Major League Baseball

Phillies Notes: Halladay cutter wrapped up gem

Published Oct. 9, 2010 11:10 a.m. ET

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As he prepared to throw his 103d and penultimate pitch of Wednesday night's NL division series opener, Roy Halladay looked in for the sign from Carlos Ruiz. For the first time all game, Halladay didn't like what he saw.

Ruiz wanted a fastball up and in to Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips with an 0-1 count and two outs in the ninth. Halladay shook off his catcher for the first time all night.

"You know, elevating is something I'll do on occasion," Halladay said Friday, "but it was just something at that point I wasn't comfortable doing."

Halladay wanted a cutter.

"I felt like I'd rather stay [with] something hard, something away," Halladay said. "It was a pitch we hadn't thrown much that night, so to throw the first one or two of them at that point, I wasn't as comfortable with it.

"You know, I'm sure it wasn't so much the pitch as my comfortableness that I had of throwing it right there. I just felt there were one or two other pitches I'd rather throw first."

The rest is history. Literally.

Phillips swung and missed at the 91-m.p.h. cutter. Then, he tapped a curveball out in front of home plate that Ruiz fielded and threw to first to complete Halladay's no-hitter.

Two days after, Halladay reflected. He chose not to do so Thursday - other than an interview with MLB Network - declining numerous interview requests. It was his son's birthday and Halladay made a quicker exit from the ballpark than usual.

So did he do anything special to celebrate his achievement? Well . . . not exactly.

"I enjoyed every bit of it," Halladay said. "It was very special for me. But I'm very conscious of making sure that I keep my nose to the grindstone."

Polanco returns As expected, Phillies third baseman Placido Polanco returned to the lineup and batted second in Game 2. That pushed Shane Victorino back up to the leadoff spot as Jimmy Rollins moved down the order to sixth.

That's the lineup Charlie Manuel intended to use for Game 1 before he learned of Polanco's back spasms.

The manager said Polanco would not be limited.

"He's feeling very good," Manuel said before Game 2. "He said he feels a lot better. I took it that he's going to play the game just like he always has."

Extra bases With the 4-0 victory on Wednesday, the Phillies tied the National League postseason record for consecutive Game 1 wins (seven). The Atlanta Braves also won seven straight Game 1s from 1995 to '97. . . . The Phillies will depart from Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon and are scheduled to work out at 5 p.m. at Great American Ball Park. Cincinnati was scheduled to fly home after the game Friday.

Contact staff writer Matt Gelb

at 215-854-2928

or mgelb@phillynews.com.

Follow on Twitter @magelb.

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