No active big-league starter has gone longer without pitching in the playoffs than the Phillies' Roy Halladay. So in Wednesday's opener of the National League Division Series he more than made up for the wait, no-hitting the Cincinnati Reds in a 4-0 win.
Halladay was masterful, retiring the first 14 Reds before walking Jay Bruce on a full-count pitch with two out in the fifth. But that was all Cincinnati would get as Halladay came within a pitch of his second perfect game of the season and the second perfect game in postseason history.
And astonishly, he made it look easy. Facing a powerhouse lineup that led the N.L. in virtually every significant offensive category during the regular season, the right-hander threw first-pitch strikes to 25 of the 28 batters he faced, going to three-ball counts just three times.
Of the 104 pitches he threw on the night, 79 of them were strikes. In the eighth inning, when he should have been getting tired, he methodically retired the side on seven pitches, striking out two.
When he came back out for the ninth, he was greeted by a standing ovation from the towel-waving crowd of 46,411, which stayed on its feet, growing louder by the pitch, until Halladay retired Brandon Phillips on a nubber in front of the plate for the final out.
Halladay struck out eight and was so in control his defense was called on to make just two plays that weren't routine ? a sliding catch by right fielder Jayson Werth to end the third and a ground ball that took a tricky hop off the mound to shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who stayed with the ball to get the second out in the sixth.
Catcher Carlos Ruiz also had a tricky play for the final out when the ball Phillips tapped in front of the plate came to rest against his bat. But Ruiz collected the ball, avoided the bat, and made throw to first in plenty of time.
And as if that wasn't enough, Halladay also contributed at the plate, driving in one run and coming around to score another in a three-run second inning that gave the Phillies a 4-0 lead.
Cincinnati shortstop Orlando Cabrera also played a big part in that rally when he fielded Wilson Valdez's two-out ground ball behind second but instead of throwing to first, where he appeared to have an easy play, he made an awkward ? and wild ? flip to second trying for a force out.
Valdez was given a hit on the play but Halladay made Cabrera pay just the same, lining the next pitch to left for a run-scoring single. And after Jimmy Rollins walked on a full-count pitch to load the bases, Shane Victorino helped unload them, knocking another full-count pitch to center for a two-run single to center that put Philadelphia up 4-0 and sent Reds' starter Edinson Volquez to the showers.
After an off day Thursday, the Reds will try to even the series Friday when they send 17-game winner Bronson Arroyo to the mound against Philadelphia's Roy Oswalt.
kevin.baxter@latimes.com