Rus Livingood
May 21, 2013 – Reds @ Mets – 7:10pm – Fox Sports Cincinnati
Reds Record (27 – 18)
Away Record (11 – 12)
Mets Record (17 – 25)
Home Record (9 – 13)
Starters: Leake (3 – 2) vs. Niese (3 – 4)
The Setting: Watching at home on about an hour and a half delay via my DVR.
The Game and Analysis:
•The Reds got a great performance by Mike Leake and had enough early offense to cruise to a 4 – 0 victory over the Mets. I had to delay my viewing for about an hour and a half, and not all of the game recorded due to a deluge of rain. All told, I missed two outs.
•Leake threw seven shutout innings, giving up only three hits and two walks. There were a couple of close calls as the Mets threatened, but Leake worked through the jams and ended up with a gem of a game. Leake has back to back games of giving up no runs, stretching his scoreless streak to 13.2 innings. He has lowered his ERA to 3.25 and is in a great groove.
•The Reds were able to jump out early and score three in the first inning, the same as they did on Monday’s game. In this game, they sent nine batters to the plate, and did all of their damage after two quick outs. Joey Votto started the big inning with a two out walk on seven pitches. Brandon Phillips followed with a single, and then Jay Bruce walked to load the bases. The Mets seemed to be poised to get out of the inning, but third baseman David Wright let a hard grounder go right through his glove and Votto and Phillips both came in to score to make it 2 – 0. Donald Lutz hit a single to load the bases for a second time, and Devin Mesoraco walked to force in Bruce for a 3 – 0 lead.
•The Reds worked John Niese for 48 pitches in that first inning, and racked up 22 pitches on those three walks. It was great to see the Reds being patient at the plate and working the counts.
•Mesoraco hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth for the game’s only other run. It was Mesoraco’s second home run of the year.
•Todd Frazier picked up two hits in the game and is 6 for his last 16 at bats. This comes off a horrible stretch that has seen his average plummet, so he appears to be more comfortable at the plate.
•Jay Bruce saw his 11 game hitting streak snapped as he went 0 – 3.
•Votto and Bruce both extended their streaks with singles. Votto is now hitting .353, which is tied for the lead in the National League.
•Niese ended up throwing a pretty good game, especially considering his troubles in the first inning. His final line was 6.0 innings, 5 hits, 3 walks, and seven strikeouts. All three runs he gave up were unearned due to Wright’s error.
•The Mets were threatening to score in the fourth as Lucas Duda walked and John Buck hammered a ball to the opposite field. When he first hit the ball, I didn’t think he got all of it, but it carried well and almost left the yard. It hit about ¾ of the way up the wall for a double, and Duda was held at third by the base coach. With two outs, Duda should have scored on that ball, but I gladly accepted the fact that he was held up. I couldn’t tell if Duda did not get a good jump on the ball, and Bruce did get it back in to the relay man quickly. Still, you expect to see a score in that situation.
•Shin-Soo Choo had the day off as the Reds are trying to rest their regulars a little on this road trip. Derrick Robinson filled in for Choo in centerfield and in the leadoff spot, and went 0 – 5.
•Sam LeCure and Logan Ondrusek preserved the shutout in the final two innings, giving up only one base runner on a walk by LeCure.
What Worked: Leake really had it working this game, and combined with the bullpen for the shutout. You don’t need much offense when that happens, but the Reds were able to put a few runs on the board in the first inning.
What Didn’t Work: Other than the big first inning, the Reds didn’t have much going offensively. The runs in the first were the result of the error by Wright, though they did put themselves in a good position to force some runs across. It would have been refreshing to see the Reds put together another inning or two of manufacturing runs.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 28 – 18 and trail the Cardinals by 1.5 games in the NL Central. They remain 0.5 games ahead of the Pirates.
Overall Thoughts: I’m going to be tired tomorrow, as it is way past my bedtime after delaying the start of the game. I was glad to see the Reds get the convincing win and some quality pitching as they head into the final game of the series and the road trip. They have done much better on the road with this trip and are now 12 – 12 on the road. If the Cardinals would stop winning so much, the Reds might be able to take over the top spot in the division.
Up Next: The final game of this series and road trip is tomorrow in an afternoon game.
