Prior to tonight's game, we took at look at the four most recent starts that Roy Halladay and Bronson Arroyo had made against the Reds and Phillies respectively. In short, Halladay had dominated and Arroyo had been dominated. Tonight, things followed that script perfectly. Roy Halladay threw seven scoreless innings while Arroyo was charged with five earned runs as Phillies blew out the Reds 9-0 at Great American Ballpark.
Halladay didn't just do his work on the mound, he impressed with the bat as well. With the bases loaded in the sixth inning, Halladay came to the plate and hit his second career double, driving in all three runs in the process. The hit also ended up Arroyo's night.
Ryan Howard hit two of the Phillies four homers on the night giving him 29 for the year and pushing him over 100 RBI for the 6th straight season, setting a club record. Raul Ibanez and Hunter Pence went deep as well. The Halladay/Lidge/Schwimmer combined shutout tonight was the 18th that a Phillies pitching has thrown this year, which is the best in the majors.
The Phils send Cliff Lee to the hill looking for his sixth straight win. He will be opposed by Dontrelle Willis, who is still looking for his first win of the season.