Game 2 on Friday night was a disaster for the Reds. Early on it was a dud for the Phillies. From the first pitch Roy Oswalt looked as if he had been invaded by space aliens. He said later it was rust, but I don't know about that. He was gone in five, having given up four runs. Red starter Bronson Arroyo was also gone in five, giving up two runs with a little help from some porous defense.
It turned into a bullpen meet and the Phillies prevailed. Between hitting men and walking them, the Reds kept the Phillies on the bases. Eventually they cashed in. Down 4-3 in the 7th, Chase Utley was 'hit' on the knuckles by an Aroldis Chapman blazer at 101 mph. Said Utley afterward of the pitch in one of the great lines ever, "I felt like I thought it hit me." Whatever Utley felt, he put his head down and headed straight for first. No one contested it. He was later called safe on a bang-bang play at second. In truth, Scott Rolen was ill-advised to throw to second in the first place. Then Jimmy Rollins hit a liner to right that Jay Bruce misplayed into a two-base error. Brandon Phillips added another circus touch by bobbling the throw to the infield. Utley stumbled rounding third (did he even touch the bag) and scored, with Werth on his heels. "It was hectic out there," said the deadpan Utley.
So the Reds went from a 4-0 lead in the 5th to a 7-4 defeat. Five of the Phillies' runs were unearned thanks to four Cincinnati errors, including the one by Bruce, two by Phillips and one by Rolen, all of whom are Gold Glovers. One of the funnier headlines the next day was in the Inky: "Bobble Reds, Cincy held giveaway night..."
Hitting and defense have been Cincinnati strengths, but in Game 1, the Reds did not hit and in Game 2, they did not field. The Phillies, meanwhile, did what they always do: capitalize on the opponent's mistakes. Chase Utley committed two errors early in the game and looked to be the goat. What he said later was, "What I have learned is when you make an error, you have to put it behind you. You can't change it at that point. All you can do is move on from there and try to improve on your mistakes."
