Arthur Rhodes had gone 33 straight appearances without surrendering a run.  That was on the first weekend of the season on a homerun hit by Chicago.  Tonight,  after the Reds Joey Votto had clubbed a dramatic 2-out, 3-run homerun to tie the game at 6,  Rhodes came in to face several lefties in the Phillies lineup.  He could not retire any of four straight batters,  promptly handing the Phillies back the three runs the Reds had scored and generated so much excitement at Great American Ball Park.  All for naught.  One of the most deflating games for the Reds I have ever seen or heard. 

Makes all the more frustrating the bewildering decision of manager Dusty Baker to let pitcher Mike Leake hit in the bottom of the 6th,  just after the Reds had cut the Phillies lead from 6-1 to 6-3, and had a 4th run at second base with two outs.  Leake had also thrown 95 pitches a,  and had surrendered 6 runs in 6 innings.  It was a no-brainer, pinch hit situation.  Then,  to top it off,  Baker replaces Leake on the mound anyway.  That run they stranded out there with a pitcher batting turned out to be huge.  It could have turned Votto’s game tie-r into a game winner.  Instead,  the Reds are on the short end.  The Reds will never win the division with this manager continuing to make idiotic decisions.  He does it with regularity.

We couldn’t expect Rhodes to continue this streak forever,  and he deserves kudos for it for sure.  But on this night, it was close to unforgivable to fall apart like that.  What a bummer.