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Roy oh Roy, the Cincinnati Reds are in real trouble now.
As demoralizing as enduring Roy Halladay’s no-hitter may have been for the Reds, now they’ll be forced to face the hottest pitcher the Philadelphia Phillies feature.
This could turn out to be quite a show.
Because Roy Oswalt hasn’t lost since his first game with the Phillies.
And every time he pitches, Oswalt’s capable of dominating a game the same way Halladay did while throwing a no-hitter at the Reds in Wednesday’s National League Division Series opener.
“You come into the clubhouse,” Halladay said, “and you just kind of expect to win.”
Nobody expecting another no-hitter.
Baseball’s postseasons have only had two of those, including Halladay’s feat in front of a frenzied crowd Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park.
The other was Don Larsen’s perfect World Series game for the New York Yankees in 1956, so it’s not as if such magical moments come every year. Or every playoff game, for that matter.
What matters most to the Phillies is winning, and Oswalt gives them that chance more than anybody. Even more so than Halladay.
Oswalt has been brilliant since joining the Phillies in a July 29 trade with Houston, where he was already one of the top pitchers in the National League. He lost his Philadelphia debut and hasn’t lost since, going 7-0 over the last two months and finishing with a 1.74 ERA – by far the best among the Phillies rotation – over the last two months.
“I’ve talked to people, he’s throwing as well as anybody since he’s been here,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “Even Roy Halladay.”
Six of Oswalt’s wins with the Phillies were complete games, three were shutouts and in two others, Oswalt surrendered just a single run.
“We just want him to be himself,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
That could be frightening for the Reds.
Oswalt has made 29 lifetime starts against Cincinnati and won 23 of them, including the first 22 straight. Although he didn’t beat Cincinnati in his last four appearances with Houston, the Reds aren’t about to suggest they now have a handle on the man who’s mastered them.
“We faced him, he beat us (more than) 20 times,” Reds outfielder Jay Bruce said. “It was almost, you know, time was on our side. And the numbers were on our side a little bit.”
The numbers weigh in Oswalt’s favor tonight.
He’s never lost at seven-year-old Citizens Bank Park, and has allowed one run there over his last two starts.
“It’s been great for me to have a guy like that come in,” Halladay said of Oswalt. “He did a great job of finding his spot in the clubhouse, finding his spot on the team.”
Oswalt puts the Phillies in a perfect spot, and the Reds in very tough spot, entering Game 2 of the best-of-five series at 6:07 p.m. today. The last time he was in the postseason, leading the Astros to the National League pennant, Oswalt didn’t lose in four starts.
“For some reason, (with) the mound here (and) the way the park is set up, I feel like I’m standing next to the hitter when I’m throwing,” Oswalt said. “Feels like I’m throwing 55 feet.”
To the Reds, it feels like a second straight defeat.
Because with or without a historical event, in Philadelphia one Roy is as good as another.