Phillies Rally To Defeat Aroldis Chapman, Reds On Sloppy Play; Take 2-0 Series Lead

You could argue that there's no shame in getting no-hit by Roy Halladay. Halladay's an excellent pitcher, and he was at the very tippy top of his game.

There's shame in this one, though, as the Reds built up an early 4-0 lead and then proceeded to hand the game away to the Phillies with bad pitches and mistakes in the field.

The game got off to a promising start for Cincinnati, when Brandon Phillips immediately erased any thoughts about a no-hitter or a shutout by taking Roy Oswalt deep to left field to lead things off. Two Chase Utley throwing errors allowed the Reds to add a run in the second, and they would score once more in both the fourth and the fifth thanks to a Jay Bruce solo homer and a sac fly by Joey Votto.

It was in the bottom of the fifth that things started to come apart for the Reds. Consecutive two-out errors by Brandon Phillips and Scott Rolen allowed the Phillies to load the bases, and Chase Utley cashed in with a two-run single into right.

In the sixth, the Phillies would add one more when Arthur Rhodes and Logan Ondrusek - relieving the effective Bronson Arroyo - hit consecutive batters, and Ondrusek then walked Shane Victorino with the bases loaded.

And it was in the seventh that the Phillies stormed ahead, thanks to a critical defensive miscue and just another playoff umpiring controversy. Dusty Baker brought Aroldis Chapman out of the bullpen to start the inning. After getting ahead of Chase Utley 0-2, Chapman missed with a fastball up and in that home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman said nicked the batter. Replays would show otherwise.

Chapman struck out Ryan Howard swinging on three pitches, and then got Jayson Werth to hit a grounder to Rolen at third. Rolen, though, bobbled the ball slightly, and his throw to second wasn't in time to get the lead runner. Replays would show that the ball barely beat Utley to the bag, but Utley was ruled safe.

Then, with two on and one out, Jimmy Rollins lined a first-pitch 100 mile per hour fastball into right field that Jay Bruce lost in the lights, allowing the ball to get by him and letting the tying and go-ahead runs come around to score. Replays would show that Utley appeared to miss third base with his foot, but nothing was done about it.

Ahead 5-4, the Phillies would add an insurance run two batters later when Carlos Ruiz drove Rollins home with a grounder to short. The Phillies would then add another insurance tally in the eighth on a Jayson Werth single to left.

Brad Lidge closed the game out in the ninth and put the finishing touches on a stellar effort by the Phillies bullpen. After Oswalt struggled through five mediocre innings, Lidge, Ryan Madson, Jose Contreras, J.C. Ramirez, and Chad Durbin combined to throw four shutout frames, with two walks, two strikeouts, and a hit.

The Phillies and Reds will now head to Cincinnati for Game 3, to be played Sunday evening. The Phillies will hand the ball to Cole Hamels as they look to close the series out, while the Reds will hope that Johnny Cueto can keep them alive. Worth noting that the Reds will likely be without shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who had to leave Friday's game after aggravating an oblique injury that troubled him throughout the season's second half.