Comeback Falls Short, Reds Lose In 10

By:  Cooper Ledford

In the second game of the series, the Reds had Mike Leake on the hill, and for the Phillies, it was Joe Blanton.  The Reds needed to win this game, as tomorrow it is a pitching match up between Roy Halladay and Aaron Harang, and we all know who the better picther is between those two, and it is the one that plays in the NL East. 

In the bottom of the first, after Brandon Phillips hit a leadoff triple, Orlando Cabrera grounded out to 2nd base, but that would bring in BP, and the Reds took a 1-0 lead, but it would not last.

In the 2nd inning, Mike Leake looked like an OK little leaguer, in MLB terms, that means he looked terrible.  After walking 2 batters, the catcher Brian Schneider hit a three-run home run, WALKS WILL HAUNT, it was 3-0 with the Phillies on top.  Then, in the 4th inning, Jason Valdez hit a three run home run, 6-1 was the score.

Then, in the 6th inning the Reds would get some runs.  Ramon Hernandez hit an RBI double, that would bring in Cairo and Heisey, 6-3 was the score.

Then, going into the bottom of the 9th the Reds were down by 3, and after Brad Lidge got the first two outs, Brandon Phillips got walked and Orlando Carbrera got a base hit, in stepped Joey Votto.  And guess what, he crushed it, I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT A 3-RUN JACK to center field just shy of the power stacks, and the Battlin' Redlegs tied it up at 6.  Holy Cow!  However, the tie game would not last.

In the top of the 10th Arthur Rhodes came on to picth, so an easy inning right?  Wrong.  After giving up a double , and a walk Raul Ibanez came up to the plate, he hit it off the wall in center field, Drew Stubbs ALMOST made the catch, but was unable to, Howard would score from second.  Just like that Arthur Rhodes's scoreless streak ended (whaaa!), which was 30 innings, but more importantly the Phillies took a 7-6 lead.  8-6 would be the score when Ben Francisco hit an RBI single to bring in Jayson Werth, 8-6 was the score with still no outs.  The Phiilies were still not done in the inning, runners were on the corners with no outs, and Jason Valdez laid down a saftey squeez, Raul Ibanez scored, 9-6 was the score.  In this inning, the Reds gave Philadelphia 4 extra outs, a missed catch by Laynce Nix, a missed catch by Drew Stubbs, a dropped throw home by Ramon Hernandez, and a missed catch on a double play oppertunity by Orlando Cabrera, and 3 out of the 4 extra outs meant runs.  Had Nix, Stubbs, and Hernandez all done their jobs, it would be a scorless inning, but that;s not the case as 3 runs came to the plate for the Phillies.

As for Mike Leake, he did pretty bad as he goes 6 innings, gave up 7 hits, 6 ER, 2 BB, and 4 strikeouts.  I should not say he did bad, but he gave up 2 3-run homer which were important.  Mike Leake has not looked all that good recently, hopefully he can get back on track and start pitching better. 

The Phillies starter, Joe Blanton did well for a "bad" pitcher, as he went 7.2 innings, gave up 8 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, and 2 strikeouts.

The winner is J.C Romero and the loser is Arthur Rhodes.

Tomorrow's game will be televised on MLB Network, and it is Roy Halladay vs. Aaron Harang as I mentioned.  Game time is set for 12:25 PM ET.  If the Reds can win this game I will be shocked.