Halladay's gem is the cure for Phillies bullpen woes

Still hurting after Ryan Madson's 9th inning meltdown on Tuesday night against the Braves? Well, Doc Halladay has the cure for you: a complete game shutout and a 2-0 Phillies win on Wednesday night.

Halladay was his typical masterful self against the Braves as he gave up 5 hits and struck out 7 to give him his 4th win in his 4th start of the season. While Halladay did get a ton of help from the Phillies defense, including incredible plays by Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, the ace was remarkably efficient in using 113 pitches, 71 of them strikes, to cruise through the Braves lineup. One of the things that makes Halladay so great and so durable is how he goes after hitters and throws strikes; he doesn't bother trying to get batters to chase bad pitches because his stuff is so good that he can make batters miss even when it's in the zone.

Halladay is so dominating that he doesn't need much help from the rest of the team. Not only did his dominating performance gave the beleaguered Phillies bullpen a much needed night off, it also masked the fact that the offense has been sleepwalking, averaging just 1.5 runs over the last 4 games. Of course, as much as we would like him to, Halladay can't pitch every night for the Phils, so the rest of the team is going to have to get out of their funk if they want to when the Doc isn't on the hill.