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Halladay isn't perfect, but gets win

This time, Roy Halladay didn't have to be perfect, mainly because Shane Victorino ended an offensive swoon that has afflicted many of his Phillies teammates.

Roy Halladay pitched seven innings and allowed two earned runs.  (David M Warren / Staff Photographer)
Roy Halladay pitched seven innings and allowed two earned runs. (David M Warren / Staff Photographer)Read more

This time, Roy Halladay didn't have to be perfect, mainly because Shane Victorino ended an offensive swoon that has afflicted many of his Phillies teammates.

Victorino went 2 for 4 with a two-run home run and two runs scored as the Phillies ended a four-game losing streak with Friday's 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park.

In his previous 15 games, Victorino had scored one run. He was batting .176 (9 for 51) with one RBI in his previous 13 games.

"You can't sit back and worry about it," Victorino said about his recent slump. "I can say I was frustrated, but if something like this can jump-start our offense and we can keep going and score runs, then that is what we're supposed to do."

Another encouraging sign was a scoreless ninth inning by Brad Lidge, who struck out two to earn the save.

"I felt great," Lidge said. "I was anxious to get out and pitch, especially in that situation."

After Halladay's 1-0 perfect- game win at Florida against the Marlins last Saturday, the suspense went out early when the third batter of the game, San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez, lined a single to center field.

On the other side, it was Halladay who ended a no-hit bid, albeit an early one, by San Diego with a one-out single to right field off Mat Latos in the third inning.

Victorino then hit a two-run home run to right field, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

Gonzalez tied it with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly.

Victorino began a fifth-inning rally with a double and eventually scored on Latos' two-out bases-loaded walk to Jayson Werth that gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead.

"Victorino stayed on a couple of fastballs tonight," manager Charlie Manuel said.

Not only did the Phillies take the lead, they ended up chasing Latos as well. He lasted only five innings, throwing 103 pitches.

Latos struck out six, but he also walked four, and of course, his biggest downfall was an inability to deal with Victorino.

The Phillies' recent slide has been well-documented. Entering Friday, they were 2-9 in their previous 11 games and had scored just 14 runs in that span. They had not scored more than three runs in any of the 11 games.

"Our hitters will be fine," Manuel said.

Halladay wasn't at his best, at least by his standards, but he fought his way through seven effective innings.

The righthander allowed two runs on 10 hits and stranded nine baserunners. He also struck out seven and walked one. Halladay has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 10 of his 12 starts this season.

Halladay was replaced in the eighth inning by Jose Contreras, but the righthander didn't last the inning. Two of the first three batters reached base when Nick Hundley was hit by a pitch and Tony Gwynn walked.

With one out, the Padres then sent former Phillie Matt Stairs to the plate to pinch-hit for pitcher Edward Mujica. Contreras was replaced by lefthander J.C. Romero, and Padres manager Bud Black sent righthanded hitter Oscar Salazar to pinch-hit for Stairs.

Salazar walked to load the bases, but rightfielder Chris Denorfia then hit into a double play to Placido Polanco at third base. Polanco tagged the bag for the force and threw over to first for the third out.