PBR - Roy Halladay breezed through eight scoreless innings in his first start of the season on Opening Day before new closer Jonathon Papelbon recorded his first save as the Phillies defeated the Pirates, 1-0, Thursday afternoon at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Halladay gave up only two hits and struck out five in the win. This was Halladay's third consecutive Opening Day start in a Phillies uniform.
The contest was at a stalemate until the top of the seventh inning when catcher Carlos Ruiz knocked in Ty Wigginton on a sacrifice fly ... and ultimately gave Halladay all the run support he needed. Ruiz finished the day a perfect 3-for-3.
In relief of Halladay, Papelbon shut the door quickly, striking out the first batter he faced and getting the other two to ground out for his first save as a Phillie and the club's first win of the season.
On offense, the bats could only generate eight hits and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position as a whole. Freddy Galvis went 0-for-4 and grounded into double plays in his first two career at-bats, leaving five total on base for the game.
John Mayberry, Jr. collected two hits and went 2-for-4, while Wigginton and Jimmy Rollins also had a hit each.
Defensively, the Phillies (1-0) made some great plays behind their ace to keep the Pirates off the board, especially Mayberry Jr. who made two great plays out in left field.
For Pittsburgh (0-1), lefty Erik Bedard hurled seven innings of one-run ball despite recording the loss. Outfielders Alex Presley and Jose Tabata were the only Pirates to record hits.
Saturday night, Cliff Lee will take the mound in the second game of the series. Lee will be opposed by Pirates right-hander Jeff Karstens. First pitch will be 7:05.
