MLB Preview: Phillies Looks to Build on Doc's Magic

NLDS Game 2: Cincinnati (2.70) at Philadelphia (1.50), Friday

The big question heading into Game 2 of the Reds-Phillies series: Can Cincinnati get a hit?

Roy Halladay’s magnificent series-opening no-hitter has been the talk of baseball for the past 24 hours and, crazily enough, overshadowed what is a must-win Game 2 for the Reds. All the talk of this series has focused on Doc’s no-no, just the second postseason no-hitter in baseball history. While the hype is justified, it’s starting to overshadowing a crucial second game for Cincy.  Which gets us back to the question asked right off the top:  Can Cincinnati get a hit?

Unfortunately for Reds, things aren’t going to be getting any easier that department. On Friday they’ll be up against Roy Oswalt, he of the 2.76 regular-season ERA. Granted, Oswalt hasn’t pitched since August 17, so there could be some rust accumulated…but on the other hand, he did rip off an eight-game winning streak prior to Aug 17, so it’s not like he was throwing poorly prior to sitting out.

The Reds will counter with Bronson Arroyo, a streaky hurler that does have a lot of postseason experience.  Arroyo had a very nice regular season for Cincy — 17-10 with a 3.88 ERA — and has shown poise in big-game situations before.  His time in Boston saw him pitch in some of the most pressure-packed situations in MLB history — the Red Sox famously rallied from a 0-3 defect in the ALCS that year to stun the Yankees — and appeared in a variety of situations: starting, holding and relief.

But if Cincinnati wants to even up this series, the team is going to need to find its bats. Halladay’s masterful performance the other night was one thing, but how badly the Reds were missing on his pitches was another. Cincy only had one runner the entire game — Jay Bruce reached first on a walk — which is an absolutely unbelievable number for a team with its offensive prowess: The Reds led the NL in average (.272), homers (188) and runs (790) this year.

Speaking of offense, Philadelphia certainly did a nice job of getting on track early against the Reds. The Phils jumped all over rookie pitcher Edinson Volquez in his playoff debut, dinging him for four runs and four hits in just 1 and 2/3rds innings. Even Doc himself chipped in at the place, igniting a three-run, two-out rally in the second with a slap RBI single to left field.

A few noteworthy betting trends to pay attention to as we prepare for Game 2:

— Coming into this series, the Reds were the highest scoring team in the National League at 4.9 runs per game.

— Coming into this series, the Phillies were the second-highest scoring team in the National League at 4.8 runs per game.

— Philly gave up the fewest walks in the Majors this year with just 2.6 per contest.