Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay left his start against the St. Louis Cardinals after 2 innings because of shoulder soreness.

Halladay surrendered the 5th grand slam of his career to Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina in the 1st inning, but worked perfect 2nd getting groundouts from pitcher Adam Wainwright, Rafael Furcal and Skip Schumaker. Basketball lines

The 2-time Cy Young winner pitched with the injury the last few innings of his last start, and cutting back on throwing between outings didn’t help.

“Worried? Yeah, absolutely, I’m concerned,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel recounted after the Phillies slipped 8-3 in their bid for their 1st 4-game sweep in St. Louis in 99 years. “Pitching is one of the big things on our club and when guys miss a turn, it concerns me.”

The Phillies have just been without stars Ryan Howard and Chase Utley all year.

Manuel declined to lay out an eventuality if Halladay can’t make his next start or worse, saying only: “If we have to fill a rotation spot, we’ll get someone and fill it. The games will go on.”

Asked about his level of concern, pitching coach Rich Dubee claimed: “I do not know. I’m not a doctor.”

Dubee told Halladay (4-5) that his day was done in the dugout after talking with the pitcher.

“I know he’s had a cranky shoulder and he hasn’t looked right, and didn’t look right today,” Dubee said. “And I knew he wasn’t going to come out of the game, so I basically recounted ‘That’s ample.’”

“I’m hoping it’s something we’ll be able to just relax quickly and get back out there,” the pitcher said. “It’s not the point at which I’m in agony throwing pitches.”

Halladay departed with a 3.98 ERA after a trip out that matched the 2nd-shortest outing of his career.

Halladay was 19-6 with a 2.35 ERA last year, and permitted 10 homers in 32 starts. Since winning his first 3 starts, Halladay is 1-5 with a 5.08 ERA in 8 games, and the Phillies have lost 7 of his last 8 starts.

He’s absorbed the last 2 losses for the Phillies, who entered the series finale on a 4-game winning streak.

Molina’s 3rd career grand slam was the 5th authorized by Halladay, 2 of them this year after the Braves’ Brian McCann connected May 2 at Atlanta. Halladay has allowed 6 homers this season, all this month.

Unlike 2004, when Halladay had 2 stints on the 15-day DL with a shoulder injury, he was not able to pin down a selected pitch with that the discomfort started. The biggest issue is the period between innings when the shoulder tightens.

“It’s kind of that down time when it seemed to come up,” Halladay asserted. “I think if I just went out and threw 100 straight pitches without taking a breather it could be all right.”

Cardinals’ manager Mike Matheny caught Halladay as a rookie in 1999 in Toronto, and knew the pitcher was off his game.

“You just didn’t know if it was physical or if it was just one of those things where he could not get anything positive going,” Matheny said. “But typically you can tell if something isn’t completely right.