Reds 9, Phillies 8

As I promise not to cover Spring Training, I find myself doing it. Not a whole lot else to do 'round here.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Brian Meadows picked up the win, and John Ennis got the loss and a blown save. Paul Wilson started and was shaky at best. 2.1/3 innings, 7 hits, 3 walks, 3 K's, 5 earned runs. Saarloos took over for the final out of the third and pitched another two, allowing 5 hits (including a homer by Carlos Ruiz) and 2 earned runs. Only 1 more run (not earned) would be allowed by the rest of the pitching staff as Bray, Stanton, Meadows, and Ligtenberg went an inning each and looked strong, Bray in particular. Not sure what this means for Wilson. Not much yet, but certainly not a good sign after everyone was so high on him. Saarloos wasn't impressive either, as he had 3 groundball outs but 3 flyouts. I thought this guy was going to keep his pitches down. Ah well, but he's got time. What was impressive was he inherited a bad inning from Wilson and didn't let the guys score.

Hitting: Another great day in this regard. You just knew somebody would hit a 2-run homer as that's how things have gone. Well, Phillips led off and was the 2/4 with the aforementioned 2-run homer, his third so far. Hamilton only had two plate appearances, but he made the most of them by hitting a single and taking a walk. Jerry Gil did a good job as his backup, going 2/3 with a homer that tied it up in the 8th inning. Dunn had a 2-RBI single. Denorfia continues to struggle, as does Norris Hopper, making the rise of stardom to Josh Hamilton that much more likely. Chad Moeller, the man whom no one wishes to see behind the plate, got the game-winning RBI on a well-executed suicide squeeze. Nice way to win the game, a return to "small ball" if you will.

Fielding & such: Crosby stole his first base, as I'm assuming there will be more. Encarnacion had a bad throw.