If I said to you back in early spring training that the Phillies would be 6-1 after the first week of the seaon, you probably would have laughed at me. Since 2004, the Phillies have had a lot of trouble getting out of the gate. In 2004, 2006, and 2007, the Phillies went 1-6 in their first week of baseball. Slow starts have been always nagged this team. So for the 2010 Phillies, with a sparkling record of 6-1, have erased the past and are off to their hottest start in years. The Phillies can attribute much of their early season success to their high powered offense, averaging over 7 runs a game. Roy Halladay, who pitched a complete game one run game for the Phils on Sunday to seal the sweep of the Houston Astros, is also contributing greatly to the Phillies hot start. Let's take a closer look at the Phillies 6-1 record by discussig the Houston series and also the Phillies win in their home opener against the Nationals. Last Friday, the Phillies took their 2-1 record to Houston to face off against Ed Wade and the Houston Astros. On Friday, J.A. Happ took to the hill, pitching 5 innings and giving up 0 runs. The Phillies offense also had a huge night, scoring 8 runs and getting contributions from just about everyone. Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jayson Werth all went 2for 4. Placido Polanco also had another huge game going 4 for 5 but the biggest story line of the game was Raul Ibanez breaking out of his slump. In the series against the Nationals, Ibanez had just 1 hit and it was clear that he was struggling at the plate. On Friday night, Ibanez went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a single. It was nice to see Raul finally hit the ball hard. The Phillies won the game by a final of 8-0. On Saturday, Jamie Moyer got the start and he had his struggles. The beginning of the game went fine, 6 up and 6 down for the crafty veteran, but the 3rd inning was a disaster. Jamie gave up 5 runs in the 3rd, by giving up 7 hits, 2 of whcih were home runs. Luckily, Jamie settled down after that and went on to pitch 3 consecutive scoreless innings. I think the biggest thing for Moyer this season, is avoding that one really bad inning. Usually for Jamie, that inning comes in either the first or second inning when Moyer will give up 3 or 4 runs. For Moyer, if he can limit those bad innings to 1 or 2 run inngings or avoid them all together, it will help him and the Phillies out greatly down the road. On Sunday, for the first time all year, the Phillies bats were silent. No that is not a typo, the Phillies offense struggled greatly against Roy Oswalt only managing to score 2 runs. Luckily for the Phillies, it would be enough because Roy Halladay was on the hill and he proved just how valuable he is to this ball club by pitching a complete game 1 run game. With a just a 1 run lead to work with, Halladay worked his way out of tight jams throughout the game en route to his second win of the season. On Monday, the Phillies faced the Nationals once again in their home opener. Hamels got the start, and once again Cole didnt do great but he didnt do all that terrible either. He gave up 4 runs in 5+ innings of work, and once again had tremendous run support as he got his second win of the season. The Phillies offense provided Cole with all the runs he needed with a huge 5 run 5th. The Phillies won the game by a final of 7-4. I know that Cole Hamels early on does not look too good, but hey hes 2-0, undefeated, and until he starts losing games, Im not gonna get on his case. For the Phillies, they are rivaling the '93 team with their hot start. This team is extremely exciting to watch, and with a favorable early season schedule, the sky is the limit.
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