Rus Livingood
May 18, 2013 – Reds @ Phillies – 4:05pm – Fox
Reds Record (25 – 17)
Away Record (9 – 11)
Phillies Record (20 – 22)
Home Record (10 – 11)
Starters: Arroyo (3 – 4) vs. Kendrick (4 – 1)
The Setting: I’ll be watching the game on DVR, as today is my wife’s birthday. I am doing a lot of landscaping for her in the yard today, and also taking care of some minor projects inside the house with her dad. We’ll be heading out for dinner during the middle of the game, so I am just going to watch it later. It will be difficult to avoid knowing the score, but I think I can do it. I just have to stay off of social media, have my wife screen my texts, and avoid TVs.
The Game and Analysis:
•Once I got to watch the game, I was thoroughly pleased. The Reds shut out the Phillies and kept playing add on later in the game to win 10 – 0. Before I get into the details of the game, I’ll provide a little personal recap of how the day went and how I was able to avoid updates on the game. After working all day in the yard and already having made a trip to Lowe’s while simultaneously going to the bank and also picking up inventory for my restaurant, I was dead tired. However, another trip to Lowe’s was needed to finish up a small job that my father-in-law and I were doing inside. I called my mother-in-law while we were in route, so she could set the game to record. We finished the project; I grabbed a shower; and then we headed to my restaurant to make a couple of pizzas to help out my partner. Walking in to the place, I have to avoid 12 TVs, most that are playing the Reds game. The first words out of my mouth to my partner are that I am DVRing the game to watch later. At dinner, we are seated in a room that has no TVs, so I was good there. I avoided the scroll at the bottom of the screen on ESPN as it seemed to be on every television we were around all evening. The game was truly a surprise to me.
•Bronson Arroyo shut the Phillies down. It was looking like he would be going for a complete game for a while, but was taken out after walking back to back batters in the eighth inning with two outs. Arroyo just seemed to start running out of gas at the end. In the two games he has pitched since Ryan Hanigan returned from the disabled list, Arroyo has pitched 14.1 innings, given up 10 hits, 3 walks, and struck out 11 batters while giving up 0 runs. Hanigan always catches Arroyo, and they have a great chemistry together. The announcers were also covering how Arroyo has never missed a start in his Major League career, and he states that it actually goes all the way back to Little League. Very cool stat.
•What more could Joey Votto have done to show everyone that his swing is back? He went 4 – 4 on the night and also walked twice, reaching base in all six of his plate appearances. The last swing he had in Friday’s game was a home run, so he reached base seven times in a row, going 5 – 5 with two homers and a double. The double he hit came with two strikes and saw Votto choking up on the bat a good two to three inches. He hammered the ball off the wall in the opposite field gap, displaying amazing power. All fears that Votto might have lost his strength due to his knee injury have been laid to rest, much like what he did to the ball that he crushed more than 420 feet to dead centerfield for a home run. His hits in this game show what a great hitter he is: His first hit was a single over the shortstop’s head as he got a pitch away and went with it; the aforementioned double off the base of the wall was with him choking up and it hit next to the 387’ sign in the opposite field gap; he turned on a pitch with two strikes in the eighth and hit a hard line drive over the second baseman’s head for a single, then crushed the home run to dead center in the ninth.
•Jay Bruce also remains hot, as he went 2 – 4 and picked up another double (15) and an RBI (27). Bruce has now hit safely in nine straight games. His average is up to .280 from .246 at the start of this hitting streak.
•Todd Frazier was able to snap a horrible streak of 19 straight at bats without a hit as he singled in his first at bat of the game. He ended up 2 – 4 and picked up his 26th RBI later in the game. Frazier has had an abysmal May and has been on a slide since he started off red hot the first two weeks of the season. Maybe this game will help get him comfortable at the plate again.
•Hanigan hit a three run homer in the second to put the Reds on the board. It has been like night and day for him with regards to his performance before the trip to the disabled list (.079) and since he came back (.352). Add the fact that he is one of the best defensive catchers in the game and calls a heck of a game, the Reds have been thrilled to have him back.
•Big Donald Lutz picked up a double and went 2 – 4. He drove in the final run of a crazy eighth inning where the Reds plated four runs. That put the Reds up 8 – 0, and the Phillies fans started filing out of the stadium.
What Worked: The offense and defense were both on point today. Votto and Arroyo were the two stars of the game, but everyone pitched in as the Reds had 16 hits and only gave up six in a shutout. When Arroyo gave up his first walk in the eighth inning, the Reds let Jimmy Rollins take second and third base via defensive indifference. That was the first time a Phillie reached scoring position all game.
What Didn’t Work: The only thing I can list is Arroyo ran out of gas and didn’t get a chance at a complete game shutout. If that is the only thing you can even think about mentioning, the team played an excellent game.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 26 – 17 and are 1.5 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central. They are now one game ahead of the Pirates.
Overall Thoughts: A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful wife! As for the game, could it have gotten much better? That was a great Saturday.
Up Next: The Reds finish up the series in Philly tomorrow afternoon.
