Rus Livingood
June 11, 2013 – Reds @ Cubs – 8:05pm – Fox Sports Cincinnati
Reds Record (38 – 26)
Away Record (16 – 15)
Cubs Record (25 – 36)
Home Record (14– 19)
Starters: Cingrani (2 – 0) vs. Garza (1 – 0)
Storylines: Will Matt Garza throw at a bunch of Reds, even though he called out Johnny Cueto for what Garza thought was intentionally throwing at a Cub?
The Setting: I am watching at home in my bed. My mother-in-law is here watching TV with my daughter downstairs. I’ll just watch from the bed and try not to fall asleep.
The Game and Analysis:
•Matt Garza hit a bunch of bats instead of a bunch of players. The Reds roughed up Garza and the pitchers held the Cubs at bay on their way to a dominating 12 – 2 win.
•First off, let’s talk about Garza a little bit. Obviously the guy made some “tough” comments about Johnny Cueto supposedly throwing at David DeJesus during their last series, and I like players standing up for their teammates. But in the video packages that you see about the incident, DeJesus and Cueto were both laughing about the situation and it didn’t appear intentional. I cannot say for a fact that it was not intentional, but for that matter, neither can Garza. Cueto throws inside a lot, and pitchers that do that are going to hit batters. Shin-Soo Choo has been hit more than any player in the league this year, and I don’t think it is due to people throwing at him intentionally. I normally don’t include personal comments about players in this blog, but Garza is a clown for making the comments he did. You shouldn’t insinuate that you are going to fight a guy to the media or anyone that will listen to you unless you back it up. Dusty Baker’s comments back to Garza were purposefully over the top in my opinion, basically calling Garza on the way he handled the situation. Hey, if you are going to call our guy out, just go fight him. Don’t stand around saying it for your own benefit. Anyway, Garza didn’t get the job done in this game any way you slice it; he personally delayed the start of the game eight minutes due to everyone waiting on him (apparently this is routine for him); and he hit Todd Frazier with a pitch. Maybe the Reds should call out Garza for hitting Frazier? It had to be intentional, right?
•The Reds got on the board in the second inning on a solo home run by Todd Frazier. It was his first since April 24th, and I think the announcers said 133 at bats! Frazier recently brought his average back up to .258 from .230 and had been stringing together multiple hit games. However, he was hitless in his last three games and saw his average dropping back down again. Sometimes players can get in a funk when they have a proverbial monkey on their back, and snap out of it once they finally accomplish what they have gone long periods without doing. Perhaps this homer will get Frazier going.
•The Reds scored two more runs in the third inning, as Joey Votto hit a two run homer with Tony Cingrani on base. Cingrani had reached base on a bunt and went to second on an errant throw. Choo sacrificed him to third, but Zack Cozart could not get him in. Votto thought it would be easy to get him in if he just hit the ball over the wall, so that is what he did. Votto went 2 – 4 on the day, and continues to rake in this ballpark.
•The game would stay at 3 – 0 until the sixth inning, where the Reds decided they weren’t going to make outs anymore. Garza was tagged for six runs that inning, and left without recording an out.
1. Votto singled but ended up on third due to an error by Scott Hairston in right field.
2. Brandon Phillips walked.
3. Jay Bruce doubles down the left field line to score Votto and Phillips. (5 – 0)
4. Todd Frazier was hit by a pitch ON PURPOSE!
5. Xavier Paul hits a three run homer. (8 – 0)
6. Ryan Hanigan walks, and Mat Garza is taken out fo the game in favor of Hector Rondon.
7. Cingrani bunts to third again, and third baseman Cody Ransom made an error again. Runners on first and second with no outs.
8. Choo grounds into a 4-6-3 double play. Hanigan to third.
9. Cozart singles in Hanigan. (9 – 0)
10. Votto grounds out to end the inning.
•Cingrani pitched a very good game, allowing only two runs in his seven innings. A walk, a single allowing the runner to go first to third, and a sacrifice fly scored the first run for the Cubs in the fourth inning. Ransom hit a solo home run in the sixth inning for the other run. Cingrani gave up only four hits and a walk while striking out five. Unless there is a setback with Johnny Cueto or another starter is injured, Cingrani will be heading back to the minors after this start. I assume the club will wait until Cueto is ready to be activated before they make that move. Cingrani has been very impressive this year in Cueto’s stead. He is 3 – 0 with a 3.15 ERA after this start.
•Cozart hit a three run shot in the eighth inning to cap the scoring for the day. He had four RBIs on the day. It continues to be ups and downs for Cozart, as he will go hitless for a couple of games and then string together a couple of multi-hit games. Overall, though, he is hitting much better in May (.278) and June (.250) than he did in April (.208).
•Many Reds picked up multiple hits; Bruce had three, and Cozart, Votto, Paul, and Cingrani all had two. All told, the Reds notched 16 hits and went 5 – 14 with runners in scoring position.
What Worked: The bats were getting it done tonight, as was Cingrani on the mound. Manny Parra and Curtis Partch closed out the game without giving the Cubs much to work with.
What Didn’t Work: Not much to write about here.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 39 – 26 and are 3.5 games behind the Cardinals. They are 0.5 game ahead of the Pirates.
Overall Thoughts: The Reds trounced the Cubs for their eleventh straight victory at Wrigley Field, and have now beaten the Cubs in 18 of their last 21 meetings. The bats came out to play in this one, and I have to tell you that my enjoyment of this trouncing was increased due to it being Garza on the receiving end.
Up Next: The Reds face the Cubs for the third game of the series tomorrow day.
