Reds Meltdown; Lineup Analyzed By Sheehan

Our favorite CincinnatiReds badboy, Brandon Phillips set the tone with a bomb on the fourth pitch of the game from Phillies starter Roy Oswalt.  The Reds grabbed a 4-0 lead and appeared to be back in the series. 

Then the defense fell apart.  And we laughed.

The Reds bullpen

wasn’t far behind, but our side hurt so much from laughing we failed to truly enjoy it.  Thankfully it’s in the Tivo.

The Phillies capitalized by putting seven unanswered runs on the scoreboard and now hold a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.  Justin at ThatBallsOuttaHere has all the Phillies news your gut can handle.  Be sure to check out his post about the upcoming meeting to fix the umpire mess too. 

The 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hammels has the opportunity to close it out on Sunday in Cincinnati.  Johnny Cueto toes the rubber for Cincy.

Before the game, Joe Sheehan   analyzed the Reds lineup as announced by manager  Dusty Baker.   

"Here is, as a matter of fact, the Reds’ lineup tonight listed with their 2010 OBPs against right-handed pitching:Phillips, .336Cabrera, .275Votto, .442 (.673 SLG)Rolen .343Nix, .346Bruce, .353Stubbs, . 338Hernandez, . 360"

"“The two lowest OBPs in the lineup are batting in front of the guy who slugs .673. Dusty, you’ve had a hell of year, but in this, you’re doing it wrong. Orlando Cabrera arguably shouldn’t play at all, but if you insist, you have got to bat him eighth. No one asked me, but I’d go Bruce, Phillips, Votto, Rolen, Nix, Hernandez, Stubbs, Janish. I could also hit Bruce fourth and move everyone else up one, but the headaches involved in defending that in the real world probably make it suboptimal.”  –Joe Sheehan"

For your reference, here are the Pirates top five hitters overall OBP:

McCutchen .365

Tabata .346

Walker .349

Jones .306

Alvarez .326

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Speaking of meltdowns, either Weiland has us right where he wants us, or…