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Vance Worley gave the Phils their second fantastic start in two games last night and this time the Phils got the win, beating the Padres 2-0 in the first game of their set in San Diego. Worley struck out 11 in seven innings and was backed by scoreless frames from Qualls and Papelbon.

Over their last two games, the Phillies have gotten 17 scoreless innings from their starting pitchers in which they have struck out 18. Phillies starting pitchers for the year have combined to throw to a 2.32 ERA with a 1.00 ratio and averaged 6.87 innings per start.

Juan Pierre did his very best to jump start the offense for the Phils in the game, walking, singling and tripling in his first three plate appearances, but the Phillies still had a whole bunch of problems scoring runs. They got one in the first on a walk, three hits and an error. The other run came in the ninth and wouldn’t have scored without the help of a passed ball, thanks to back-to-back strikeouts followed by a ground out after the Phils put a runner on third with nobody out.

Six wins on the year for the Phillies, who still haven’t won a game in which they’ve allowed more than two runs. They’ve allowed a total of six runs in the games that they’ve won (zero twice, one twice and two twice). In the seven games they’ve lost, they’ve allowed a total of 28 runs, or four runs per game.

The Phillies are 6-7 on the season after beating the San Diego Padres 2-0 last night. They lead the series one game to none.

Worley got the start for the Phillies and went seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and three walks. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a triple. He struck out 11.

His game score for the start was 77, a mark he equaled in two of his starts in 2011. July 4 against the Marlins and July 26 against the Giants.

He started the bottom of the first with a 1-0 lead and struck out the side. Will Venable went down swinging. Cameron Maybin and Chase Headley both struck out looking.

Lefty Jeremy Hermida led off the second with a triple to center. Lefty Yonder Alonso lined to third for the first out. Worley struck lefty John Baker out looking 1-2 for the second. Righty Jason Bartlett grounded to second to end the inning.

No run for the Padres despite the leadoff triple.

Worley struck out pitcher Joe Wieland in a 1-2-3 third.

He struck Maybin out to start the fourth before walking Headley on five pitches. Hermida was next and he grounded to third, with Headley forced at second for the second out. Alonso was next and he walked on five pitches as well, but Worley got Baker on a ground ball to second to set the Padres down.

Two walks in the inning for Worley, but he works around them. It’s obviously very early, but Worley’s walk rate is up for the year so far. Through three starts he’s walked 12% of the left-handed hitters he’s faced compared to 8.7% in 2011.

Worley struck out Bartlett and Hudson in a 1-2-3 fifth.

Venable lined a single to center to start the sixth. Maybin bunted him to second with the first out before Headley singled in to left, moving Venable up to third. Hermida struck out swinging 3-2 as Headley took off for second. Ruiz threw to second. Rollins took the throw with Venable coming home. Rollins made a strong throw home and Ruiz applied the tag to get Venable and end the inning.

No run for the Padres after putting men on first and third with one out.

Worley got the first two to start the seventh before walking Bartlett on a 3-2 pitch. Hudson moved Bartlett to third with a single to center. Kotsay struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch and was infuriated because the ball was so far outside.

Worley got a call on the 3-2 pitch to Kotsay, but it’s still a great job and a huge at-bat for him after the Padres put the go-ahead run on base.

Qualls pitched the eighth with the Phils still up a run. He walked Headley on a 3-2 pitch with two outs and Headley stole second with Hermida at the plate. Hermida grounded to second to leave Headley stranded.

Fifth outing of the year for Qualls, who still has not been charged with a run in five scoreless innings. Opponents are hitting .167 against him.

Papelbon started the ninth with a 2-0 lead and walked Alonso on a 3-2 pitch. Baker was next, though, and Papelbon got him to ground into a double-play that cleared the bases. He struck Bartlett out looking 2-2 to end the game.

Sixth outing and fourth save for Papelbon. He’s allowed one run over six innings on the homer he allowed to Kearns.

Qualls threw 19 pitches in the game and Papelbon 14. They combined to throw two scoreless innings, allowing two walks and no hits.

The Phillies lineup against righty Joe Wieland went (1) Pierre (2) Polanco (3) Rollins (4) Pence (5) Victorino (6) Mayberry (7) Ruiz (8) Galvis. Polanco and Mayberry back in the lineup against the righty. Lefties Nix and Thome on the bench as well as the righty Wigginton. Polanco continues to hit second, even against the righty. Too high.

Pierre was the first hitter of the game and walked on five pitches. Polanco was next and he singled to left with Pierre moving up to third on an error by Venable. It put runners on the corners for Rollins and Rollins hit a ball well to right for the first out. Pierre tagged and scored from third, putting the Phils on top 1-0. Pence was next and he singled into center, moving Polanco up to second. Victorino followed that with another hit, also a single to center, which loaded the bases for Mayberry with one out. Mayberry popped to second on a 3-2 pitch for the second out with all of the runners holding. Ruiz grounded to short to set the Phillies down.

First things first: Pierre walked, number one on the season, so my official guess of April 27 for his first walk proves to be a bust. Mayberry is the other thing there, popping out with the bases loaded and one out to continue a miserable start to the season for him.

The Phillies score in the frame. Given the recent history, that’s something. Still, on a walk, three hits and an error they can only come up with one run.

Pierre and Polanco get it done at the top of the order, coming through with a walk and a single to start the rally.

Galvis and Worley both struck out to start the second before Pierre reached on an infield single. Polanco grounded to short for the third out.

Pierre on base again for the second time in two innings.

Rollins and Pence struck out as the Phils went in order in the third.

They went 1-2-3 in the fourth as well.

Pierre lined a triple down the left field line with one out in the fifth. Polanco was next and he grounded hard to third for the first out, with Pierre holding third. Rollins struck out swinging to leave Pierre at third.

Pierre triples, so my official guess of the 14th of Never-everness for his first extra-base hit also proves to be a bust.

No run for the Phillies after the one-out triple by Pierre. Polanco hit the ball hard right at Headley, so Pierre had no chance to score. Kind of a tough break for Polanco, who could just a couple of breaks at this point. Three plate appearances for Pierre at this point in the game and he has a walk, a single and a triple.

Mayberry struck out as the Phils went in order in the sixth.

Righty Luke Gregerson set the Phils down in order in the seventh, striking out Ruiz for the first out.

Righty Andrew Cashner got Pierre, Polanco and Rollins in order in the eighth.

Righty Ernesto Frieri started the ninth. Pence led off the inning and walked on four pitches. Victorino moved him to third with a single to left. Victorino stole second with Mayberry at the plate, putting men on second and third. The 0-2 pitch to Mayberry was outside and off the catcher’s foot. It rolled way away, allowing Pence to score from third (2-0) and Victorino to move up to third. Mayberry struck out swinging 1-2 for the first out. Ruiz struck out looking 0-2 for the second. Galvis flew to left to set the Phillies down.

The Phils manage a run, but again Mayberry comes up empty, striking out with a runner on third for the first out. Ruiz couldn’t get it done, either, striking out with a runner on third for the second out.

Pierre had a monster game, going 2-for-3 with a walk and a triple to up his line to 333/353/394.

Polanco 1-for-4 to up his average to .186. 186/222/209 on the year.

Rollins was 0-for-3 with a big sac fly and two strikeouts. He’s 1-for-his-last-15.

Pence 1-for-3 with a walk.

Victorino 2-for-4 with two singles and a stolen base. He has stolen six bases without being caught.

Mayberry was miserable, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and four men left on base. In the first he popped to second with the bases loaded and one out. In the ninth he struck out with nobody out and a runner on third. He’s 1-for-his-last-14.

Ruiz 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. He’s hitting .206 since going 4-for-6 to start the year.

Galvis 0-for-4 to drop his average to .216.

Hamels (1-1, 3.65) faces righty Edinson Volquez (0-1, 4.24) tonight. Hamels was better in his most recent start than his first, holding the Mets to two runs over seven innings. He has 19 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings for the season. Volquez struggled in his most recent start, which came against the Dodgers, allowing four runs over five innings. He has walked 12 in 17 innings for the year.

The Phillies have won five games this year and Roy Halladay has started three of them. Last night the Phils got four early runs and cruised behind Halladay’s arm after that as they topped the Giants 5-2.

In 23 innings for the season, Halladay has allowed 14 hits and four walks (that’s an 0.78 ratio). Last night he allowed more than one run in a start for the first time in three outings.

As a group, the starting pitchers for the Phillies this season have thrown to a 2.54 ERA and an 0.95 ratio.

The Phillies are 5-5 on the year after beating the San Francisco Giants 5-2 yesterday.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out six and his ERA for the year rose to 1.17 with the outing.

He started the bottom of the first up 4-0. Switch-hitter Angel Pagan led off with a single and moved to second when switch-hitter Melky Cabrera walked behind him. Switch-hitter Pablo Sandoval was next and he lined to second for the first out. Righty Buster Posey moved everyone up a base with an infield single, loading the bases for lefty Aubrey Huff. Huff hit a fly ball to right that Pence took for the second out, but it was deep enough for Pagan to score from third (4-1) and Cabrera to move up to third. Halladay got ahead of Belt 0-2, but then threw four straight balls to walk him and load the bases up again, this time for lefty Brandon Crawford. Halladay got Crawford swinging 0-2 to leave them loaded.

Again Halladay has some problems in the first inning. Through three starts, opponents are hitting .462 against him in the first inning and under .200 in every other inning.

Switch-hitter Emmanuel Burriss flew to left for the first out of the second. Pitcher Tim Lincecum grounded to third for the second out before Pagan struck out looking.

Posey singled with two outs in the third, but Halladay got Huff on a softly hit ball to Galvis to end the inning.

The Phillies were up 5-1 when Belt led off the bottom of the fourth with a single to left. Crawford was next and doubled to left, sending Belt to third. Burriss struck out swinging for the first out, but Lincecum followed and grounded out to third, bringing Belt home to cut the lead to 5-2. Pagan flew to right for the third out.

Sandoval hit a ball up the first base line that hit the bag for a single with one out in the fifth. Halladay struck Posey out looking for the second out before Huff walked on five pitches, putting runners on first and second for Belt. Belt struck out looking 2-2 to leave both men stranded.

Halladay got the first two in the sixth before lefty Nate Schierholtz hit for Lincecum. Halladay got Schierholtz on a fly ball to center for the third out.

He set Pagan, Cabrera and Sandoval down in order in the seventh.

Posey started the eighth with a single to left on a ball deflected by Polanco at third. Halladay set down Huff, Belt and Crawford behind him.

Papelbon started the ninth. He was pitching for the second straight day after throwing 26 pitches with a six-run lead on Sunday against the Mets. Really.

Went well, though. Burriss flew to center for the first out. Lefty Gregor Blanco hit for the pitcher Jeremy Affeldt and grounded to first for the second. Pagan singled to right and took second on defensive indifference, but Cabrera grounded to second to end the game.

Papelbon has now thrown for two straight days, including Sunday night’s absurd outing. He has allowed a run in five innings for the year, but opponents are hitting .300 against him.

The Phillies lineup against righty Tim Lincecum went (1) Pierre (2) Polanco (3) Rollins (4) Pence (5) Victorino (6) Nix (7) Ruiz (8) Galvis. Pierre leads off and plays left against the righty. The lefty Nix at first with righties Mayberry and Wigginton on the bench. Polanco shouldn’t be hitting second and especially not against righties.

On cue, Polanco doubled to right with one out in the first and Rollins walked behind him. Pence was next and lined a single into center, scoring Polanco (1-0) and moving Rollins up to second. Victorino followed that with a single into center, scoring Rollins (2-0) and sending Pence to second for Nix. Nix doubled into right and the ball rolled to the wall, clearing the bases and putting the Phils up 4-0. Ruiz moved Nix up to third with a ground out, but Galvis struck out to leave him there.

First extra-base hit of the year for Polanco. Second big double for Nix in two games.

The lead was cut to 4-1 when the Phils went in order in the second.

Rollins, Pence and Victorino went in order in the third.

Galvis lined a double to right with two outs in the fourth. Halladay followed that with a single into right, scoring Galvis to make it 5-1. Pierre grounded to second to set the Phillies down.

Galvis went 0-for-10 to start the season. Since then he has hit 333/333/619 in 21 plate appearances with three doubles and a home run.

It was 5-2 when the Phillies hit in the fifth. Pence and Victorino singled back-to-back with two outs, putting men on first and second for Nix. Nix grounded to first to leave them stranded.

Lincecum set the Phillies down in order in the sixth.

Righty Dan Otero started the seventh. He hit Polanco with one out, but got Rollins and Pence behind him.

Otero was back for the eighth. With one out, Nix reached on a fielding error by Crawford at short. Ruiz moved Nix up to second with a single. Galvis hit a ball to second with Ruiz forced at second for the second out and runners safe at the corners. Halladay hit for himself and grounded to the pitcher to end the game.

Halladay hits for himself having thrown 100 pitches in the game with two outs, men on the corners and the Phils up 5-2. Phillies have lefties Thome, Schneider and Orr on the bench. Halladay already has an RBI-single in the game. Think I would have hit Thome for him, but it all worked out fine. I think I might have tried harder to keep Papelbon out of the game coming off of 26 pitches on Sunday.

Lefty Jeremy Affeldt pitched the ninth, setting the Phillies down in order. Mayberry hit for Pierre and struck out for the first out of the inning.

Pierre was 0-for-4 in the game. He’s 7-for-24 with seven singles and no walks for the year (292/292/292).

Polanco was 1-for-4 with a double, his first extra-base hit of the year, to raise his average to .200. He has one walk on the season, so the top two in the Phillies order in the game end the day having walked once in 61 plate appearances.

Rollins 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. He came into the game 11-for-25 with a six-game hitting streak.

Pence was 2-for-4 with an RBI. He’s 4-for-his-last-8.

Victorino 2-for-4 with an RBI as well. He’s hitting .316, but still just has one extra-base hit on the year (a home run off of Mark Buehrle).

Nix 1-for-4 with two RBI. 2-for-his-last-7 with a walk, two doubles and three RBI.

Ruiz was 1-for-4. He’s hitting .208 over his last 25 plate appearances after going 4-for-6 to start the season.

Galvis 1-for-4 with a double and a strikeout. He leads the team with four extra-base hits (three doubles and a home run).

Joe Blanton (1-1, 2.35) faces lefty Madison Bumgarner (1-1, 3.97) tonight in game two of the set. Blanton was great in his only start of the season, holding the Marlins to a run over seven innings. Bumgarner has made two starts, allowing four runs against the Diamondback over four innings in the first and holding the Rockies to a run over 7 1/3 innings his most recent time out.

Blanton, apparently. I think I remember something about a guy with a name like that from the 2008 World Series. Not positive, though.

After solid performances with the Phillies in 2008 and 2009, Joe Blanton has been pretty awful since. In 2010 and 2011 combined, Blanton appeared in 40 games for the Phillies, throwing to an ugly 4.85 ERA with an ugly 1.43 ratio over 217 innings.

Last night he made his first start of 2012 and was very good, holding the Marlins to a run on three hits over seven innings. Backed by solo homers from Victorino and Wigginton, it was enough to get the Phils a win.

The Phillies are 3-3 on the year after beating the Miami Marlins 3-1 last night. The Phils take the series two games to one. Over the last two games of the series, the Phillies outscored Miami 10-2.

Blanton got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing a run on three hits and a walk. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both doubles. He struck out three and dropped his ERA to 2.35 after two appearances.

Switch-hitter Jose Reyes was the first hitter of the game and grounded to second. Another switch-hitter, Emilio Bonifacio was next and he grounded to short. Righty Hanley Ramirez flew to Victorino for the third out.

Blanton got righty Giancarlo Stanton to ground to short to start the second. Lefty Logan Morrison was next and he flew to left for the second out. Blanton struck righty Gaby Sanchez out looking to set the Fish down.

Righty Omar Infante led off the top of the third and flew to center, but righty John Buck followed with a double to left. The pitcher Mark Buehrle was next and he hit a ball up the middle. Galvis made a fantastic play, diving to his right, fielding and throwing to first for the second out as Buck moved up to third. Reyes lined to right where the ball was caught by a sliding Pence to end the frame and leave Buck at third.

Two nice plays for the Phils in the inning. Galvis’s was a little more spectacular. He got a nice pick from Wigginton on a throw in the dirt as well.

Blanton had thrown 37 pitches through three innings.

He set the Marlins down in order in the fourth, getting Bonifacio, Ramirez and Stanton.

Blanton had a 2-0 lead when he started the fifth. He got the first two hitters before Infante doubled into left-center. Buck was next and he hit a ball into shallow right-center. Pence made a sliding effort, but didn’t come up with it. Infante scored from second to cut the lead to 2-1. Blanton struck Buehrle out to leave Buck at first.

Reyes started the sixth and hit a ball hard to second that Galvis couldn’t handle for an error. Bonifacio followed with a ball hit to short, where Rollins forced Reyes out at second but couldn’t get the relay to first in time to get Bonifacio. Blanton walked Ramirez on a 3-1 pitch, putting men on first and second for Stanton. Stanton hit a ball very hard, but Galvis made a great play to take it for the second out. Morrison grounded out softly to Blanton to leave both runners stranded.

Blanton set the Marlins down in order in the seventh, getting Sanchez and Infante on popups and striking Buck out swinging.

Qualls started the eighth with a 3-1 lead, making his third appearance of the year and pitching for the second straight day. Pitcher Steve Cishek was due to lead off, but lefty Greg Dobbs pinch-hit for him and Qualls set him down on a ground ball to first. Reyes followed and grounded out to third before Bonifacio reached on an infield single and Ramirez walked behind him. It put me on first and second for Stanton, but Qualls struck him out looking at a pitch that sure looked way out of the strike zone to me to leave both runners stranded.

Three outings for Qualls in which he has not been charged with a run. Two hits and a walk over three scoreless innings. He got a lot of help with the call on the 3-2 pitch to Stanton.

Papelbon started the ninth with the Phils up two runs. Morrison led off and lined a single to left. Sanchez popped out to Ruiz before Infante moved Morrison to second with a single into center. It brought Buck to the plate with the tying runs on base, but Papelbon got Buck to ground to Rollins and the Phils turned the double-play to end the game.

Second save of the year for Papelbon, who has allowed a run in three innings over three appearances.

Two scoreless innings for the pen. Qualls and Papelbon combine to allow three hits and a walk, but keep the Marlins off the board. Qualls threw 22 pitches in the game and Papelbon 12. Qualls has pitched two days in a row.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Mark Buehrle went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Rollins (4) Pence (5) Mayberry (6) Wigginton (7) Ruiz (8) Galvis. Wigginton plays first with Mayberry in left. Victorino moves up from five to hit leadoff against the lefty. Hitting second in the order is still too high for Polanco, but it makes more sense against a lefty than a righty. Either Victorino or Pence is the best hitter in the lineup against left-handed pitching. Not sure you want either of them leading off.

The Phils went in order in the first and again in the second. Mayberry and Rollins both struck out, Wigginton popped to first and Pence, Victorino and Polanco went down on ground balls.

Ruiz, Galvis and Blanton all went down on ground balls in the third.

Victorino led off the fourth and hit an 0-2 pitch well out to left, putting the Phils on top 1-0. Polanco was next and he hit the ball well to, but Stanton took it in deep right for the first out. Rollins followed that with a single to left. Pence was next and he doubled into the left field corner. The relay throw got away in the infield and Rollins tried to score from third, but Infante got to the ball and threw home in time to get Rollins for the second out. Mayberry followed with another hit, lining a single into left to score Pence and put the Phils up 2-0. Wigginton went down on a fly ball to left to leave Mayberry at first.

More aggressive play from Phils running the bases, but this time it costs a run as Rollins tries to score from third and is thrown out ahead of the single by Mayberry.

Ruiz, Galvis and Blanton went in order in the fifth with the lead cut to 2-1.

Victorino tried to bunt for a hit to start the sixth, but Ramirez threw him out for the first out. Polanco followed that with a single into center. Rollins popped to second before Pence moved Polanco up to second with a single to right. Mayberry popped to Reyes to end the inning.

Victorino hit 308/424/608 against left-handed pitching. I wouldn’t have him bunting against lefties when leading off the inning too much. It was also the third time in the game he had led off an inning with nobody on base against a lefty. He only hit a solo homer in one of those at-bats.

Wigginton led off the seventh and hit a 1-2 pitch out to left for his first home run of the year, putting the Phils on top 3-1. Ruiz grounded to short before Galvis bunted for a single, putting a man on for Blanton’s spot. With the lefty Buehrle still pitching for the Fish, Thome hit for Blanton. Lefty Randy Choate took over for Buehrle to pitch to Thome and struck him out looking for the second out. Righty Steve Chisek came in to pitch to Victorino and got Victorino on a fly ball to left, leaving Galvis stranded.

Thome still looking for his first hit of the season.

Righty Edward Mujica set the Phils down in the eighth, getting Polanco, Rollins and Pence and working around a Stanton error on a dropped foul ball.

Victorino was 1-for-4 with a home run in the game and 4-for-11 with a walk and a homer in the set. 333/417/476 in 25 plate appearances for the season.

Polanco was 1-for-4 in the game and 3-for-13 with three singles in the series. 5-for-22 (.227) with five singles so far.

Rollins 1-for-4 with a single last night and 5-for-13 with an RBI in the series. He’s hitting 280/280/280 through 26 plate appearances (7-for-25 with seven singles and no walks).

Pence was 2-for-4 with a double in the game and 6-for-12 with a double in the series. 391/440/691 in the early going.

Mayberry was 1-for-3 with an RBI in the game and 3-for-11 in the series. 5-for-19 with a double so far. Pierre didn’t appear in the game. He was 1-for-9 in the series and is 3-for-14 with three singles on the year.

Wigginton 1-for-3 with a homer in the game and 1-for-4 in the series. 2-for-12 with a walk and a home run so far.

Ruiz 0-for-3 in the game and 2-for-10 with a double and a home run in the series. 6-for-16 with a two walks, a double and a homer run for the season.

Galvis 1-for-3 with a bunt single. 3-for-10 with two doubles and four RBI in the series. 3-for-20 with two doubles for the season. He and Pence are tied for the team lead in RBI with four.

Cliff Lee (0-0, 1.50) faces righty RA Dickey (1-0, 3.00) tonight. Lee allowed just one run over six innings against the Pirates in his first start, but didn’t get a lot of help as the Phils fell to Pittsburgh. Dickey allowed two runs on five hits and four walks over six innings in his first start of the year, which came against the Braves.

The best news of all from the Opening Day win for the Phillies is that changing the calender from 2011 to 2012 apparently hasn’t made Roy Halladay any less fantastic. Halladay looked exactly like the best pitcher in baseball yesterday. He needed just 92 pitches to throw eight shutout innings, leading the Phils to a 1-0 win over the Pirates.

Going back to his last start of 2011, game five against the Cards, Halladay has thrown 16 innings in his last two starts and allowed one run. The Phillies have scored one run in those games.

In yesterday’s game, he allowed singles to the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the first inning. After that, Halladay threw eight shutout innings in which he didn’t allow a hit or a walk, but hit two batters.

Jonathan Papelbon looked rather impressive himself in his Phillies debut. Pitching the ninth with a one-run lead, Papelbon faced three hitters and set them all down on a strikeout and a pair of ground outs.

The defense was good. The Phils turned a big double-play behind Halladay in the bottom of the first after a couple of hits. Wigginton made a pair of nice plays at first. So what could possibly be wrong?

Well, after a Spring Training dominated by worries about how the Phillies will score runs, they came out on Opening Day and managed just one. The bigger problem for the team is not what they did yesterday, but what they look likely to do tomorrow. And the day after that and the day after that. And how they’re going to win when they don’t get eight shutout innings from their starter.

Still waiting on that one.

The Phillies are 1-0 on the year after beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 yesterday afternoon.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went eight shutout innings, allowing two singles. He didn’t walk a batter. He hit two and struck out five.

Lefty Alex Presley led off the bottom of the first for Pittsburgh and singled into center. Righty Jose Tabata was next and singled as well, on a swinging bunt down the third base line that put men on first and second for righty Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen grounded to short with Rollins going to Galvis and Galvis relaying to first to complete the double-play. Two down and a man on third for switch-hitter Neil Walker. Walker flew to left to leave Presley at third.

Nice first touch of his career for Galvis as the Phils turn a big double-play on McCutchen.

Lefty Garrett Jones grounded to second for the first out of the second. Righty Rod Barajas was next and dribbled to Halladay for the second out. Lefty Pedro Alvarez flew to center on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.

Halladay threw a 1-2-3 third, getting righty Clint Barmes to pop to third, the pitcher Erik Bedard swinging and Presley on a ground ball to second.

Tabata led off the fourth with a ball hit to Rollins. Rollins fielded and threw to first, where Wigginton came off the bag nicely to tag and get Tabata for the first out. McCutchen was next and Halladay drilled him with a 1-2 pitch. Walker followed and hit a ball well to left that Mayberry took at the warning track. McCutchen was way off of first and had to go back, putting a man on first for Jones with two down. Jones grounded to first, leaving McCutchen stranded.

Nice play by Wigginton starts the frame with an out. The McCutchen hit-by-pitch breaks up nine down in a row for Halladay.

Halladay struck out Barajas and Alvarez both swinging to start the fifth. Barmes was next and he hit the ball well to left, but Mayberry took it going into the wall to end the inning.

Second time in two innings the Pirates hit the ball well to left, but Walker and Barmes both go down with no damage done.

Halladay had thrown 62 pitches through five innings.

He threw a 1-2-3 sixth, getting Bedard on a soft fly ball to center and Presley and Tabata on a pair of ground outs.

The Phillies led 1-0 when Halladay started the seventh. He struck McCutchen out swinging 2-2 for the first out and got Walker and Jones on ground outs.

Halladay started the eighth after running the bases in the top of the inning, which he had started with a leadoff single. He got Barajas on a popup to second for the first and Alvarez on a fly ball to center for the second. Barmes was next and Halladay hit him 1-2, breaking Halladay’s sting of 13 in a row. Lefty Nate McLouth hit for the pitcher Chris Resop with two outs and a man on first. Halladay struck McLouth out swinging 1-2 to end the inning with Barmes at first.

Papelbon started the ninth with the Phils still up a run. He threw ball one to Presley, but came back with three straight strikes, getting him swinging 1-2 for the first out. Tabata grounded softly to third for the second out. Papelbon got ahead of McCutchen 0-2 and McCutchen hit a ball to third. Polanco fielded and threw to first, where Wigginton again made a nice play, holding the bag to get the out and end the game.

Ten pitches in the game for Papelbon.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Erik Bedard went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Rollins (4) Pence (5) Wigginton (6) Mayberry (7) Ruiz (8) Galvis. Victorino leads off against the lefty with Pierre on the bench. Mayberry starts in left and Wigginton at first, which is what you would expect, despite ugly Spring Trainings for both players. Galvis makes his debut, starting at second base for the sidelined Utley. Polanco hits second in the order, which is too high. In his final 406 plate appearances of 2011, Polanco posted a 243/304/287 line. Four places where the Phils have big offensive holes in the lineup — second, third, left and first. Against a lefty, they at least have a shot at approaching league average production in left and at first. Less so at second and third. Should be at least a little better against lefties for the righty Polanco. We’ll see how the splits for the switch-hitter Galvis look.

The Phillies start the game with a bench of five left-handed hitters — Nix, Pierre, Thome, Orr and Schneider.

Victorino was the first hitter of the year and he popped to shallow left for the first out. Polanco flew to center for the second before Rollins bunted for a single. Pence lined to center to leave Rollins at first.

Rollins bunts for a hit out of the three-hole and it works beautifully.

Wigginton led off the second and hit a ball up the middle that the second baseman Walker handled behind the shortstop side of second. Walker threw to first and Wigginton was called out on a very close play at first, which Manuel argued without success. Mayberry was next and he singled into right. Ruiz followed, coming off of a monster Spring Training in which he hit 479/500/771. He blooped a single into right, putting men on first and second for Galvis’s first career at-bat. Galvis grounded into a 6-4-3 double-play on an 0-1 pitch to end the frame.

Wigginton looked safe to me. Would have changed the inning significantly, given the two hits behind him. Also, he’s really, really slow to make it as close as it was. That took a long, long time to develop.

Halladay led off the top of the third and struck out swinging. Victorino struck out looking at a 1-2 pitch for the second out. Polanco grounded to first to set the Phillies down.

The Phils went in order in the fourth. Rollins popped to second, Pence grounded to third and Wigginton flew to left.

Mayberry struck out swinging 0-2 to start the fifth. Ruiz was next and singled on a ball deflected by Barmes at short. Galvis was next and grounded into a double-play again, this time to third, to set the Phillies down.

Ruiz 2-for-2 in the early going. Galvis 0-for-2 and twice grounded into a double-play.

Halladay struck out to start the sixth, but Victorino followed and walked on five pitches. Polanco flew to center for the second out. Victorino stole second as Rollins took strike one, but Rollins popped to short to leave him there.

Pence flew to center to start the seventh. Wigginton was next and hit a ball hard into center for a single. Mayberry followed and hit a ball into right that rolled into the corner for a double. Wigginton, who’s really slow, moved up to third. Ruiz was next and flew to right, not too deep, and Tabata took it coming in for the second out. Wigginton tagged from third and slid in just ahead of the tag from Barajas, putting the Phils up 1-0 with two down and a man on second for Galvis. Galvis grounded to short to end the frame with Mayberry at second.

Golly on Wigginton not scoring from first on Mayberry’s double that rolled into the corner. Nice job to score on Ruiz’s ball to right. Galvis did his best to hit into another double-play, but it’s not his fault if the Phillies don’t have a runner on first.

Halladay hit for himself to start the eighth and singled to right off of righty Chris Resop. Victorino showed bunt early in the count before striking out for the first out. Polanco walked on four pitches, putting men on first and second for Rollins. Rollins hit an 0-1 pitch hard, but it was snared by a leaping Walker at second for the second out. Resop struck Pence out swinging 1-2 to leave both runners stranded.

Halladay hits for himself up 1-0 in the eighth to lead off the inning having thrown 79 pitches in the game. Really not a fan of the idea that Victorino would try to bunt Halladay to second with the first out.

Righty Juan Cruz started the ninth for Pittsburgh. He got Wigginton on a ground ball back to the mound for the first out and struck Mayberry out for the second. Ruiz was next and he singled into right for his third hit of the day. Galvis nearly bunted for a hit with a pretty ball down the right field line, but it finally rolled foul. Cruz struck Galvis out swinging 2-2 to leave Ruiz at first.

Victorino was 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.

Polanco 0-for-3 with a walk.

Rollins 1-for-4 with a bunt single and three men left on base. He lined hard to Walker in the eighth.

Pence 0-for-4 with a strikeout and three men left on base.

Wigginton was 1-for-4 with a single and scored the only run of the game. Didn’t score from first on the double from Mayberry, but did tag and score on the ball hit by Ruiz. He also made a couple of nice plays at first, one to handle a throw by Rollins and another on the throw by Polanco to end the game. Should have had another hit in the second on the ball he hit up the middle (and yes, he’s really slow, but, in his defense, he was also really safe at first).

Mayberry was 2-for-4 with a double and struck out twice.

Ruiz 3-for-3 with a sac fly that brought in the only run of the game.

Galvis was 0-for-4 with a strikeout and five men left on base. He hit into two double-plays. Defensively was part of the big double-play in the first inning that helped keep Pittsburgh off the board.

Cliff Lee faces righty Jeff Karstens on Saturday night.

For lovers of #DIV/0!, the Start Log for 2012 is up. Third straight Opening Day start for Halladay with the Phillies — in those starts he has combined to throw 21 innings and allow two runs.

This suggests that Scott Podsednik is likely to report to Triple-A rather than retire.

The other day I pointed out that Papelbon’s addition might help the Phillie bullpen bring down the huge rate at which their relievers issued walks in 2011. Qualls might as well. Here are the rates of runs, hits, walks and strikeouts per nine innings for the ’11 pen as well as Papelbon and Qualls for 2011 and for their careers (remembering that Papelbon has spent his whole career in the AL while Qualls has thrown all but 21 innings of his career in the NL):

The numbers for Qualls are a little scary overall, but his walk rate has always been under the 3.99 per nine innings that the bullpen posted for the Phils in 2011. Qualls has only had one year for his career in which he has posted a walk rate worse than 2.85 batters per nine — in 2010, a disaster for Qualls, he walked about 3.2 batters per nine while throwing to a 7.32 ERA.

Dontrelle Willis is a different story, of course. Willis has seen his walk rate explode in recent years to the detriment of his career. From 2003 to 2007 with the Marlins, Willis threw 1,022 2/3 innings and walked 344 batters — that’s about 3.03 batters per nine. Since he left Florida, 2008-2011, Willis has thrown just 199 innings in which he has walked 156 batters. That’s 7.06 batters per nine innings. You’re going to have some trouble putting up nice numbers overall if you walk 7.06 batters per nine — Willis’s ERA since the end of 2007 is 6.15.

The Phillies played Houston yesterday, losing 6-5 on a walkoff homer by Brian Bixler in the bottom of the tenth. They are 5-6.

Hamels started the game for the Phillies and was good again, holding the Astros to a run on four hits over five innings without walking a batter. The outing, the third of Spring Training for Hamels, raised his ERA to 1.69.

Bush pitched the sixth, allowing singles to the first two men he faced, but getting the next three to keep Houston off the board and lowering his ERA to 6.75. Lefty Raul Valdes allowed a run on two hits and a walk in the seventh — he’s now allowed a run on three hits and a walk over four innings. Brian Sanches followed him, allowing a run over two innings to lower his ERA to 6.75. Jeremy Horst started the tenth with a 5-3 lead. He allowed a a single and a walk before striking out righty Chris Wallace for the first out. Bixler was next, though, and he hit Horst’s first pitch out to left to give Houston the win. Horst came into the game having not been charged with a run in his first two appearances, but has now been charged with three runs in three innings.

Domonic Brown broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the tenth with a solo home run, his first of Spring Training. He was 2-for-5 on the day, raising his average to .313 (5-for-16 with two triples and a home run). That’s the good news. The bad news is that he’s so bad defensively it’s hard to believe the Phillies are going to put him on the field in a game that counts anytime soon. Brown made another bad miscue reacting to a ball hit to the outfield yesterday, misplaying Carlos Lee’s eighth inning line drive into a double.

Brown had also been charged with a throwing error in the seventh. It was his second error so far this Spring Training, but the reality is that two errors don’t capture just how atrocious his defense has been. He’s now OPSing 1.103 in his 16 official Spring Training at-bats, but there’s little left to the dream he would show up and prove he’s ready to join the team for the start of the regular season.

Michael Martinez was 2-for-2 with a pair of singles, upping his average to .333. Podsednik started in center and made a couple of nice defensive plays in right after shifting there. He was 1-for-5 at the plate to drop his average to .320 (8-for-25 with three doubles). Pierre went 0-for-1 with a walk and is hitting .263.

Mayberry started at first and went 0-for-3, dropping his line to 192/222/269 in a team-high 26 at-bats.

Martinez left yesterday’s game after being hit on the elbow by a pickoff attempt.

The same article says that Nix was scratched from yesterday’s game, but is expected to play soon.

The Phils face the Twins this afternoon with Halladay expected to pitch.

Last week I pointed out that Phillie relievers walked a ton of hitters in 2011. While the average NL bullpen saw their pitchers walk about 9.5% of the batters they faced and about 3.64 per nine innings, the Phils’s pen walked 10.5% of the batters they faced and 3.99 per nine innings.

Here’s how the numbers break down for guys who faced batters in relief for the Phils in 2011:

They are sorted by percentage of batters faced that were walked. Everyone from Kyle Kendrick and above both walked more than 9.5% of the batters they faced and walked more than 3.64 batters per nine innings.

There were four guys in the bullpen for the Phillies last year who threw more than 36 innings in relief. Stutes, Madson, Bastardo and Herndon combined to 237 innings out of the pen. That’s 57.5% of the total innings that relievers for the Phils threw for the year.

Of those four, Stutes, Herndon and Bastardo were all above the league average in terms of walks for both the percentage of hitters that they walked and their walks per nine innings. Madson was the only guy of the group who was under in either category — he was well under in both, but his ability to prevent walks doesn’t look like it’s going to help the team much in 2012.

Papelbon was great at preventing walks in 2011, walking just 10 of the 255 batters he faced. That’s 3.92% of batters and 1.40 per nine innings, both of which are better than Madson’s numbers. In 2009 and 2010 combined, though, his walk rate was much higher. In those two years combined, Papelbon walked 3.46 hitters per nine and about 9.1% of the hitters he faced.

The Phillies are 5-5 in Spring Training action after beating the Pirates 4-1 yesterday afternoon.

Worley was the story of the game. He started for the Phillies and was outstanding, striking out eight in four perfect innings. Pat Misch followed Worley and he was very good, too, retiring five in a row before walking Eric Fryer to give the Pirates their first base-runner of the game with two outs in the sixth inning. Herndon was next and he allowed an unearned run on a single, a stolen base and an error by Martinez at short. Bastardo and Schwimer followed Herndon and each threw a scoreless inning.

Herndon, Bastrado and Schwimer haven’t been charged with an earned run yet in official Spring Training action.

Hector Luna and Jimmy Rollins both homered for the Phils, the first of Spring Training for Rollins and the second for Luna.

Scott Podsednik started in right for the Phillies and went 1-for-3, dropping his average to .350 (7-for-20). Brown was 1-for-1 with an RBI-triple. Pierre 1-for-3 with a single to up his average to .278 (5-for-18 with five singles). Tyson Gillies went 0-for-3 to drop his average to .158 (3-for-19 with a double).

The Phils face the Astros this afternoon with Cole Hamels and Dave Bush expected to pitch.

Jim Thome played four innings of first base in a minor league game yesterday. Sounds kinda like it wasn’t a problem except for when someone hit the ball near him.

Contreras also played in a minor league game yesterday, getting five outs and throwing 21 pitches.

The same article linked above says that Nix left Monday’s game after just one at-bat because he didn’t feel good. Nix suffered a bruise to his left rib cage in a collision at the plate in Sunday’s game against the Tigers.