to the mound to start the inning.
From Reuters Canada, Phillies’ Roy Halladay pitches no-hitter in playoff debut:
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Philadelphia Phillies starter Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter in his playoff debut to beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Wednesday in the opening game of their best-of-five National League Division Series.
Halladay’s gem was the first no-hitter thrown in a Major League Baseball post-season game since Don Larsen tossed a perfect game for the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series.
Video clip of Halladay’s other perfect game this year, May 29, 2010…
Associated Press: Phillies’ Halladay Tosses Perfect Game | May 29, 2010
From Chicago Tribune, Phillies’ Halladay takes spot in baseball lore — No-hitter against Reds just 2nd in postseason history:
Oh, that was what the Phillies were thinking.
After winning a World Series behind left-hander Cliff Lee last October, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. did what many saw as the unthinkable — he shipped Lee off to the Mariners.
It was never unthinkable, not given that it was done only after he and his staff had engineered a trade for Roy Halladay. But second guesses were possible because Halladay had not made his bones in October.
You can forget it now.
Both Lee and Halladay nailed down playoff victories Wednesday, but it was the new Phillie who made history. The old one, Lee, pitched the Rangers over the Rays in the afternoon but Halladay trumped his performance in the early evening.
A rugged right-hander with neither a tracer fastball nor a knee-locking breaking pitch, the 33-year-old Halladay leads the big leagues in work ethic (the Blue Jays had to give him his own key to the clubhouse in spring training) and has a Madduxian ability to attack hitters.
He regularly provides proof that good things — sometimes great things — come to those who can pound the strike zone, especially when it’s a nice, large strike zone. He treated the National League Central champion Reds like he had the Marlins back on May 29 — and in the end was only one pitch away from becoming the first pitcher ever to throw two perfect games.
Instead, because of a 3-2 pitch that missed against Jay Bruce, he joined Don Larsen as the second man to throw a no-hitter in the postseason. He barely seemed to break a sweat, throwing 104 pitches to beat the Reds 4-0. He threw first-pitch strikes to 25 of 28 hitters — an absurdly good ratio, even if John Hirschbeck did give him a couple of inches on either side of home plate.
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Thanks for the link. Boy, was that a fun game to watch. Even though we now live in NY we’ll be Phillies fans for life!
Amen to that! Loved your line on the LC blog about “color television”, BTW.
LOL