At 52 degrees on April 5, the Pirates were officially ready to kick off their 2012 season. Opening at home for the first time since 2010, the Pirates were looking to push their opening day winning streak to six straight games. After Alex Presley and Jose Tabata led off the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back singles, the Phillies Roy Halladay got in his zone and never looked back. As a matter of fact, the Phillies wouldn’t allow another hit the rest of the game as they took game one of the series 1-0.
In what was truly a pitcher’s duel, Erik Bedard held his own against one of the games elite pitchers in Halladay.
“He pitched a very good ballgame. Very efficient with 21 of 26 first pitch strikes. Nothing was squared up or hit extremely hard at all,” Pirates manager said of Bedard. “He pitched a very good ballgame.”
Bedard, who was happy with his personal performance, was still upset with the teams loss.
“It’s always disappointing. Any game you lose is disappointing,” Bedard said. “We did the best we could and couldn’t come out on top.”
As Hurdle mentioned, Bedard pitched an efficient game in his first as a Pirate and first overall in the National League by throwing 21 of 26 first pitches for strikes. Bedard was able to keep the hitters off balance by successfully throwing his curveball and fastball for first pitch strikes. Bedard was able to keep the Phillies off the board until the seventh inning when the Phillies finally struck. A single by Ty Wiggington and a double by John Mayberry put runners in scoring position for Carlos Ruiz who hit a sacrifice fly scoring Wiggington for the only run of the game.
On the other hand, Roy Halladay, was lights out after allowing the first two batters of the game for the Pirates to reach.
“It’s hard not to give Roy (Halladay) credit. He stays out of the middle of the plate and doesn’t allow hitters to square up. We weren’t able to counter punch,” Hurdle said.
Aside from the two early hits, Halladay only allowed two more baserunners the rest of the game after hitting Andrew McCutchen and Clint Barmes with pitches later in the game.
McCutchen, who tallied an 0-3 day at the plate, including a strikeout and a double play, echoes Bedard’s feeling of disappointment.
“Every loss is disappointing. We were able to battle with one of the best teams. With Halladay, you just have to battle every time with him,” McCutchen said.”
“Bedard gave us a great game and I wish we were able to score some runs for him, but it didn’t go that way, so we just have to remember what we did today, show up Saturday and try to get a win.”
The Pirates, who played in front of a record crowd of 39,585, will look to rebound in game two of the three game set Saturday night against Cliff Lee. The Pirates will face a pitcher just as tough as Halladay is in Lee on Saturday. Last season, the Pirates hit just .239 against left-handers. According to McCutchen, it’s not that big of a deal.
“We faced him before and he’s still a pitcher and we still can beat him,” McCutchen said. “He’s just another pitcher to me and you just have to show up and do your job.”
McCutchen and the rest of the Pirates will try to do their job Saturday with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05. The probable pitchers are the aforementioned Lee (0-0) against Jeff Karstens (0-0) for the Pirates.
Pirates:
Presley – 1-4
Tabata – 1-4
McCutchen – 0-3
Walker – 0-3
Jones – 0-3
Barajas – 0-3
Alvarez – 0-3
Barmes – 0-2
Bedard – 0-2
McLouth – 0-1 (PH)
Phillies:
Victorino – 0-3
Polanco – 0-3
Rollins – 1-4
Pence – 0-4
Wiggington – 1-4
Mayberry – 2-4
Ruiz – 3-3
Galvis – 0-4
Halladay – 1-3
Photo credit: Getty Images
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