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BY SCOTT LAUBER
(Twitter: @ScottLauber)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The team bus left Clearwater at 1:30 p.m. to make the 90-minute drive here for a 7 p.m. game against the Braves.
Roy Halladay couldn't wait that long.
"I can't sit home on days I pitch," he said. "I get fidgety. And my wife can't stand me. So, I tried to get here a little earlier and just kind of meander for a while."
Halladay (photo: AP), making his second Grapefruit League start, arrived at the ballpark by 2:15 p.m. and began his typically thorough pregame preparation. Then, he allowed three hits and struck out five (three looking) in three scoreless innings of the Phillies' 7-4 victory against a close facsimile of the Braves' regular-season lineup.
Just another ho-hum outing for the Phillies' new ace.
After tossing two hitless innings in his spring debut last week against the Yankees, Halladay gave up back-to-back two-out singles by Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus in the first inning, then caught Brian McCann looking at a nasty curveball. He allowed a one-out single to touted outfielder Jason Heyward in the second, then pitched a perfect third. He threw 51 pitches, 33 for strikes.
"I think the biggest thing for me right now is just pitch consistency," Halladay said. "Especially early on, I didn't throw as many strikes as I would've wanted. I felt like it was better later on. ... I like facing as many guys as I can, not only teams you're going to play, but the quality of players."
Halladay, a 3-for-38 career hitter in inter-league play, also got his first at-bat in the second and swung at the first pitch, grounding to second base, and shared a laugh with Charlie Manuel on his way into the dugout.
"He asked me, 'You want me taking some [pitches]?'" Manuel said. "I said, 'I didn't have a chance to tell you, did I?'"
That's all for tonight. More tomorrow morning with details from Jamie Moyer's start in the B-game and Brad Lidge's live batting practice session.
