Halladay looks like ace as Phillies top Yanks 3-2

Halladay's spring debut with the Phillies did nothing to kill the buzz that engulfed Philadelphia when the team dealt for the former Cy Young Award winner three months ago.

Halladay got the Grapefruit League schedule under way with two near-perfect innings in the Phillies' 3-2 win over the New York Yankees on Thursday.

The 32-year-old Halladay threw a pair of hitless innings while striking out three. Halladay was at the crux of a blockbuster four-team set of trades in December between the Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics.

“I was excited for it,” said Halladay, who spent his first 12 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. “You anticipate it, but once you get into the game, the game is always the same. Your approach is the same. I looked forward to it, especially early on. It's as much fun for me as it is for everyone else.”

Halladay allowed just one base runner in his first outing with the Phillies. New York's Jamie Hoffmann, playing first base after Nick Johnson was scratched before the game with a back ailment, reached on an error by Philadelphia third baseman Placido Polanco with one out in the first.

Halladay struck out the next batter, Jorge Posada, before getting Robinson Cano out on a fly ball to end the inning. Halladay struck out Nick Swisher and Randy Winn to begin a 1-2-3 inning.

Sabathia wasn't too bad himself in his first game since the World Series. He allowed two walks and two hits but kept zeros on the scoreboard through two innings.

But even the jovial, giant Sabathia couldn't overshadow Halladay's debut.

Kyle Kendrick took over for Halladay in the third inning. After his two-inning outing was over, Halladay threw an additional 10-12 pitches in the bullpen beyond the left field fence.

When he was through throwing, he went through a rigorous, 90-minute workout.

Halladay is slated to start again Tuesday night when the Phillies travel to Lake Buena Vista to take on the Atlanta Braves.

After Halladay exited Thursday, three more right-handers, Kendrick, Jose Contreras and Andrew Carpenter, also threw two shutout innings. The Yankees ruined the shutout bid with two runs in the top of the ninth for a 2-1 lead, but Wilson Valdez and Paul Hoover each collected RBI hits off Wilkins Arias in the bottom half to give the Phils a walk-off win.

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