History

Don't know if anyone else watched the Reds last night, but history was made. For only the second time in baseball post-season history, a pitcher threw a no-hitter. Roy Halladay was about as good as Don Larsen, but not quite perfect. Jay Bruce drew a walk in the fifth inning to break up the perfect game, but that was the only base-runner of the night for the Reds.

Halladay was extremely impressive. He threw a lot of good pitches, but nothing that couldn't have been hit. However, what he did was utterly confuse the Reds hitters. You could see it when Votto and Phillips, and even the sagacious veteran, Scott Rolen, came to the plate. They had no idea what Halladay was going to throw. When the announcers noted Halladay throwing 1st-pitch strikes, the Reds did too. So they went up swinging. And Halladay would throw a clear ball.

If Halladay's control and guile was the story of the night, Edison Volquez not making it out of the second inning was the second story. Volquez had good stuff, but he simply could not locate the strike zone. And he was often throwing pitches away due to his lack of control. The fact of the matter is that any other pitcher the Reds put out there would have lost. Halladay made the question of whom the Reds should start on the mound totally moot. No run support means the Reds were destined to lose.

I do have to give credit to Logan Ondrusek and Trevor Wood. These guys came in and pitched long relief innings of shutout baseball after the meltdown by Volquez. Unfortunately, they may not be as rested for the next few games, but at least the Reds showed that their pitching can shut down the Phillies.

I'm still hopeful for the Reds. I always say Game 1 means nothing, it's all about Game 2. If the Phillies take a 2-0 series lead, it's all over. But if the Reds can get a win at Philly, they are poised to take two at home and win the series. Granted, they'll have to face Halladay again, but I sincerely doubt he'll pitch back-to-back no hitters. I think in the end, the Reds will have to count on beating the non-Halladay Phillies pitchers, because Doc seemed to outmatch the Reds hitters.