Roy Halladay Leaves Early Due to Heat, Cubs Beat Phils 6-1

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CHICAGO -- Monday night's game was painful to watch for those sitting at home in their living rooms in the Delaware Valley, spoiled by the luxuries of icy cool air conditioning and frosty beverages. So just imagine how painful it was for the Phillies fans who trekked out to Wrigley Field to cheer on their squad only to sit in what felt like a sauna. It wasn't just the 91 degree first pitch temperature. It was a sticky, humid, oppressive heat.

And it got to Roy Halladay.

After giving up a single to Starlin Castro to start the bottom half of the fifth, Halladay was curiously pulled having thrown only 69 pitches. The guess at the time was something to do with heat/exhaustion, as the temperatures and humidity at the ball park were flat out gross, and Roy looked very red. He threw a couple of laborious innings in which the Cubs really made him work, including 31 pitches in the third.

Halladay didn't seem like himself all night, and was seen bending over at the hip in between multiple batters. He even crouched down behind the rubber while Chase Utley tried to fix his cleat at one point. I wouldn't be surprised if Utley did this on purpose, noticing his ace was gassed.

The official reason the Phillies later gave for Roy's departure was "due to the heat."

That ended the Cy Young winner's day, but the Phils were still in the game at that point, trailing only 3-1.

How the Cubs Got To Roy

Aramis Ramirez lifted the first pitch he saw from Roy Halladay into the left field bleachers in the first inning to put the Cubs up 1-0.

Halladay's toughest inning was clearly the third, in which he gave up a single to pitcher Rodrigo Lopez, followed by a walk to Kosuke Fukudome. Starlin Castro slapped a single through the left side.

That brought up Aramis Ramirez with the bases loaded and no outs. Ramirez battled Halladay and eventually hit a ball to the warning track in right on the ninth pitch of the at-bat to put the Cubs up 2-0. Two pitches later Carlos Pena scored the third Cubs run on a lined single to right. Halladay got Marlon Byrd to fly out to left and Alfonso Soriano to center to finally end the inning. But the Cubs were up 3-0 at that point and the Phillies offense could never get anything going against Rodrigo Lopez, who left the game to a standing ovation in the seventh.

[for more on Lopez's gem, check out Patrick Mooney's post]

Andrew Carpenter and David Herndon couldn't keep it close and allowed the Cubs to stretch the lead to 6-1.

Nothing Doing Offensively

Rollins finally added some life to the Phillies offense by smacking his 9th home run of the year into the second row of the bleachers in right center to start the fourth inning, but they couldn't plate anyone else the rest of the night.

Michael Martinez got things going in the sixth with a bloop single followed by Chase Utley taking a ball in the leg to get on base and put two on board for the Big Piece. Ryan Howard caught a break when Soriano dropped a foul ball down the line in left, but couldn't deliver, finally popping out to shallow center after a tough at-at bat.

The Phillies were cooked.

UPDATE: Halladay did not talk to reporters following the game but through a team spokesperson said he would "absolutely" make his next scheduled start against the Padres on Sunday.

US PRESSWIRE photos

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