It remains to be seen as to whether the Reds are true contenders this year. The next eleven games are in eleven days, and they are on the road--a grueling schedule at best, not to mention the level of competition the Reds will face. There are four in Chicago, followed by three at the Mets, along with four at the Phillies. The Cubs are only one game below .500 at home, and the Mets and Phillies are well above .500 at home. Where the Reds end up in the standings, at the end of this long road trip, will be a good indicator of what we can expect from the Reds for the rest of the season. If the Reds can go .500 on this road trip, they will be in a good position to contend for the rest of the year.

Do some research, Joe Kay, AP writer. In the first sentence he makes an error. This was NOT their final at-bat. There were FOUR at bats after Jay Bruce's homerun. I mean, come on. Really? How these people keep their jobs blows my mind.

Why was Halliday pitching in the 8th after giving up a run in both the 6 and 7th innings.

Do the Phillies actually not have a bullpen that they are more confident in a good tired out pitcher by the time pitch 100 plus comes about

I just dont get it.

Great job on getting the Complete game - again, but a stat was gained at the expense of a lost - not good management decision making I think here

hmmm...well, some good comments here, but way too many that are just like they sound...stupid, emotional, completely ignorant...look, the phillies are a very good team and have been for some time...as a reds' fan, i've been frustrated for awhile, too...but that doesn't mean other teams are lucky or overpaid or whatever else you hear...it means the reds haven't been very good for a long while...now, of course, they are a lot better, and it's obvious that many have gotten so used to the reds over the past decade or so and, having no baseball intelligence, they keep right on ignoring and bashing them...hmmm...point is, the reds are showing up this year, taking what has been building for the past 3 or 4 years and doing well...yeah, i'm ecstatic with their play this past 9 games after running into some great pitching in seattle, showing they aren't going to just fold up and go away as they have recently...but face it, any team trying to live on a late homer to beat maybe the game's best pitcher isn't going to last long...on the other hand, the reds aren't any longer relying on the perfectly timed blast...they're playing good small ball, too...scoring in a lot of ways, something they haven't done in forever...the pitching is solid and very deep...the bullpen is coming around again, in case you haven't been watching...the defense is excellent, right at the top of the game with a couple of other teams...and the thing about drew stubbs...try to see that the kid had a horrendous start this year, though still had a lot of bigtime clutch hits...now he's had a big run from well below the mendoza line to around .240, leveling out some now...but he's lightning fast, still basically a rookie, and you're going to see this kid become something special...hmmm...nope, i'm not a 'coco nut', never was...got my reservations about his abilities as a closer...could be a problem if his inconsistency continues...well, all in all, it'll be a battle in the division now, and yeah, injuries could take their toll, just like with any team...but the reds are a heck of a lot better than most people realize, including the media around the country...so we'll see...but in the meantime, it really would be great to check out these stories, and these comments, and find that there are still some intelligent fans out there...baseball is a totally different game than football or basketball, a lot more complicated, a lot more dependent upon the entire team rather than 2 or 3 superstars...and trash talk might go well with those other sports, but baseball is above that simply because it's about way more than strength and speed and all that...not trashing the other sports, i like them too...but it's just way too obvious that a lot of baseball fans really don't know much about the game other than homers and averages and the other stats...

Good game and a quality series to take from the defending world champs!!! Just goes to show the non-believers that this years ballclub can compete and win against the best of competition. Way to go Redlegs! Hope to see Philli again in the playoffs (just not so many of them in the All-Star game).

Hail Reds!
HAIL YES!!!

Roy Halladay is a traitor to Toronto.
The Philles suck and are cursed.

Hey now Reds fans,

Phils fan here. Congrats are your comeback win, but please do not get ahead of yourself. The are two seasons in baseball, before the All-Star break and after the All-Star break. Talk to you next season... Stay tuned...

The Phillies better get Cliff Lee back or the Yankees will get him!!!

shut up about cliff lee!..this guy is the best..the phils can't score when he pitches!...he is the best in the world...phillies suck!..praise our only god, pavel datsyuk!

Should have done everything to keep Cliff Lee

that what i like about you crackhead fan in cinci, you got good african man who run the club and all ya do is hate on him. he take team not worth hill of bean and make um in first place and ya cry, you keep mouth shut.

halladay should've been taken out after the votto homer. @#$% charlie?!?!

Bruuuuuuuuce

Must suck to pitch a complete game and get beat by a HR in the bottom of the 8th,must suck to be a philly fan too.I actually saw a guy post that the Reds had zero % chance of beating Haliday ,guess he was 0% right.HAHA ! GO REDS !

II like Drew Stubbs but he has had his chance and with a 234 avg with 80 strikeouts in 250 ab its time to give someone else a chance. Chris Heisley deserves to get more playing time. Stubbs should not be playing every day. Striking out once every 3 ab should not be acceptable in the majors. Dusty Baker needs to make a change or at least cut back his playing time.

Nice win for the Reds. It's going to be a seesaw battle all the way to October between the Cards and the Reds. It looks like Cliff Lee is going to out-shine Halladay this year and he is one a not so great Seattle team. But Halladay is on a not so great Phillies team too. I would take Lee over Halladay anytime.

Gene is right. Have some class. I'm a lifelong reds fan, so obviously i am happy we are competitive, finally, after 10 years of mediocrity. the phillies are a good team - injuries or not - so it was a well-earned two wins. in october, i would not be surprised to see these two teams face each other again. but we need Ha@#$%n back, and some bullpen help. and i don't trust coco - he is dangerous. enjoy it, reds fans, and don't act like this is your first time being here. act like you've been here before. you have, even if you can't remember it!

Reds vs Yankees World Series book it!!!!!

Halladay is an excellent pitcher. No doubt. Votto proved what a great hitter he is by yanking a very good pitch out. Halladay left the fastball to Bruce right in his zone and he creamed it. Go Reds!

The REDS are also a last at-bat kind of team--- they never give up really 'till the end!

Hey, does ANYBODY realize that the Reds are winning over here!?! Everybody is concerned over stupid Manny Ramirez when there is an excellent and never die team over here in the Hossier state! Nice job thus far Reds

You know Reds fans I will go as far as to say the Reds are a good team this year and are playing well. I do hope you do finish ahead of the Cards. And I will say they played well against the Phillies with some great come from behind wins. I also will say they might have even beat the Phillies even if the Phillies were at full strength. I will mot trash talk you fans or your team but please think about this. One of the Phillies best starting pitchers J A Happ, who was runner up rookie of the year last year and 3 of our starters from our line up Utley, Ruiz and Polanco are out on the DL. (7 total on the DL). WE, the Phillies might not be playing their best ball right now but you people who say that the Phillies suck are totally wrong. You might say they suck because you do not like the Phillies team but you are not being honest with yourselves to say that they suck. If they come back healthy and heat up in the second half of the season like they have a history of doing, when they play their best ball, you can say they suck if you want but you are just boosting your own egos because you know for the last several years they have been the best team in the National League. And if they are healthy and play like the team they are, they are still the team to beat. Until they are dethroned they are still the NL Champs. If the Reds are the team that wins it all then they will be the champs, but until they do, the Phillies are the Champs and if you say the Champs suck then what does that say about the other teams that are not the champs...like the Reds??? The Phillies are the champs and if they suck then that must mean the Reds... no I won't trash talk the Reds...I am a person above that kind of talk...how about you Reds fans? Do you have class or are you stooping to the low level of being trash talkers??? The Reds are a good team and I won't say any thing bad about them nor will I say anything to put their fans down even if some of them deserve it.

OH YEA !!........they're winning the division and the world series...........these guys are a family and they have the heart and TALENT to do it!!!!!!!!!!! barring devestating injuries, it's very possible !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cliff Lee just finished his third complete game in a row!!!!

7-3, 2.45 ERA, 78 K's and only 5 Walks!!!

Unreal!!!