Shaky Start Continues for Halladay, Phillies

    Roy Halladay and the Phillies continued their shaky start to the season tonight as they were defeated by the Mets.  The Mets dominated the Phillies by a score 7-2 as cause for concern continued to grow for both Halladay and the Phillies early in the season.

    Hallday picked right back up where he left off in his first start of the season when he took the mound tonight, which is not good.  Hallday lasted only four innings, pitching to three batters in the fifth, and needed 99 pitches to do so, as he allowed 7 earned runs on 6 hits and 3 walks.  After an uncharacteristic 2012, Halladay continues to look like a shell of his previous Cy Young winning self.
    Chad Durbin took over for Halladay with two on an no outs in the fifth, and failed to strand the runners.  While the runs were charged to Halladay's line, Durbin did not look sharp as he pitched one inning allowing 1 hit and 1 walk.  Things settled down after the fifth, as Jeremy Horst and Raul Valdes each pitched two shutout innings respectively, but it was too late for the Phillies.
    After yet another horrific outing from the pitching staff, the hitters did little to bail them out.  On the game the Phillies only managed 4 hits.   Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley each had a 1 for 4 night at the plate, with Rollins hitting a double, scoring a run, and collecting an RBI.  Humberto Quintero and Erik Kratz collected the other 2 hits for the Phillies in an uneventful night at the plate for the team.
    Tonight's loss now drops the Phillies to 2-5 early in the season, and while it's too early to be overly concerned, the slow start definitely has a few Philadelphian's panicking.  The pitching has been atrocious to start the season and the hitting has done little to help.  The Phillies will need to work out these kinks soon if they hope to climb back to the top of the division in 2013.
    The Phillies will be back in action tomorrow in the second game of the series against the Mets.  Cliff Lee will be making his second start of the season, after a spectacular season debut.