Roy's Command Goes On A Halladay

               Roy Halladay's command clearly decided to take a spring holiday in the Florida sun this afternoon.  Halladay was absolutely shelled by the Detroit Tigers as they took the contest over the Phillies 10-6.  The command and velocity just never showed up to Bright House Field for Halladay as he was tagged for 7 runs on 6 hits in just 2 2/3 innings on the mound.
 Halladay simply never found a groove on the mound this afternoon, and in an out of character outing, walked 4 batters.  Allowing so many base-runners quickly ran up the score for the Tigers as Halladay failed to strand many runners and had two home runs hit off of him, one being a grand slam.  After running up his pitch count and being extremely ineffective, Halladay was yanked and replaced by Jeremy Horst to finish off the third inning.  Horst also pitched the fourth inning, and allowed no hits and no runs on the day.  The Tigers extended their lead after young left-hander Jake Diekman entered the game, scoring 3 runs on 4 hits, with one home run during his two innings on the mound.  Raul Valdes put an end to the bleeding, pitching the final three innings while allowing only 1 hit, no runs, and striking out 4.  The Phillies hitters did some damage of their own on the afternoon, but simply could not make up for the early deficit.
                While the Phillies outhit the Tigers 13-11, they did not capitalize quite as efficiently with their base-runners, and could not make up for the early hole Halladay put them in.  Despite the loss and ugly pitching performances, their were a few positive takeaways from the day since spring games don't count for anything.  Off-season acquisition Ben Revere continued the tear he has been on thus far through Grapefruit League play.  Revere led off for the Phillies today and went 3 for 3 with 2 doubles, and 3 runs scored.  The impressive day boosted Revere's spring average to .372, as he continues to look like a solid replacement for Shane Victorino.  Chase Utley, who has struggled at the plate so far this spring, and was moved from second base to DH due to a wet playing field, had a 1 for 4 day, with that one hit being a 3 run home run.  Ryan Howard continued to impress at the plate, going 1 for 3 with a double on the day.  Yuniesky Betancourt continued to make a strong case to fill a role on the bench for the Phillies as he went 2 for 4 on the day to raise his average to .379 for the spring.  The Phillies will need to make a decision on Betancourt very soon, as he has an opt-out clause in his contract if he is not on the 25 man roster by March 24.  So while the pitching was a little rough on the day, the hitting again looked impressive.  The Phillies will be back in action tomorrow against the Yankees, with Cliff Lee getting the start.