I feel more worried about Werth than Howard. It was just queer to see a lefty baffle him like that two at-bats in a row in a critical game. Howard didn’t look good either, but I didn’t think he looked as bad as Werth. Just one game, so let’s hope it was nothing.

Agree on the Reds, too. We’ve never really seen them clicking offensively, but it seems like there’s some evidence they do some damage when they do. Let’s hope it’s not anytime soon.

Not too worried about the starting pitching. Am dearly concerned about the way Howard looked last night; it brought back memories of watching him at the plate in the Series last year. And Werth looked like he could not see the ball at all. If the Reds’ bats wake up before ours do, this series will have a whole lot more suspense in it than most folks seem to think.

I think we might see Wood in game three. I don’t think he would start instead of Cueto, but I think if the Reds are down 2-0 they might feel like they have to use him in relief to try and win game three. I agree that he will (or should) start game four for the Reds if Cincinnati wins tomorrow night. Hopefully that won’t happen, though.

I’m a little worried about the offense, but I don’t expect to see Wood again until Game 4, if there is one. I’m sure he’ll be the starter for that game.

Victorino is now at 285/360/520 in 141 career plate appearances in his career. That’s an .880 OPS, which is more than a hundred points better than his career OPS for the regular season. In the regular season he has posted a 279/342/428 line (.770 OPS).

On the Reds I think we have to hope that they started out demoralized and it got worse last night. I just feel absolutely sure that those guys can hit. You can’t play 162 games and lead the league in runs scored without being able to score runs. Everyone seems to think the Phils are going to plow through the Reds. I think they’re going to win, too. Let’s just hope their offense doesn’t wake up, cause I think it can do some damage if it does.

Halladay/Oswalt/Hamels does make you feel pretty good, though.

I do feel nervous about the chances that the Phils will have an offensive blackout. I don’t think there’s anything to do if that happens. So let’s hope it doesn’t.

If the Reds are looking for a silver lining, it’s that Howard and Werth are 0-for-8 while Votto and Bruce are merely 0-for-5. Still, I can’t imagine they’ll be able to put up much fight, and if Vic wants to do all the offense by himself, I have no problem with that. (Is there a guy you’d rather have up in a big spot in the playoffs than Vic? Radio guys last night said he passed Schmidt with the most post-season hits by a Phillie.)

I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog …

I agree totally about Wood. I think the Reds made a mistake not to start him instead of Volquez — now they’ve used him up for a while and lost the game anyway. Glad that he threw so many pitches that he almost surely can’t go in game two. Still worried about what Chapman and Rhodes might do to the Phils out of the pen.

I don’t feel real good about the offense for the Phils after one game. Ibanez is really the only guy who hit the ball hard. Victorino had a great game, but neither of his hits really made you feel like he was hammering the ball. The Phils can’t do it without something from Utley/Howard/Werth. Werth looked really awful last night when he wasn’t saving the no-hitter with a sliding catch.

I agree that Victorino’s steal was huge. Hernandez almost threw that ball into left field.

I thought Valdez made a nice play on the ball hit hard by Gomes in the second.

The whole thing has to be really demoralizing for the Reds, who knew they had a tough task coming into the series.

I think not having to use the bullpen for the Phils is great. Madson might have throw a ton of innings this post-season, so anytime he can get a day off is nice given how much he has pitched in the last two months.

Glad Wood didnt start last night instead of Volquez. Wood really stuck it to the lineup after Volquez left. He pitched well.

I was pumped to watch Victorino swipe 3rd early in the game. I like it, get the running game going and put some pressure on their starter. Seemed to work early last night.