"There was a point in the sixth inning Wednesday when Carlos Ruiz set up inside and called for a sinker. Roy Halladay nodded, but the truth was, he wasn't sure where the pitch was going.

Instead of pounding Rockies second baseman Mark Ellis inside, the pitch sailed up and away, and Ellis chased it for strike three.

Sometimes, a pitcher just gets lucky.

"If I could bottle that," Halladay said, "I'd do it every time."

For most of Wednesday's game, however, the good luck was fleeting for Halladay. His defense lapsed, the Rockies ran at will, pitches swerved off course and hits dropped in just the right places.

Wednesday was a battle, but Halladay loves a good fight.

"I think sometimes things aren't going your way early and you can cash it in, and it's definitely a mental grind as much as physical," Halladay said after an 8-6 win over the Rockies, the sixth straight victory for the Phillies. "You'd love not to give up a run, and that's better, but you have to look at how you went about it and be proud of the mind-set.""