The Cincinnati Reds are going home after losing to the San Francisco Giants, 6-4, in Game 5 of the National League Division Series. Naturally, Cincinnati fans are pretty depressed about what just happened.
One writer from Red Reporter talked about some of the positives, particularly the hitting of Ryan Ludwick.
Ryan Ludwick went 2 for 5 today, and both of his hits were the closest things the Reds had to momentum shifters. Ludwick hit an upper deck moon shot - his 3rd HR of the series - to cut the lead to 3, and he singled in the Reds 4th and final run in the ill-fated 9th inning rally. He did, really, what he'd done for the Reds all season long, but what had been the single largest staple of the Reds success this season, starting pitching, simple didn't get the job done. These are the punches we roll with.
Unfortunately, this year just wasn't meant to be for Cincinnati, as things didn't come together in time.
It was a fun ride, Ladies and Gents. This just wasn't the Reds' year. Remember way back in February when we were worried that this was the year we'd be "all-in," since Phillips would be gone, Rolen would be gone, and Votto would surely be traded? Yeah. I don't remember that, either.
The Reds looked like they were in a good spot after they took a 2-0 series lead by winning two games in San Francisco. Cincinnati beat San Francisco, 5-2, in Game 1 and shut them down in Game 2, 9-0, but the Giants seemed to only grow stronger as the series wore on. San Francisco won Game 3 in extra innings by a final score of 2-1, rolled to an 8-3 victory in Game 4, and then held on for a nail-biter in Game 5 to cap the rally.