"He was at 91 pitches after five grueling innings, and pitching in more extreme heat six days after succumbing to heat exhaustion after just four innings in Chicago, it looked like Roy Halladay's 21st start of the year might be another short one.

Then, magically, he turned back into Roy Halladay.

Halladay allowed eight hits and a walk and three runs -- two earned -- in his first 4 2/3 innings, then didn't allow another baserunner over his final 3 1/3 innings, and the Phillies won their fifth straight game, 5-3 over the Padres at Citizens Bank Park.

Halladay, who hadn't won in his last four starts, joined Cole Hamels and Jair Jurrjens as the National League's third 12-game winner. He's 12-4 this year and 33-14 as a Phillie.

After averaging 18 pitches in the first five innings, Halladay needed only 24 pitches to get through the last three innings.

So much for heat exhaustion.

On a day nearly as hot as the one in Chicago, Halladay gave the Phillies eight strong innings on 116 pitches.

"I saw that his pitch count was uncharacteristically high for him (after five innings), but that's Roy Halladay," said Raul Ibanez, who had a couple hits and was robbed of a home run. "He knows when he needs to get efficient, and he got efficient when he needed to."

Heat exhaustion? On this 95-degree day, Halladay just got stronger and stronger.

"I haven't had a problem with that in the past," Halladay said. "It snuck up and got me. I wasn't worried about it happening again. It wasn't a concern. Getting back out and trying to be consistent and make good pitches was what I was trying to do."

Halladay allowed eight hits and a walk in his first 4 2/3 innings. Nine of the first 24 batters he faced reached safely. None of the last 10 he faced reached safely.

"I felt like early on there were times we made good pitches and didn't get the results we wanted and really it was just a matter of trying to stay aggressive and stay with our plan," Halladay said. "I felt like I had good stuff from the first inning on but a couple pitches that were OK pitches that didn't get results. Fortunately, later on we got some quicker outs."

Since Ryan Madson had worked the last two days, Antonio Bastardo finished up, pitching a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save in eight chances."