Must wins don’t come along too often in a baseball season. Certainly never in the first half of the season like some fans think.

But after yesterday’s shut-out, no-hit loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cincinnati Reds are facing their first legitimate must-win game in years.

Edinson Volquez probably wasn’t the best choice to start Game 1 of the best of 5 series. But it is nice that for Game 2, the Reds will have Bronson Arroyo to send to the mound. He’s been there before, pitching in the playoffs with the Boston Red Sox. And he’s had the best year of any of the Reds starters, one of the best of Arroyo’s career. I’ve never been his biggest fan, but there is some comfort that will come from having him pitching tomorrow.

The hitters will have to show up, too. They’ve now played one game with the loud, loud, loud Phillies crowd. Much like how the Reds crumbled under the pressure back when Brandon Phillips called the St. Louis Cardinals “little bitches”, they did not play loose and relaxed in the series opener. That one game is really all the time they’ll have to learn. Because if they lose tomorrow, they would have to win 3 straight to get past the Phillies. And you know Roy “Mr. No-hitter” Halladay would be starting again.

Instead, the Reds will be facing Roy Oswalt, who they have owned for the past year and a half. Things could go well, so long as Bad-rroyo doesn’t make an appearance.

Who had their doubts about giving Edinson Volquez the ball in game 1? Not to say that he hasn’t been good, and not to say that the numbers against lefties don’t bear it out (I haven’t actually checked, so I’ll assume they do), only to say that he’s a young fella with no post-season experience and no particular history of keeping cool in the pressure cooker.

If only the team *did* have an older starting pitcher with some post-season experience and the variety of ego that would respond to getting lit up with a shrug and a muttered “well, shit.”

Well, that guy will be going in game two.

Maybe I’m the stupid eternal optimist, but I’m so excited to have gotten to see a post-season game, that I don’t even care that it was some kind of freakin’ historic no-hitter crap. If anything, I’m happy to get that crap out of the way. Not likely to see that kind of performance again, and the Reds might as well double up “working out jitters” with “suffering through Halladay doing his human torch impersonation.” I wouldn’t have minded if someone had lined one back at his head, but you can’t have everything.

I’m seriously looking forward to Friday. Post-season baseball *and* the freedom to have as much beer as I want without worrying about work the next day? That’s living the dream.

The game times for all the Cincinnati Reds playoff games against the Philadelphia Phillies were announced today.

• Wednesday, 5:07 p.m. (TBS)
• Friday, 6:07 p.m. (TBS)
• Sunday, 7:07 p.m. (TNT) or 8:07 p.m. (TBS), Reds play at 8:07 if Yankees-Twins series ends in three games
• Monday, 5:07 p.m. If necessary, TBS (moves to 7:37 if Giants-Braves series ends in three games)
• Wednesday, 6:07 p.m. If necessary, TBS (moves to 8:07 if Giants-Braves series ends in four games)

This is going to be a new experience for me, and I’m not sure exactly how to respond. I mean, the last time I saw the Reds in the playoffs, this happened. That was 20 years ago. I can drink beer now.

But I sure would love to see Joey Votto do something like that tomorrow.

High off of making the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, the Cincinnati Reds wasted no time in taking care of manager Dusty Baker’s contract situation, awarding Baker with a 2-year extension.

Why 2 years? Apparently, like the majority of players, Baker’s a little superstitious. “I’ve had some of my best success on two-year contracts,” Baker said.

No financial details have leaked yet, but it’s likely he’ll have gotten a bit of a raise. Baker’s first contract was a 3-year deal reportedly worth $10 million. In those 3 years, the Reds improved a bit every year, going 74-88, 78-84, and finally 91-71 this year.

Despite the great improvement this year, Baker’s record with Cincinnati sits at just .500, 243-243. In his four years with the Chicago Cubs, he went 322-326, but then that team worsened every year as he seemed to lose control of the clubhouse and the respect of the players. Clearly, that’s not happening for the Reds. Not with quotes like this from Nick Masset.

“That’s awesome. I’m really excited for him,” said Masset, who Baker stuck with when he struggled early in the season. “He’s been such a huge asset for the team. He’s really someone we look up to and can confide in daily. He’s such a wonderful person to have around. He’s very family-oriented. He would do anything for us and we’d do the same for him. It definitely makes it a good atmosphere to be in when he’s around.”

So now that the question of Dusty Baker’s future is out of the way, let’s get to the playoffs.