It was shaping up to be another shut out. For seven innings,Reds starter Homer Bailey kept the Phillies off the scoreboard. It wasn't quite as pathetic as it sounded. They were hitting the ball hard, they were just going into gloves. Still, it was starting to get ugly.
The unsung heroes of this game were the pitchers. Jonathan Pettibone pitched his best game yet, going seven strong innings of two run ball (just one earned). Justin DeFratus and Antonio Bastardo held Cincinnati to the pair of runs. It's no easy task. This team can rake with the best of them, which we saw yesterday.
Then there was the bottom of the ninth. Aroldis Chapman just spells game over to me and most everyone watching the game. Delmon Young works a walk to make things interesting, Cliff Lee pinch runs, and then gets picked off. I felt like that was the end of the game right there. Then Erik Kratz tied it up with a home run. The look on Lee's face in the dugout said it all. It should have won the game. Then leave it to Freddy Galvis to hit a home run to walk it off.
A perfect example of why you don't leave early in a close game was given today. It's why it's my favorite game really.
Ben Revere gets a gold star today too. After nearly a week on the bench, he went 3-4 today with a run scored in the eighth.
Carlos Ruiz was injured early in this one with a hamstring strain. Day to day as of right now. A DL stint certainly wouldn't be shocking either. You can't really play with just one catcher.
Freddy Galvis has earned everyday playing time in my opinion. He's become one of my favorite players. You can't do better defensively, he's surprisingly versatile, he plays like a veteran, and now we see the bat coming around. It doesn't matter to me how it's done but he deserves to be out there everyday.
So impressive win off a really bad loss to take the series. Phillies head to Miami for three tomorrow. It will be Cole Hamels vs. Alex Sanabia who is quite hittable. No reason to not go down there and take all three. Time to start something.
Watch Freddy's home run here.
