Roy Oswalt was far from unhittable tonight. In fact, he gave up a home run to Brandon Phillips, the very first batter of the game. It’s all good, though, because the Reds forgot to bring their gloves to the ballpark.
The Reds matched a Division Series record with four errors, handing the Phillies to a 7-4 victory and a 2-0 advantage in the NLDS. You wouldn’t know it, but the Reds were tied with the Padres for the least errors in the league (72) during the regular season. Going further, Brandon Phillips, Scott Rolen and Jay Bruce are three of the finest defenders in all of baseball at their respective positions, yet they all committed errors tonight. Phillips, who went 3-for-4 and finished a triple short of the cycle, had two of them.
The Phillies will gladly take it, though. Just like Chase Utley took first base against Aroldis Chapman on a questionable hit-by-pitch call by home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman in the decisive three-run seventh inning. Utley barely reacted to the pitch, so we’re not talking about a Jeter situation here, but after the game, the second baseman was pretty candid with reporters, saying he wasn’t sure if he was actually hit with the ball. That’ll happen with a 102 mph fastball, I’m sure, but replays indicate they definitely caught a break. Again, the Phillies will gladly take it.
At least the Reds get to return home for Game 3 on Sunday, but they are staring elimination in the face.
