ATLANTA - The Philadelphia Phillies never had any intention of going to the bullpen. Not with Roy Halladay on the mound.
Halladay threw a five-hitter for his first NL shutout - getting a couple of big assists from the defense - and the Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves 2-0 Wednesday night.
The night before, Philadelphia pulled Kyle Kendrick after eight scoreless innings with a 3-0 lead. Ryan Madson squandered it away, giving up back-to-back home runs to Glaus and Jason Heyward with two outs in the ninth, and Nate McLouth homered off Jose Contreras in the 10th to give Atlanta an improbable 4-3 win.
This time, no one in the bullpen stirred.
"They were all down there eating peanuts," manager Charlie Manuel said with a smile.
Halladay (4-0) was acquired in the off-season from Toronto to lead the staff of the two-time defending NL champions, and he's certainly lived up to the hype in his first four starts. He has pitched 33 innings, allowing 26 hits and three earned runs for an ERA of 0.82.
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"My goal was to be aggressive and not cause any problems for myself," said Halladay, who credited an improved change-up for his early success. "It's worked out better than I could have thought so far."
Raul Ibañez and Jayson Werth hit RBI doubles against Tim Hudson (1-1), but Halladay's latest masterpiece would not have been possible without a pair of brilliant defensive plays.
Center fielder Shane Victorino stole a likely homer from Glaus with a leaping catch in the second, and second baseman Chase Utley made a diving stop on a shot up the middle to start an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the seventh.
"The defense was pretty good, wasn't it?" Manuel said. "Doc was pretty good, too."
Halladay went the distance for the second time this season and earned his 16th career shutout.
Halladay, who led the majors with a career-high four shutouts last season, got the final two outs on infield grounders to snap Philadelphia's three-game losing streak.
The Phillies have sole possession of first place in the NL East.
Halladay retired the first 11 hitters, struck out seven and walked only one. He threw 113 pitches, 71 for strikes.
