Reds lead series 2-0 because pitching is awesome and hitting is awesome and Dusty Baker is awesome

Sorry for the lack of timely recaps for these games so far, but things have been pretty chaotic what with all THE MASSIVE WINNING WOOOOOOOOOO stuff around here lately. Use this thread to discuss how awesome you think the Reds are right now. Would you say radically super awesome, or bodaciously mega awesome?

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

BRONSON ARROYO. Since an entire team is, strictly speaking, not qualified to be "a star" by laws of astronomy. The crafty righthander wasn't just Goodroyo, he was Bestroyo. I tweeted some things about how rare his performance was last night, but it really was among the 7 or 8 best in Reds' playoff history - especially if you throw out 1919. Who knows how much higher up that list he would've landed had the Reds not batted around in the top of the 8th. No Reds pitcher has ever thrown 7+ innings in the playoffs and allowed just one hit. And Arroyo is just the tenth Reds pitcher in history to throw at least 7 innings of shutout ball in the playoffs.

Honorable mention goes to Dusty Baker, for another deft management of the pitching and his faith in Scott Rolen and Drew Stubbs. And everyone, including all of us and your entire family.

Key Plays

• Bumgarner looked as stingy as he had been in June during the first inning, especially with the wide strike zone given by home plate ump Brian O'Nara.
  
• Things changed forever in the 2nd, as Ryan Ludwick lead off the inning with a Lud balloon to center.
• Joey Votto, who was apparently struggling because he didn't have a hit in game one, and couldn't get his OBP over .500 on the season, stroked a single to lead off the 4th. Studwick followed suit. With the hit parade on, Rolen brought in Votto and Ryan "Man Again" smacked a 2 RBI single.
• With a 4 run cushion, Arroyo kept pushin'. He was perfect for 4.2 IP, until Brandon Belt dropped a single into CF.
• The Reds brought San Francisco to a grinding halt with a Critical Mass of runs in the 8th. They sent 9 to the plate in the top of the eight, with doubles by BP and Jay and triple from Drew Stubbs.
• Jose Arredondo got some work in during the 9th.

Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes!

• This was the Reds' biggest margin of victory all year.
• They've scored 14 runs in 2 NLDS games, after scoring that many in the last 8 games of the regular season combined.
• The Reds hit 3 HR in two games at AT&T - two of them to the deepest parts of the park - equaling their regular season total there (in 4 games).
  
• Bronson came to the plate 4 times during the game. He's only the 10th Reds' player ever to do that in a playoff game.
• It's never good to have more than one zero in your R-H-E.