Round up: Philadelphia Phillies win four game series against Cincinnati Reds 3-1 – MLB Update
The Philadelphia Phillies maintained their ascendancy as a strong side against the Cincinnati Reds, winning the four-game series by 3-1.
While there were predictions that the two teams would marshal all their resources to overwhelm the other, the Phillies established evidence of their comparative advantage against the Reds.
The series first game that was played on May 23 at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia saw the host team going aggressively against the Reds’ pitchers. Their offensive strategy bore favourable result and the Phillies won 10-3.
In retrospect, if the game is to be looked into, it was the vulnerable defence of the Reds that the Phillies profited from. This massive failure of starting rotation obviously frustrated the team manager.
"We just have to get back on track," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "That's two days in a row we went to the bullpen early and we can't keep doing that."
The Reds’ otherwise fine starter, Bronson Arroyo allowed no less than nine runs in the game in only two innings, which included 10 hits. Such a bad start and you will inevitably lose. Their offence could not reverse the harm done by the starting pitcher
and could score only three runs, thereby paving the way for a Phillies’ 10-3 victory.
The next game produced a different result, allowing Cincinnati to rout the Phillies 6-3. However, let it be emphatically stated that it took the Reds a lot to stage a come-back in the series. The game was standing at 3-3 up until eighth inning and given
the Phillies record, the bet was well placed on them.
However, it was Jay Bruce who struck a massive hit in the ninth inning, a tie-breaker, to put an end to the potentially gloomy night. His hit brought a three-run homer and helped the Phillies win the game 6-3. Interestingly, had it not been for this victory,
the Reds would have been losing their ninth consecutive game.
Despite the win, the team manager had his candid opinion to present. "We missed some opportunities early and I was afraid that would come back and haunt us," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "This was a big game for us. We really needed this one."
Although the Reds ended the winning streak of the Phillies, they could not continue it. In what was indeed one of the longest games to be played this season, Philadelphia took 19 innings to win their game 5-4. Played for over six hours up until 1:19 a.m.
local time, Wilson Valdez put everything upside down for the Reds and won the game.
The loss drew a restrained response from the Reds’ manager, Dusty Baker, "A real tough one to lose.” The Reds, however, could not be blamed for anything for they manifested their professional competitiveness in the game, putting their hearts and soul to
win the game, but luck never was on their side.
A few hours had hardly elapsed, as the fourth game of series got underway, resulting, perhaps quite expectedly, in the Phillies’ success. Facing tough resistance in the last two games, the Phillies had a different strategy this time and dominated the game
from the start, winning 10-4.
The most prominent role in this victory was that of Cliff Lee who helped drive in three runs with a bases-loaded double and single, pitching eight solid innings to bring the emphatic victory for the Phillies. His feat helped the team to win the series 3-1.
After this loss, the Reds shall see the Phillies on August 29, 2011. The Reds have to adopt a whole set of new strategies to avoid the repetition of what happened here. Importantly, The Reds have a .510 PCT, losing 25 games and winning 26. Philadelphia,
on the other hand, are now at .620 PCT with over 31 wins and 19 defeats.
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