By FRANK WARD
DailyPhiladelphian.com Editor

“Every fifth day is a Halladay.”

The Phillies batters are taking that T-shirt slogan a bit too literally.

After starting the season like gangbusters and compiling a 6-1 record in his first seven starts for the Phillies, Roy Halladay has become human before our eyes. Or has he?

Roy Halladay dropped his fourth game in his last five starts and watched his ERA balloon to 2.42 Wednesday. The Phillies have averaged just 2.7 runs a night in Halladay's last ten starts, down from 6.8 in his first six starts.

Sure, he now holds a pedestrian 9-7 record after losing four of his last five games. Sure, he has just three wins since May 6. Sure, his ERA has skyrocketed by an entire run per game in the last six weeks. Sometimes, however, you need to look deeper at the numbers.

First, he’s lost four games when giving up three or fewer earned runs. In Wednesday’s loss to the Reds, he gave up four runs and watched his ERA jump from 2.29 to 2.42. Oh, the horror.

Seriously, a pitcher who logs the innings Halladay does and has an ERA in the low 2s needs to be better than 9-7.

The run support the Phillies have given Roy tells the story. Through May 6, the team averaged 6.8 runs per game. In his last 10 starts, the Phillies have crossed home plate just 2.7 times a game. Sorry, but if you take four runs of support away from any pitcher, it’s not going to be good.

We all know that Chase Utley and Placido Polanco were missing Wednesday, but that doesn’t explain the rest of the games during this stretch. The Phils batters give other starters more to work with.

The only thing we can assume is that they don’t feel the pressure to hit as much when Halladay is on the mound. Do they assume that three runs is enough to win with Doc? Clearly it’s not.

Every fifth day should be a Halladay — for the fans. The Phillies batters better learn that as pro baseball players, the next Halladay the get to celebrate is Thanksgiving.