Heroes emerge in Reds' win against Phillies

A pair of home runs give Cincinnati 4-3 revenge

Cincinnati Reds' Brandon Phillips (4) runs the bases after he hit a solo home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 7, 2009, in Philadelphia. The Reds won 4-3.

AP photo by H. Rumph Jr. Cincinnati Reds' Brandon Phillips (4) runs the bases after he hit a solo home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 7, 2009, in Philadelphia. The Reds won 4-3.

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By Hal McCoy, Staff Writer Updated 12:43 AM Wednesday, July 8, 2009

PHILADELPHIA — One night after the Cincinnati Reds were so embarrassed they wanted to wear hoods to hide their identity, they had more heroes than a B-grade war movie on Tuesday, July 7.

In order of their heroics: Aaron Harang, Brandon Phillips (three times), Joey Votto and Ramon Hernandez.

In the early going, it looked as if the Philadelphia Phillies were about to put together another night of outscoring the Reds by 21 runs, but it was time for Intervention.

When it ended, the Reds were on top, 4-3, with Hernandez driving in the winning run in the ninth inning.

That, though, is getting far, far ahead of this story.

Harang gave up back-to-back home runs in the second inning to Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth, then another run in the third.

And the Phillies had the bases loaded with no outs after scoring the run in the third, a 3-0 lead. Not only did they not score again in that inning, they didn't score again in the game.

Now it was Phillips' turn. He hit a two-run homer in the fourth and tied it in the sixth, 3-3 with another homer.

Fast-forward to the ninth.

Votto led the inning with a double. It was Phillips' time again — only the man who had hit two home runs was asked to put down a sacrifice bunt. And he did it, moving Votto to third. Hernandez singled — and that's how a team beaten 22-1 one night can win 4-3 the next.

"Baseball," said manager Dusty Baker. "It'll drive you crazy."

Baker asked Phillips to bunt instead of swing away, "Because he and (pitcher) Brad Lidge have no understanding. Phillips was 0-for-7 against him. I talked to him and he said, 'No problem.'"

Said Phillips, "We deserved that butt-whipping we got (Monday) and I'm glad it happened. It was kind of funny and it really woke us up. We were just moping along after getting butt-whippings two games in a row (10-1, 22-1).

"We had to play Reds baseball, do the little things," he said. "You have to learn to do the fundamental things, learn how to bunt to show the little kids in the stands that bunting is important in situations like that."

Down 3-0 with the bases full of Phillies and no outs, Baker was in the dugout thinking, "This looks bad. Oh, no, here we go again."

That's when Harang bowed his back and said, "No more. That's it."

Of that third inning, Harang said, "I stayed relaxed, just focused on executing those pitches. It was a big point in the game and kept us right there. The guys realized I was battling to keep us in close range.

"After we got out of that inning, when we got back to the dugout they knew I was out there working my tail off to get 'em through that inning so they were pretty jacked up and wanted to make something happen."

Once again Harang spliced together a quality start and went home with an empty paper bag — his seventh straight start without a victory. But Baker appreciates what he did Tuesday.

"Aaron getting out of the third was big, very big," said Baker. "And they had us in trouble two or three times (1-for-12 with runners in scoring position). We usually leave him out there and it haunts us, but it haunted them tonight.

"Aaron dialed it up and made some pitches he had to make to some very tough hitters," said Baker.

With the bases loaded and no outs, Harang struck out Werth, coaxed a pop-up to second from Greg Dobbs and induced a grounder to the mound from Pedro Feliz. Those guys weren't Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, but going 1-2-3 without a run scoring and the bases loaded is a feat against anybody.

Baker listed another hero for this night, one who didn't play. He said what shortstop Paul Janish did Monday, giving up six runs in the eighth inning of the 22-1 loss, carried over to Tuesday.

"The real hero was Janish, saving the bullpen so my big guys could be sharp," said Baker. Arthur Rhodes and David Weathers each pitched a scoreless inning, escaping trouble, and closer Coco Cordero issued a one-out walk to Howard and gave up two fly balls to the warning track, but recorded his 21st save.

"That seems to be how we operate," said Baker. "We win close ones and we usually lose pretty big."

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