The last two games between the Phillies and Reds may not have produced many runs, but that didn't mean that they were short on drama. Over the last two days, the Phillies managed not only to hold the Reds without a single run, but did so while staring down a perfect game attempt and getting great pitching efforts from both of their starters to complete a four game sweep over Cincinnati.
Let's start with Saturday night. Travis Wood took the roughest, but best approach to beating Roy Halladay when he's throwing a shutout: be perfect. For eight innings, Wood set the Phillies down in order, striking out eight and making the offense look horribly off balance. The only problem was that Halladay was doing almost the exact same thing to the Reds. Through nine innings of work, Halladay allowed only five hits and no runs while striking out nine and walking one. By the time the bottom of the ninth did come around, fans were just hoping that the Phillies would get a hit or a man on base. Luckily, Carlos Ruiz was up to the task there, driving a lead-off double into the left field gap to start the ninth inning and break up the perfect game. Though the Phils wouldn't score in the ninth, the stage was set for extra innings.
Brad Lidge had a shaky outing, getting himself into trouble by loading the bases in the top of the 10th, only to then pitch himself out of trouble by getting Brandon Phillips to fly out to Shane Victorino to end the inning. Jose Contreras pitched well in the top of the 11th, and that set up the bottom of the inning. After Cody Ransom struck out, Carlos Ruiz struck again. In his first game back from the disabled list, Ruiz nailed his second double of the game, putting the winning run in scoring position. Jimmy Rollins would step to the plate, and this time, he got the job done, lining a single into right field that scored Ruiz and gave the Phillies their third straight extra inning walk-off win against the Reds in as many games. Roy Halladay pitched great, Travis Wood was almost perfect, but it came down to a battle of experience against youth, and this time, the Phillies had enough experience to get the job done when they needed to.
After missing out on perfection by three outs the night before, the Reds came into today's game against the Phillies hoping for a little payback. What they got instead was a great performance from Cole Hamels that finished off the four game sweep by the Phillies with a second straight 1-0 shutout. Hamels pitched well, even though he recorded just three strikeouts. He only gave up six hits, and got help with double plays in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings before leaving the game with two outs in the top of the eight. It was another good outing from Hamels, who is looking more and more like his 2008 form with every single start.
It's amazing to see how well Hamels is pitching right now, to be honest with you. There were a few chances in today's game for him to come undone, but he didn't. In the top of the fourth inning, the Reds had the bases loaded with no one out. Instead of folding like he may have done last season, Hamels got a ground ball out, and then forced a double play. Just like that, the inning was over without a run crossing the plate. It was exactly what he needed to do, and he got it done. There's something about the way that he's been pitching for most of this year, and it's a good thing. Rather than get overwhelmed at situations like he's done before, Hamels is taking them in stride and is pitching better and better with each start. With today's effort, his ERA is a solid 3.78, good for second in the ranks of the starters, behind only Roy Halladay. This is the kind of effort that Hamels has been putting out for most of the season, but he hasn't been getting the run support to back him up. Today, he got just enough, and it worked like a charm.
This sweep against the Reds going into the All Star break was the best thing that could have happened to the Phillies. Going into this series, the Phils had dropped two straight against the Atlanta Braves, and three of four against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now, they won three straight extra inning games for the first time in team history, and pitched back to back 1-0 shutouts for the first time since 1913. Those are good things to keep in mind as the Phillies take a break before starting the second half of the season. They've had injury after injury, and bad breaks along the way, but this team is still hanging in there, and they're starting to look a bit like the teams from the last three seasons. Throw in the six run comeback from Friday night, and all of a sudden, this team has some swagger in their step again.
It's still too early to say that this series is going to be a launch pad for the rest of the year, but if you're looking back on this in September and smiling, it's certainly a good place to start your search.
The Phillies are off until Thursday, thanks to the All Star break. Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard and the Phils coaching staff will be out in Anaheim, getting ready for that matchup, while the rest of the Phillies will be taking a few days off before getting ready for the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
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