Perfection

Last night, Roy Halladay became a member of an exclusive club of pitchers that have thrown a perfect game. In a 1-0 Phillies win, Halladay stymied the Florida Marlins to become just the twentyieth pitcher to not allow a baserunner over nine innings of work. In completing this monumental feat, Halladay became just the second Phillies pitcher to do so, after Jim Bunning in 1964 against the New York Mets. Halladay is also the third pitcher this season to throw a no-hit, no-run performance after Ubaldo Jimenez's no-hitter on April 17th against the Braves, and Dallas Braden's perfect game on May 9th against the Rays. Halladay's perfect game, coupled with Braden's means 2010 is the first season since 1880 to have two pitchers throw perfect games. Halladay has always possessed the repertoire and ability necessary to throw a no-hitter or a perfect game, however he had everything but a touch of luck in previous experiences. In Halladay's first career win with the Blue Jays in 1998, he would have had a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning before Bobby Higginson hit a solo home run. Last night, Halladay had pinpoint command of all of his pitches as he threw one hundred fifteen pitches, seventy-two of which went for strikes. Halladay also recorded eleven strikeouts. The performance will be remembered as an utterly dominant performance by arguably the best pitcher in baseball. Sources Used: espn.com, phillies.com, baseball-almanac.com