Phillies seeking sweep of hard-fought set with Reds

Baseball Betting Lines

07/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A terrific first half of the season is having an unwanted ending for the Cincinnati Reds, who'll be out to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies when the two postseason hopefuls square off again this afternoon from Citizens Bank Park.

It's been a frustrating few days in the City of Brotherly Love for the National League Central-leading Reds, who've yet to win in this series despite having chances to do so in each of the first three meetings. After being edged by the Phillies in 12 innings during Friday's opener, Cincinnati blew a six- run lead in the bottom of the ninth in an eventual 9-7 defeat the following night.

On Saturday, the Reds received a near-perfect game out of rookie starter Travis Wood, but failed to generate any offense in a 1-0, 11-inning loss, the team's third straight setback to the Phillies in extra frames.

Wood, making only his second career start in the majors, retired the first 24 Philadelphia hitters before Carlos Ruiz spoiled his bid for perfection with a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth. The young left-hander rebounded to set down the next three batters to keep the game in a scoreless deadlock.

"The main thing was that he was throwing strikes, first-pitch strikes," said Reds manager Dusty Baker of Wood. "He was getting his secondary pitches over. When he fell behind, he had the composure to come back and throw strikes. You have some very good hitters over there. That was one of the best performances I have seen in a long time."

Unfortunately for Baker and his team, Roy Halladay was just as good on the mound for Philadelphia. The All-Star workhorse also fired nine shutout innings and held the Reds to five hits while striking out nine batters.

Cincinnati had a chance to get on the board against Phillies closer Brad Lidge in the top of the 10th, when Jay Bruce led off with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. However, Lidge fanned Ryan Hanigan for the second out and after issuing an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Lance Nix, got Brandon Phillips to fly out and end the threat.

Ruiz, activated from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game, doubled off reliever Bill Bray with one out in the bottom of the 11th and scored the game's only run on a two-out single off the bat of Jimmy Rollins.

"That was a lot of fun," said Rollins afterward. "It would have been more fun if we just found a way to get one run so Roy could get that win. Both pitchers were great."

Even with their three straight wins, the two-time defending NL champion Phillies remain 5 1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East race and trail Colorado by 2 1/2 games for the league's Wild Card berth.

Cincinnati has now four of its last five tilts, but maintained a two-game edge on St. Louis in the NL Central standings after the Cardinals lost to Houston on Saturday. The Reds have also now been dealt defeats in 10 of their last 12 visits to Citizens Bank Park.

The task doesn't figure to get any easier for the Reds today, considering Phillies scheduled starter Cole Hamels' impressive track record of success against Cincinnati. The 2008 World Series MVP boasts a 5-0 record in six career matchups with today's opponent, and has yielded a mere seven runs (six earned) in a combined 43 innings over the course of those games. The Reds have batted an anemic .150 off of him during that time frame.

Hamels has gone 0-2 with a pair of no-decisions in a four-start span since his most recent victory, which took place June 13 at Boston, but hasn't pitched that badly over the winless stretch. He's allowed three runs and struck out eight through seven innings in each of his last two assignments, a July 1 loss at Pittsburgh and Tuesday's non-verdict against Atlanta at Citizens Bank Park.

The left-hander does come in having lost five of his last six decisions following a 5-2 beginning to the season, but has often been the victim of a lack of offensive support. In those five defeats, the Phillies have scored three or less runs each time.

Philadelphia will take its swings today against rookie Matt Maloney, a former Phillies farmhand who'll be making his second major league start of the season. The left-hander, a third-round selection by the Phils in the 2005 draft, was brought up from the minors earlier in the week to fill the rotation spot vacated by the injured Aaron Harang.

Maloney made his Reds season debut on Tuesday against the New York Mets and was outdueled by Johan Santana in a 3-0 loss. The 26-year-old was touched for all three runs on seven hits, but did issue just one walk in his 5 2/3 innings.

The University of Mississippi product, traded by the Philadelphia organization to the Reds for pitcher Kyle Lohse in July of 2007, made seven starts for Cincinnati last season and went 2-4 with a 4.87 ERA.

The Phillies hold a 4-2 advantage so far in this year's season series with the Reds, with Cincinnati taking two of three bouts between the clubs in Ohio last month.