Rus Livingood
June 17, 2013 – Pirates @ Reds – 7:10pm – Fox Sports Cincinnati
Reds Record (42 – 28)
Home Record (24 – 12)
Pirates Record (41 – 28)
Away Record (16– 15)
Starters: Liriano (5 – 2) vs. Leake (6 – 3)
The Setting: Home, sweet home!
The Game and Analysis:
•Big series against the third-best team in baseball that has been neck and neck with you for months? Just hold them to one run and hit four homers against them! That is exactly what the Reds did to the Pirates, as their four solo home runs helped Mike Leake beat Pittsburgh 4 – 1 in the first game of a four game set.
•Leake scattered six hits over seven innings of work while giving up one run in a very good effort. The lone run for the Pirates came in the sixth inning as a double by Russell Martin scored the speedy Andrew McCutcheon from first base. Martin lined the ball just out of the reach of the leaping Brandon Phillips, and the ball was headed for the gap. Jay Bruce made a sliding stop on the ball, but slightly over-slid and the ball ended up underneath him. That was all it took to allow McCutcheon to score easily. Other than that, Leake held the Pirates in check. His final line was 7.0 innings, 6 hits, 1 walk, 1 run and 3 strikeouts on 101 pitches.
•Zach Cozart hit the first home run for the Reds in the fourth inning. It was an upper deck shot to left field for the run’s first game. Cozart was batting seventh in the order, and it was his only hit of the game. Of note, though, was that going 1 – 3 in the game put him with a batting average of exactly .250 on the year, which is the first time his average has been that high.
•Todd Frazier snapped the 1 – 1 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with an upper deck home run of his own. This shot was much further than Cozart’s homer, as it was hit more toward centerfield. It was Frazier third homer in his last six games, after snapping a streak of 133 at bats without going deep.
•Francisco Liriano pitched very well for the Pirates, but was tagged for the loss after giving up the two homers. Overall, he pitched six innings, giving up only five hits while striking out six batters. He has faced the Reds twice this year, and lost both times while giving up a total of three runs in 12 innings. The Pirates have given him no run support in those games, scoring only one run combined.
•In the eighth inning, the Reds got two insurance runs off homers from Joey Votto and Bruce. Votto had his second consecutive multi-hit game, and Bruce has now homered in three of the last four games. Both shots were off reliever Bryan Morris, who has pitched very well out of the bullpen for the Pirates this season.
•Both clubs had help from their defenses, with the highlight being Starling Marte lying out to make a diving catch to rob Phillips of extra bases in left field. Votto also made a very slick backhanded grab as he slid to his right and turned to flip the ball to Leake at first in on fluid motion.
•Tony Cingrani made his first relief appearance for the Reds and struck out two of the three Pirates he faced. He came in relief of Same LeCure, who had retired the first batter he faced before giving up a single to McCutcheon. Cingrani struck out the first batter he faced, then walked Martin after thinking he had struck him out looking. Cingrani regained his composure and was able to get out of the jam and preserve the one run lead the Reds had at the time. Cingrani could be a very valuable reliever for the club while he is on the main roster.
•Aroldis Chapman struck out two in the ninth inning while recording his 18th save on the season. Chapman has now gone 12 consecutive appearances without giving up a run.
•As the clubs have a history of hit batters while facing each other, and the fact the Phillips was put on the shelf for four games after getting hit in the arm during their last series, I was expecting a few players to get plunked in this game. The only instance was Leake hitting McCutcheon between the numbers in the top of the fourth. As soon as it happened, I told my wife that was retaliation for Phillips getting hit, but it was hard to tell if that would be the end of it. That will be something to keep an eye on as these teams still have a lot of games left against each other.
What Worked: Leake was outstanding, as we have now come to expect from him. The Reds had enough in their bats to get the job done against Liriano and Morris, and the Reds bullpen was lights out. Turning in a complete team effort is always nice to see, but beating the team with the third-best record is even better.
What Didn’t Work: Even though they hit four home runs, the Reds did not have much going on offensively. That might sound contradictory, but the Reds were 0 – 2 with runners in scoring position, meaning they struggled to even get to second or third base.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 43 – 28 and trail the Cardinals by 2.5 games in the NL Central. They are 1.5 games ahead of the Pirates.
Overall Thoughts: The Reds are a season-high 15 games over .500 and were able to add a little cushion between themselves and the Pirates. Though the team had trouble stringing together some hits, they came up big with the homers to win the game. Leake has been unreal for quite some time now.
Up Next: Game two versus the Pirates is tomorrow.
