Halladay says shoulder hurts after blowout loss to Marlins

Roy Halladay says there is a reason he has been lit up in his last two starts, which may or may not be a relief to the Phillies.

After Sunday's 14-2 loss to the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, Halladay said he has been suffering from right-shoulder discomfort, which he began feeling the day after his last strong outing, April 24 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Since then, Halladay has suffered consecutive 14-2 defeats, first at Cleveland on Tuesday and then Sunday against a Miami team that entered the day with 84 runs in 31 games, the lowest total in the major leagues.

"My shoulder is bothering me," Halladay said after surrendering nine runs (all earned) in 21/3 innings. "It started the morning after the game I pitched [against] Pittsburgh, I believe."

In that game, Halladay allowed one hit and one run and struck out eight over six innings of a 5-3 loss.

"I woke up [after that start] and didn't really think anything of it, thought it was regular soreness," Halladay said. "It kind of progressed over the last two weeks or so."

Halladay said he will be examined when the Phillies are on the West Coast. They begin a seven-game trip Monday in San Francisco and conclude with four games in Arizona.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the injury likely will put Halladay on the disabled list.

Amaro said he didn't know about Halladay's injury until after the righthander left Sunday's game. He was examined by team physician Michael Ciccotti.

"It was just some stuff Ciccotti does, typical testing, but we have more diagnostic testing and such," Amaro said. "Probably in the next few days, he will see a doctor on the West Coast."

Halladay didn't take questions from the media but gave a statement. He said he would make an appointment with noted orthopedic surgeon Lewis Yocum.

Last season, he was on the disabled list from May 28 to July 16 with a strained right latissimus dorsi - the muscle in the back of his shoulder - but he said this injury is different.

"It is not something I had before," Halladay said. "It is something new this year."

Halladay, who will turn 36 on May 14, did not have much zip or movement on his pitches against the Marlins. Three of the 65 pitches he threw were recorded at exactly 90 m.p.h., and none faster than that.

Halladay threw 38 pitches in surrendering five first-inning runs. The first two came across on a two-run double to left by Marcell Ozuna that just missed being a grand slam. The ball bounced off the top of the left-field wall and was ruled a double, which was confirmed after a video review.

The Marlins also got a two-out, three-run triple to right-center by shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, who entered the game batting .169 with three RBIs.

Hechavarria was only warming up.

Halladay was lifted after he gave up a third-inning grand slam to Hechavarria. He left to a combination of cheers and boos.

In addition to the nine runs, he allowed four hits, walked four, struck out four, and hit two batters.

To put things in perspective, the Marlins had scored nine runs in the previous six games against the Phillies this season.

Miami's Kevin Slowey pitched seven shutout innings to earn his first win since Sept. 18, 2010, when he was with Minnesota.

Halladay (2-4, 8.65 ERA) is earning $20 million in the final season of his contract. Lost in the injury news was that the Phillies split a four-game series with a struggling Marlins team that is 10-22.

Now comes the hard part. The Phillies, 14-18 with a team batting average of .237, begin a three-game series against the pitching-rich World Series-champion San Francisco Giants on Monday.