Citizens Bank Park has proven to be a den of despair for the Reds in recent seasons, as tough as any of the hearty Philadelphia sports fans that fill it.
A 12-5 Reds loss to the Phillies only underscored the frustration. They got to frequent slayer Roy Halladay early and often — with five runs and 10 hits over his seven innings — and it wasn’t even close to being enough as Reds pitchers set a new season high in runs allowed.
“We hadn’t touched Halladay up like that ever,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said.
Reds starter Mike Leake, coming off his best outing with a four-hit complete game against the Mets, didn’t have close to the same stuff for the Phillies. Given leads of 2-0 and 5-3, Leake could not make them stick as he gave up a career-high tying seven runs and 10 hits over 4 1/3 innings with one intentional walk and four strikeouts.
“They hit me well today,” Leake said.
The Reds were 1-7 last season against the Phillies, including six straight losses, and haven’t won a season series vs. them since 2003. At Citizens Bank Park, the record is just as bleak — 4-18 since 2006 and 9-21 overall — and includes a 19-inning loss in 2011 with current Reds infielder and former Phillie Wilson Valdez pitching against them, and Halladay’s National League Division Series no-hitter in 2010.
“It seems like they play us pretty tough here,” said Reds center fielder Chris Heisey, who had a 3-for-4 game. “We score some runs and they come right back. That’s a momentum shift.”
The two teams are moving in opposite directions in the big picture. The NL Central leaders, the Reds are 74-49 and have the best second-half record in baseball (27-11). The Phillies are enduring a 57-65 campaign and entered the day 19 games out of first place in the NL East. None of that mattered on Monday, at least one game into the 2012 season series.
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