On Wednesday, the last day of June in the 2010 Major League Baseball season, Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a complete game in which he allowed 13 hits but also struck out 10 batters while walking none.
He gave up four earned runs and took the loss.
In one sense, Halladay bears the blame for the loss.
He took the ball in the eighth inning up 3-2, and gave up a Jay Bruce two-run home run to seal the win.
In reality though, the blame falls to Roy’s supporting cast: the Phillies hitters for their terrible run support and the Phillies bullpen for their terrible everything.
One day after closer Brad Lidge blew a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Halladay was the only option going into the eighth where another team would have turned over the one-run leader to trusted relievers.
And so July 1st will come tomorrow and Roy Halladay, one of the best pitchers in baseball and the pitcher with the now-sixth best ERA in the National League at 2.42, has six complete games, three shutouts, a perfect game, and a 9-7 record.
To put that 9-7 record in perspective, here’s a list of 10 far-inferior National League pitchers with better records, winning percentage-wise.