Less than 12 hours after the end of his worst game since joining the Phillies, Roy Halladay was not in the visiting clubhouse at Turner Field with his teammates before the series finale against the Braves.


According to the team, Halladay has left the team to attend to a family matter. He will rejoin the team in Washington on Friday.

Halladay gave the team a heads-up on Tuesday.


Halladay's absence comes on the heels of a wild 15-13 defeat on Wednesday night that saw the two-time Cy Young winner cough up a 6-0 lead. Halladay, who is 107-0 in his career when given a four-run lead, surrendered eight runs on nine hits in the fifth and sixth innings.


Since the Phils briefly rallied back to reclaim the lead, Halladay wasn't tagged with the loss. But his sudden downturn was stunning nonetheless.


Halladay said it was not health-related, but simply an inability to make the right pitch at the right time.


"Honestly, I felt good," he said late Wednesday night. "There were some pitches with guys on that I didn’t execute pitches. It had nothing to do with anything else. I wish I had a better reason for you, but I don’t. it was just a lack of executing pitches in key situations. That’s what cost me."


Pitching coach Rich Dubee was asked about Halladay's uncharacteristic start Thursday morning.


"His stuff doesn’t seem like it’s accelerating through the hitting zone at times," Dubee said. "At times it does, at times it doesn’t."


Dubee said he gave thought to pulling Halladay after the sixth-run fifth inning, but figured if anyone had the ability to get back on track, it was Halladay.

"You’re talking about a different animal," Dubee said. "He has an innate ability to bounce back from a tough inning, regroup and get going again."