Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies Game 1 Preview

Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series goes Wednesday at 5 PM EST with the Philadelphia Phillies hosting the Cincinnati Reds. In the regular season, these teams met seven times with Philadelphia walking away victorious in five of those meetings.

The Philadelphia Phillies finished the season with the best record in baseball. They finished the season strong losing just seven out of 30 games in September. The Phillies even managed a 10-game winning streak in the month.

Finally getting his first taste of post-season-play is Roy Halladay. The Phillies ace won 21 games, more than any other pitcher in the NL. He was first in the NL with a 1.04 WHIP, second with 219 strikeouts, and third with a 2.44 ERA.

While the Philadelphia Phillies are expecting another World Series win, the Cincinnati Reds are probably just happy being here. The last time the Reds were in the postseason was 1995. First baseman Joey Votto led the Reds with a .324 batting average, the second best in the NL, and he was third in the NL with 37 home runs and 113 RBIs.

Starting Game 1 for Cincinnati will be Edinson Volquez. Tommy John’s surgery put Volquez out for most of the regular season, but he can pitch with the best. In two career starts against the Phillies, he is 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA.

In their last regular season series just before the All-Star Break, the Phillies swept the Reds over four games. But the Reds played them tough in every game never losing by more than two runs while sending three of the games in to extra innings.