Reds Vs. Phillies, NLDS Game 3: Cole Hamels Completes Shutout, Sweep

The Reds tried. They did. Brandon Phillips led off the bottom of the ninth with a groundball base hit under the glove of Placido Polanco, and Joey Votto stepped in as the tying run. The crowd was into it. There were rally towels everywhere. Then Votto grounded a routine 4-6-3 double play, and all the air was sucked out of the stadium. Scott Rolen's subsequent strikeout was a mere formality, and the Phillies will move on to the NLCS once again, having survived three games of offensive underperformance by getting some excellent work on the mound.