The Reds went down without much of a fight last night so the year is over for them. They just couldn’t get anything going against Cole Hamels who went the distance for the Phillies allowing the Reds only 5 hits while whiffing 9 and walking none. The bats of the Reds wasted a good pitching effort by the five pitchers the Reds used. Johnny Cueto worked the first five innings for the Reds last night allowing 5 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) and for that he was the losing pitcher. Homer Bailey followed him in the game as he was electric working 2 shutout innings allowing 2 hits and 0 runs while whiffing 2 batters. Bill Bray, Nick Masset and Aroldis Chapman combined to work the last two innings of scoreless ball giving the Reds a chance to comeback. The Reds got swept 3-0 by the Phillies but it doesn’t tarnish the fact that they had a good season.

Things were looking good for the Reds early in this game as Brandon Phillips hit a leadoff homer off Roy Oswalt to give the hitters of the Reds confidence. In fact the Reds were up 4-0 going into the bottom of the 5th inning and that’s when the game started to slip away. Brandon Phillips & Jay Bruce looked like the Bad News Bears making an error each on the same play that cost the Reds two runs. Rookie reliever Logan Ondrusek hit two batters and they he walked in a run. Aroldis Chapman imploded after the errors as he started throwing the ball right down the middle. It was a nightmare from the bottom of the 5th inning on in this game for the Reds as everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Brandon Phillips had a good game with the bat in his hands as he was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored, a double, homer and 1 RBI. But he made two costly errors in the field. Jay Bruce was 1 for 3 with a solo homer but the ball he lost in the lights was the game changing play the Phillies needed to come back. Joey Votto pitched in as he was 1 for 3 with 1 RBI. Bronson Arroyo pitched more than good enough to win last night. He pitched 5 1/3 innings last night and he allowed 4 hits, 1 earned run and he walked 3 batters while whiffing 2. Arthur Rhodes then came in and whiffed the only batter he faced. Rookie righty reliever Logan Ondrusek was the pitcher that gave the Phillies a glimpse of hope in this game as he hit two batters and then he walked in a run that was charged to Arroyo. Aroldis Chapman gave up 2 hits and 3 unearned runs in only 2/3 of an inning as the lack of defense seemed to rattle him. Nick Masset finished up and he didn’t look too good either as he gave up 1 run (earned) in 1 1/3 innings as he gave up 2 hits and walked 2 batters. The Reds are now 0-2 to the Phillies as this series shifts back to Ohio.

The Reds didn’t have a chance earlier today against the Phillies. That’s because Roy Halladay looked like he was throwing a wiffle ball today as he threw the first no-hitter in the post season since Don Larsen threw a perfect game in the 1956 World Series! In fact only a Jay Bruce walk kept it from being a perfect game. Combine Halladay’s pitching with Edison Volquez’ implosion early in the game and it’s easy to see why the Reds lost this game. Volquez was the losing pitcher by working only 1 2/3 innings in which he gave up 4 hits, 4 earned runs and he walked two batters. Rookie lefty Travis Wood was sparkling in relief of Volquez. He pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball as he only gave up 1 hit and 1 walk while whiffing 3 batters. Logan Ondrusek and Bill Bray combined to finish this game up with 3 scoreless innings for the Reds. The Reds are down 1-0 to the Phillies but despite getting 0 hits it was only 1 game.