Reds Celebrate at the Expense of Halladay, 4-3

Roy Halladay won nine games (9-6) before he took the mound at Great American Ball Park.  He had allowed a little over two runs per game.

When the Reds number two draft choice in 2000 hit a three-run home run in a Philadelphia uniform off Reds' starter Aaron Harang, it appeared the reigning NL champs would coast to a win.

"Halladay is their big guy," Dusty Baker said.  "He has nasty stuff. You give him a three-run lead and usually it's game time."

Jay Bruce and the rest of the young Reds had other plans.  Bruce followed Jonny Gomes second hit of the day into the bleachers in rightfield off the Phillie's ace to give Cincinnati its 14th win in its last at bat.

"I was just looking for something over the plate," Bruce said.  "You know he's going to attack the zone.  He gets a lot of swings because he has such good movement on his pitches.  Later in the game he was getting more of the plate.  Early he was hitting the corners."

Dane Sardinha, who crapped out with Cincinnati, hit his second home run since an injury to catcher Carlos Ruiz forced the Phillies into selecting his contract.  There were two outs and two men on in the fourth when he lined one into the seats in leftfield.

Sardinha was signed to a major league contract off the campus of Pepperdine University by former Reds GM Jim Bowden.  He played just two games for Cincinnati and was 0-for-5.  Wayne Krivsky, designated Sardinha for assignment in the spring of 2006 and was signed by Detroit as a minor league free agent that winter.

"We kept their big guys in check," Baker said.  "The got three, 3-run home runs from their seventh and eighth hitters the last two games.  We scratched and clawed."

Halladay gave up 13 hits but also struck out 10 in getting the complete game loss.

Joey Votto struck out twice but put the Reds on the scoreboard with his team leading 18th home run to start the sixth inning.  Scott Rolen followed with a single but Halladay struck out Gomes, Bruce and Drew Stubbs after that.

Gomes hit a one-out double in the fourth and Bruce singled but he hit it too hard for Gomes to score.  Ramon Hernandez, who had three singles, advanced to third on a double by Brandon Phillips in the seventh and scored on a single by Orlando Cabrera but again the hit was a one hopper to the centerfielder which prevented Phillips from bringing home the tying run.

"Usually, those things come back to haunt you," Baker said.  "Pitchers like Halladay have a way of pitching out of trouble.  It seams they have their best velocity and best location when they're in trouble."

The Reds kept after it.

"You could feel it coming.  Bruce finally got one," Baker said.  It had been 19 days since Bruce hit a home run.

Arthur Rhodes was on the mound when the Reds took the lead.  Rhodes had his historic streak of 33 straight appearances and 30 scoreless inning streak stopped in the 10th inning by these same Phillies on Tuesday night.

"He thanked me for getting him back out there," Baker said.  "He didn't need to.  I was going to get him out there no matter what..  He's a warrior.  I've enjoyed having him here."

Rhodes was well aware of his streak and didn't want to talk about it while it was ongoing.

"I had a lot on my mind and sometimes you can't concentrate.  I was glad to see Dusty run me back out there with the same hitters and get them one, two, three. I had revenge on some guys.  I'll start a new streak.  It was on my mind a little bit.  When you have something going like that, you think about it every day," Rhodes said.

The St. Louis Cardinals are tied with Arizona in the fifth inning.  If the Diamondbacks win, the Reds will retake first place for the dawn of  new month.  That would shock a lot of people in the game but not the Reds.

"Its fun.  We're having a good time.  It's a blast.  We have a lot of guys who have won and know how to win. When we come back like this, its always surprising but its not like a shock because we've been doing this since day one," Bruce said.

Notes:

To allow Travis Wood to make his major league debut tomorrow, his roster spot was vacated by Daniel Ray Herrera.  "He has to go back and get his control," Baker said.  "It seems like the last month or so he lost it.  He's usually around the plate.  He'll be back.  He's a fighter."......Joey Votto has now reached base in 38 straight games.  It is the longest streak in the Major Leagues and longest since Nick Markakis reached in 38 in a row last season.  The streak is the longest by a Red since Pete Rose had his 48 game hitting streak in 1978....Brandon Phillips has a nine game hitting streak....Aaron Harang has a quality start in four of his last five outings....