Yet Another Season Where The Reds Are Out of It By Columbus Day. Reds lose game 2-0, series 3-0.

Thus endeth the season.

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Cole Hamels.  Yet another Phillies starter twirled a gem against us.  Hamels pitched a complete game shutout, his first in the postseason.  He allowed only five hits, walked none, and struck out nine.  Honorable mentions go to Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz, and Homer Bailey.

Key Plays

• In the first inning, Placido Polanco hit a one out single off of Johnny Cueto.  One out later, Ryan Howard also singled and Polanco moved to third on the play, totally stealing Cincinnati's move.  It's okay; they weren't using it.  Jayson Werth then hit a ground ball right to Orlando Cabrera.  Cabrera seemed to have reinjured his side in Game 2 and was thought to miss the rest of the series.  He deemed himself fit to play this afternoon, but on this instance, threw the ball high and wide of first base, pulling Joey Votto off the bag and allowing Polanco to score.  Phillies lead, 1-0.
• Drew Stubbs singled to lead off the Reds half of the first inning.  Brandon Phillips then hit a deep drive to center, but Shane Victorino made a nice running, over the shoulder catch.  Joey Votto then grounded out to the pitcher and Scott Rolen struck out looking.
• In the fifth inning, with two outs, Chase Utley hit a deep fly ball to center field.  Drew Stubbs tracked it back to the wall, and leapt, hoping to bring it back in the yard and rob that cheater Chutley of a home run.  Instead, in a move that will have Dusty Baker flashing back to the Steve Bartman game, a Cincinnati fan tried to catch the ball with their glove, knocking it away from Stubbs.  The umpires reviewed the play, but it was clearly a home run.  Still, if there was an emblematic play that signaled that Cincinnati is not quite ready for the postseason, that was it.  Phillies lead, 2-0.
• The Reds were unable to generate much offense at all against Cole Hamels, which is not entirely surprising.  Down to their final chance in the ninth inning, Brandon Phillips got the region's hopes raised with a sharply hit ball that went under the glove of Placido Polanco for a leadoff single.  Joey Votto came to the plate, hoping to shake off a disappointing series and act the way MVPs do.  Instead, he grounded into a soul-crushing double play.  Scott Rolen then struck out for the billionth time and the season was over.

via www.fangraphs.com

Other Notes

• The Phillies have never swept a playoff opponent before.
• NL Central teams have lost 15 of their last 16 playoff games.  The Reds are 0-6 in their last six playoff games.
• The Reds were shut out 15 times in 165 games, or once every eleven games.  Four of those shutouts were at the hands of the Phillies, including four of the last five games the teams played.
• Cole Hamels is 7-0 in 8 career games against the Reds.  He has an ERA of 0.91 against them.
• Cole Hamels and Chase Utley sound like the names of MLS players.  Carlos Ruiz was an MLS player.
• Francisco Cordero has still never played in the postseason.
• Chase Utley is the all-time Phillies home run leader in the playoffs, with 10.  He moved out of a tie with Jayson Werth with his dinger in the fifth.
• The Reds committed seven errors in the three game series.  Only seven of the 13 runs allowed by the Reds pitchers in the series were earned, and four of those belonged to Edinson Volquez.
• The crowd of 44,599 was the largest in Great American Ball Park history.