I admit it. I bailed in the 8th, when Danys Baez took the mound. Baez ended up surprsing me; by the time I reached the car, he was out of the inning. Instead, I heard J.C. Romero huff and puff in the 9th and give up another run to give the Reds a 7-1 lead. And I swear that my immediate, and very idle, thought was that down five was do-able but six? Forget it.Reds' rookie Mike Leake was terrific through eight. with just 83 pitches thrown, he went into the 9th looking for his first complete game. He had also gone three for four at the plate, helping to drive Joe Blanton, who was both awful and the victim of some weird plays behind him, from the game.
Leake did not, however, fare so well in the 9th, but he did make the drive home entertaining. Victorino doubled to lead off the bottom of the 9th, then Ibanez flied out. Howard singled Victorino home and Werth followed with another single. After a good at-bat, Dobbs homered high off the right field foul pole to make it 7-5 and end Mike Leake's night. In came closer Francisco Cordero. He got Schneider to fly out, then walked pinch-hitter Ben Francisco. Pinch-hitter Cody Ransom (yes, that Cody Ransom) then popped one over the right center wall to tie the game. Victorino then made out to send the game to extras. Ryan Madson threw a 1-2-3 top of the 10th, and all it took to finish the sudden transformation from schlubs to superheroes was a lead-off double by Raul Ibanez, suddenly looking comfortable in the three-hole, followed by a two-run walk-off homer by Ryan Howard.
Afterwards, Charlie Manuel said that when he went out to get Joe Blanton in the 6th, with the Reds up 6-1, Howard said to him, "If we hold them here, we can still crawl back into this." Did they ever.
Cliff Lee was traded yesterday to the Rangers. Trade rumors now swirl around Jayson Werth.
