I don’t think it is an understatement to say that tonight is the biggest game of the season for the Cincinnati Reds. With a loss, the Reds are down 2-0 to possibly the best team in baseball. It would be very, very tough to come back from that deficit.
With a win, however, the Reds are sitting pretty. The series would be tied 1-1, and two of the three remaining games would be played at Great American Ballpark. Cincinnati would have home field advantage and I’d feel pretty good about Johnny Cueto taking the mound in front of a capacity crowd at GAB with a chance to put the Reds ahead in the series.
Tonight’s the night. The Reds have had success against Oswalt recently, and this team has shown the ability to get up quickly after being knocked down. Tonight’s game will tell us a lot about the character of this team, about the ability of their manager to get them prepared, and will ultimately say everything about Cincinnati’s chances of moving on to the next round. We’re counting on you, Bronson Arroyo.
Here’s your game preview. Go Redlegs!
Phillips
Cabrera
Votto
Rolen
Nix
Bruce
Stubbs
Hanigan
Arroyo
The WINNING lineup tonight!
Like if the final score is 12-3 Reds. And the Phillie fans are leaving the park with a dazed look walking like zombies
We really need Bronson to keep the Phils guessing for 5+ innings. Like Steve said – Don’t expect a shut-out, but I think he’ll do his job. He may even give up a HR or two, but as long as nobody’s on base that’s no big deal.
Would love to see Reds hitters feast on Oswalt and run him from the game early.
Everybody keep your fingers crossed that OC doesn’t do anything stupid at SS like he did on Wed….If pitching and defense are magnified in a short series like everybody says I’d prefer Soft J at SS.
Anyways…1:27 minutes to game time – I’m looking forward to it.
does anyone else kinda feel like we’re gonna come out all pissed off swinging at everything? Whether that is a bad thing or not i do not know but i just got one of those feelings… 😀
Does anyone else think Eckersley holds a grudge?
15 minutes…Let us Pray!
Good ole’ Boomer Wells. Picking us to win tonight. Still some loyalty left there.
@Jimmy Falk: Yes, he definitely does. Unrelated, but he just picked San Francisco to win this game. Let’s see how that works out for him
It might be midnight in Germany but I have no where to be tomorrow. Let’s go Redlegs!!
Starting small, just rooting for a hit right now. I think BP is gonna come through
I have a good feeling about this one.
@The Mad Hatter: That’s dedication.
Would love to see Brandon smash a base hit up the middle on the first pitcher. Get the monkey off their back early.
Nix before Bruce. That’s interesting.
Yes!!!!! cant ask for anything better than that!
Or, a home run.
Hell Yeah Baby!!!!!!!!!!!
Great AB by BP! Way to end the hitless streak.
Anyone else getting the “double click” again? Same crap happened during the game Wed. None of the other games have had this except for the Reds/Phils. By “double click” I mean hearing the bat hit the ball before seeing it hit the ball.
Classic philly fans with the “asshole” chant for rolen. he couldn’t be a more mild-mannered, nice guy
I’m so nervous. This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t be sitting here in my home, on the edge of my seat, nervous about a kid’s game.
I’m the same exact way right now. It’s worse when your entire family is Phillies fans.
Pretty sure Rolen had an ugly exit from Philly. Phillies’ fans apparently hold grudges long term.
@TheNatural: At least Nix got on.
@Steve: He’s giving Chooch a serious workout
Seems like the baseball gods are on the side of the Reds tonight.
But…but…Utley’s UZR is so much higher than Phillips, he clearly deserves the gold glove 😉
this is how we do it!
@The Mad Hatter: My brother is a Braves fan. I’m enjoying his complaining tonight about Melky Cabrera batting fifth.
@Reds03: The party can begin now. 🙂
BP locked in. It’d be nice if O-Cab could follow his lead
Joey with runners on base. this is his time to shine.
I liked that Phillips interview. He seems to have Oswalt very much figured out
@RedLegHerrm: SEND VOTTO TO AAA!!!
i agree with all of you….what a momentum shift….I hate to say it, but rolen looks lost up there….i know he keeps things close to the chest but his face looks like he has shut down…His bat speed has slowed considerably and he has to compensate…that is why he missed that gift changeup…that was wrapped in a bow.
@the shady j.d: A lot of the pitches Rolen is swinging through would’ve been raked earlier in the year. Tough to watch
@Jason in Toronto: Rolen would have to be dying to get taken out of a playoff game, but i’d definitely prefer Cairo over Francisco
Votto hasn’t looked comfortable against Oswalt. His AB really swung that inning.
shut out so far…but boy o boy bronson is getting tagged
Phew. Glad we didn’t have to face Utley with two men on.
Bruce. Amazing.
JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
Great dp, Cabrera definitely favoring the oblique there. Some of you may get your wish with Janish, unfortunately
Brandon is doing great tonight. Now let’s get him around to score.
@renbutler: Can we get some stats on postseason cycles? Not exactly paying back a no-no, but I’ll take it
3 more feet and i would stake a claim this game was close to over….still awesome…the way he can wait on that off speed stuff….thats why he will never have huge slumps
@renbutler: Yes. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Valaika in Cincy on Sunday
Oswalt is throwing better than Halladay my ass…
good play janish. between him and ciaro, the reds have been very lucky this year with their bench.
This is a dicey situation
Pop up, please.
@Crutch23: Dude, you can’t go grab your starter every time he gets into a little trouble. Especially if it’s not of his own making.
attaboy arroyo
Huge to get out of that just giving up 2 runs. Now let’s get some back. It should help having that Oswalt guy out of the game, even though they were hitting him pretty good
@Crutch23: Bronson went from cruising to trouble in about 2 minutes. No one is gonna get loose in that time. I’d rather have Bronson pitch his way out of trouble than bring in a not-quite-warm lefty.
Let’s get those two runs back!!!
How on earth was THAT a strike?
Great night from Arroyo – here’s hoping he gets the win!
Well done, Bronson.
great start by arroyo. this is exactly what we needed.
@Chris Garber: Smart move by Dusty.
Bullpen roles have changed with Rhodes in during the 6th.
Dude, I am getting really really tired of these extended commercial breaks between innings…usually i go smoke and i come back and we have two outs on the bad guys…now i come back and the inning hasnt even started….this is a HUGE out…come on Logan
Heisey in, rather than Gomes? Is Dusty learning?
i quit i quit i quit
One way to beat them I guess.
We’re gonna need to score more runs.
@BigRedMike: That whistling noise is horrible. Please get an out here
Unreal. Reds are crumbling before our eyes.
I like having my fifth best reliever in the game in the most important situation.
Phew. Chapman will be in next inning. Now lets score a few here.
Too close for comfort right now. That said, 9 outs away
@cstrand: He’s not, this announcer is an idiot.
Chapman’s gotta be pretty psyched to be pitching against Contreras
It’s going to be wild in the bottom of the inning, with Chapman facing Utley and Howard.
Would rather be up by one here than down by one!
Ryan not even close.
That was easy. Bye Howard
Had to get rid of pitch trax because this ump is all over the place. Woulda been embarassing.
Should’ve gone to first, but he was OUT
It seriously should still be 4-0. This is painful
Not ready for prime time. This is so disheartening.
Well, at least we didn’t get no hit.
This is actually worse than Wednesday. Hard to believe they could top it.
Wow, Phillips didn’t make an error there.
And it looked like he never touched third either.
Poor Chapman. He gets rung up for a phantom HBP, dominates Howard, gets a weak grounder from Werth but Rolen makes a huge mental error, then induces a soft liner and Bruce looks like a little leaguer. He deserves better.
These announcers on the television telecast are atrocious.
Anyone want to buy a ticket to Sunday’s game?
I already paid the fine.
That was a disgusting display of baseball by our beloved Reds.
I honestly have no idea what to write for a recap tonight. I think I might just skip it.
The amazing thing is that we can’t even blame Dusty, OC or Gomes. The 7th inning will rank up there with the Bartman inning in terms of historic meltdowns.
I hope the GM realizes he needs to go out and a get a better LF this offseason. And start planning for the Rolen-is-over-the-hill party cause that already may have started…
I was serious about the ticket. If anyone wants my ticket for Sunday’s game, let me know. I just don’t think it’s worth the drive to me.
I can’t get over how winnable this game was, or how we went from NLCS dreams to staring the winter in the face in a span of 2 innings. The Reds are now 6-0 at CBP this year, and could easily be 6-0. The worst part is they’ll still be called frauds by the media and told they never belonged in the postseason. Really disheartening.