PHILADELPHIA — Roy Halladay has a way with words, too.
Halladay had another impressive outing, Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Thursday.
There was a moment of silence before the game for former Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts, who died Thursday morning. The Hall of Famer’s No. 36 jersey was hung in the Phillies’ dugout and it will remain there the rest of the season.
Halladay (6-1) allowed two runs — one earned — and seven hits in seven innings. He tied a season high with nine strikeouts, and even talked manager Charlie Manuel into letting him get one more out after allowing a run in the seventh.
Halladay also managed to have a friendly, between-innings conversation with plate umpire Mike Everitt after disagreeing with a couple of calls. Arguing balls and strikes normally leads to an ejection, but Halladay didn’t approach Everitt in a confrontational manner.
“I felt earlier in the game we got some pitches and I asked if he would consider it when they mattered,” Halladay said.
Raul Ibanez also homered for the Phillies, who took the last three in a four-game series matching a pair of NL division leaders.
Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse (0-2) allowed five runs — three earned — and nine hits in four innings.
It was fitting that Werth got the Phillies going on a day the organization mourned the loss of its greatest right-handed pitcher. Werth was Roberts’ favorite player because he also came from Springfield, Ill. After rounding the bases, Werth pointed toward the sky as a gesture to Roberts.
“I don’t usually do that sort of thing, but Robin was on the thoughts and in the hearts of many people,” Werth said.
Halladay didn’t need any more run support. Acquired from Toronto in the offseason, he has been the dominant ace the Phillies and their fans expected. The six-time All-Star right-hander and 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner has a 1.45 ERA and two shutouts in his first seven NL starts.
The Phillies jumped ahead 3-0 on Werth’s drive in the first. Chase Utley hit a two-out single and Ryan Howard walked before Werth hit an opposite-field shot to right.
“They take advantage of the park,” Lohse said. “The pitch to Werth was off the plate and away. I thought it was going to be caught, but it just kept going. It was a good pitch, but he hit it out.”
Howard hit a two-out, two-run single for a 5-1 lead in the second. Halladay reached on shortstop Tyler Greene’s throwing error to start the inning and Shane Victorino doubled. Lohse nearly escaped the jam by striking out Placido Polanco and retiring Utley on a shallow fly. But Howard delivered a single to center.
The Cardinals got a run in the second after Werth lost David Freese’s leadoff fly in the sun and it hit off his glove for an error, allowing Freese to reach third. Freese scored when shortstop Wilson Valdez made a throwing error on Jason LaRue’s grounder.
St. Louis had the tying run up with two outs in the fifth after Albert Pujols walked on a close 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Halladay wasn’t pleased with the call by Everitt. He didn’t get another close one on a 2-2 pitch to the next batter, Matt Holliday. But Halladay fanned Holliday on a 79 mph curve to end the inning. On his way to the dugout, Halladay stopped for a brief chat with Everitt.
Ibanez drove a 2-0 pitch from Blake Hawksworth into the second deck in right for a 6-1 lead in the sixth.
Pujols almost chased Halladay with a two-out RBI single in the seventh. Manuel came out probably with the intention of removing Halladay, who had thrown 118 pitches to that point. After a quick conference on the mound, Manuel jogged back to the dugout and the sellout crowd cheered. Holliday grounded out on Halladay’s next pitch to leave two runners on.
“He’s our top pitcher and I wanted to know where he was at,” Manuel said. “I wanted to leave him in for Holliday if he wasn’t spent.”
Halladay wasn’t about to give the skipper the ball.
“I felt I caused some of the trouble myself, so to be able to get out of it was nice,” he said.
NOTES: Phillies SS Juan Castro wasn’t in the starting lineup after injuring his left hamstring Wednesday night. Castro has played well in place of injured Jimmy Rollins. … The Phillies are 6-1 against the NL Central. … Pujols extended his hitting streak to 11 games and Freese has a 10-gamer. Pujols is hitting just .193 (11 for 57) against the Phillies since 2008. … A crowd of 44,831 was the 55th straight sellout at Citizens Bank Park.
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