Cincinnati @ Philadelphia preview
Citizens Bank Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 11, 2010 ) Cincinnati 0, Philadelphia 1
The top two offensive teams in the National League will match up when the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds open their NL Division Series on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park.
But the bats aren't the reason the Phillies are favored to represent the NL in the World Series for a third consecutive year and become the first team to claim three straight NL pennants since the Cardinals did it from 1942-44.
Philadelphia is the prohibitive favorite because its three-man playoff rotation is stacked with three aces - Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.
The Phillies will play the trump card in that hand in the opener, sending Halladay to the mound for the first postseason start of his impressive career.
Acquired from Toronto in the offseason, Halladay finally had a chance to pitch for a contender this season, and he had a big hand in making sure the Phillies maintained that status.
The 33-year-old went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA in 33 starts, leading the majors in wins, complete games (nine), shutouts (four) and innings pitched (250 2/3) and tossing a perfect game on May 29 at Florida.
Halladay won his last five starts of the season, including a two-hit shutout at Washington in his last outing Sept. 27. He had plenty of help from Philadelphia's power-packed lineup down the stretch - the Phillies averaged 7.2 runs in the last five games he started.
The Phillies scored 772 runs - second in the NL to Cincinnati's 790 - despite another injury-plagued campaign for leadoff man Jimmy Rollins, who hit a career-low .243 in 88 games, and a drop-off in power for slugging first baseman Ryan Howard, whose 31 home runs were his fewest since hitting 22 in 88 games in 2005.
Philadelphia was the hottest team in the league down the stretch, hitting .285 and averaging 5.6 runs while going 23-7 in September and October to finish with a major league-best 97-65 record and win the NL East.
The challenge of slowing down that offense falls to 27-year-old right-hander Edinson Volquez, who went 4-3 with a 4.31 ERA in 12 starts after returning in July from Tommy John surgery. Volquez posted quality starts in all four of his outings in September, going 1-1 with a 1.95 ERA during that stretch.
His reward for finishing strong is starting the Reds' first postseason game since 1995, when they swept Los Angeles in the division series and were swept by Atlanta in the NL Championship Series.
Like this year's team, which ranked first in the NL in runs (790), hits (1,515), home runs (188), batting (.272) and slugging (.436), the 1995 squad also won the NL Central on the strength of a powerful offense.
Led by MVP candidate Joey Votto, who hit .324 with 37 home runs and 113 RBIs, this year's Reds (91-71) won the division despite stumbling down the stretch - they went 14-16 in September and October, but still held off St. Louis by five games.
In addition to Votto, three other Reds players hit 20 or more homers - Jay Bruce (25), Drew Stubbs (22) and Scott Rolen (20) - and Brandon Phillips and Jonny Gomes narrowly missed the mark with 18 apiece.
Halladay is 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in four career starts against the Reds, including an 0-1 mark and a 2.12 ERA in two starts this year.
Volquez is 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA in two starts against the Phillies, both in 2008.