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Phillies break out against Marlins' Johnson

Apr 12, 2012 - 3:52 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - A presumed pitchers' duel between Phillies ace Roy Halladay and Marlins counterpart Josh Johnson never materialized as Philadelphia's bats awoke in a 7-1 win Wednesday night.

Halladay (2-0) tossed his obligatory seven innings, limiting the Marlins to five hits.

"[Being up] five-six runs helps. It helps a lot. You can go after guys. You're trying to be as aggressive as you can," Halladay said.

Johnson (0-2), meanwhile, surrendered six runs on a career-high 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings, and suffered his first loss in seven games (six starts) at Citizens Bank Park.

Philadelphia produced five of those runs in a third inning punctuated by rookie second baseman Freddy Galvis' two-run double.

The offensive surge was a welcome sight for the Phillies after they had totaled just eight runs in dropping three of their first four games, including Monday's series-opener.

The early season showdown of prominent hurlers came a day after an apologetic Ozzie Guillen addressed the media in Miami over favorable comments he made about Fidel Castro in a Time magazine article. The Marlins manager's statements have created an uproar in a community heavily populated with Cuban- Americans and led to a team-imposed five-game suspension that he started serving on Wednesday. Bench coach Joey Cora is the acting manager in Guillen's absence.

Miami came away empty after loading the bases in the first, but grabbed the lead the next inning.

Omar Infante doubled to lead off the second and moved to third when John Buck flied out to right fielder Hunter Pence in foul territory. Johnson then plated Infante with a groundout to second.

After Johnson retired Halladay on a ground ball to first to begin the third, the Phillies strung together five consecutive singles.

Placido Polanco hit a ball back at Johnson that caromed into shallow left field, allowing Juan Pierre to score from second. Jimmy Rollins drove in Polanco and crossed the plate on Pence's base hit.

A hit and stolen base by Shane Victorino put men on second and third for John Mayberry Jr., whose pop up on the infield resulted in the second out. Carlos Ruiz was then intentionally walked to load the bases and Galvis delivered with a double to right field.

Three straight two-out singles by Rollins, Pence and Victorino pushed the lead to 6-1 in the fourth.

Ruiz added a home run to left field off Miami's Ryan Webb in the seventh.

"[Halladay] got the lead and he stepped up. That's what the great ones do," Cora said.

Game Notes

Halladay improved to 21-3 against the NL East as a Phillie...Pence had three of Philadelphia's 14 hits...Johnson had gone 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA in his previous appearances at Citizens Bank Park...Chad Qualls and Michael Stutes each pitched a perfect inning in relief of Halladay...Jose Reyes went 0-for-4 to snap an eight-game hit streak against the Phillies.