Rus Livingood
June 29, 2013 – Reds @ Rangers – 7:15pm – Fox Sports Ohio
Reds Record (45 – 35)
Away Record (19 – 21)
Rangers Record (47 – 33)
Home Record (23– 15)
Starters: Leake (7 – 3) vs. Tepesch (3 – 6)
The Setting: I have been helping a buddy of mine move all day. I had a two hour break in the middle of the day while I watched my daughter and my wife went to the grocery store and made a couple of sandwiches for me. Other than that, though, I have been lifting and moving furniture since early this morning. I will now melt into my recliner and catch the game via DVR.
The Game and Analysis:
•Sloppy play in the third inning put the Reds down by a run, but after retaking the lead and then seeing it tied up, they were able to pull out an exciting 6 – 4 victory in 11 innings.
•Mike Leake was on the mound for the Reds, and he continued to pitch very well. He allowed only three hits and one walk in 7.0 innings of work, giving up one earned run in the process. What got Leake in trouble was the third inning, where the Reds committed three errors as they allowed three unearned runs. While not overly dominating, Leake continued to do what he has done over the last couple of months and that is minimize opportunities for the opposing team to score runs against him. His ERA lowered to 2.52 for the year, down from 4.32 when he started this great stretch of well-pitched games. His only blemish in those nine games was a loss where he gave up three earned runs in five innings. Needless to say he has been one of the league’s best pitchers since May 15 (5 – 1, 1.31 ERA). Leake had to settle for the no decision here.
•The Reds ended their 22 inning scoring drought when Shin-Soo Choo hit the first pitch of the game over the wall for his fifth leadoff home run. Choo had a great day at the plate for the Reds, going 3 – 4 and also adding two walks. Despite an awful slump that saw his batting average plummet, Choo is still getting on base at an average of .421. That was aided by this game, of course, but his on base percentage has never dipped below .400 on the season. He is not putting up the numbers he did early in the season, but no one expected him to keep up that torrid pace all year long. Hopefully he can snap out of his hitting funk and get his average back closer to .300.
•Brandon Phillips put the second run on the board for the Reds when he singled in Derrick Robinson in the third inning. Robinson had reached on an error by Jurickson Profar, and then Choo walked. Zack Cozart sacrificed both runners over with a bunt, and the Rangers decided to intentionally walk Joey Votto to load the bases. Phillips made them pay and picked up the RBI. He has been unbelievable with his approach to making sure the run gets in. The bases were still loaded with one out, but the Reds were unable to come up with a big inning as Jay Bruce and Xavier Paul struck out the end the threat.
•The bottom of the third, as mentioned, proved to be a disaster for the Reds in the field. After recording the first out, the Reds allowed a batter to reach first on a fielding error by Votto. Leonys Martin singled to put runners on the corners. The next batter hit a ground ball at Votto, who backhanded it nicely, but his throw home to attempt to nail the runner was wide. It was the second error of the inning for Votto, and the score was 2 – 1 with runners on second third with one out. Elvis Andrus hit an RBI grounder to short, but Cozart tried to get the runner at third and his throw was off target, allowing everyone to be safe. The score was tied at 2 – 2, and then Nelson Cruz hit a sacrifice fly to give Texas the lead 3 – 2. On one hit and no walks, the Rangers scored three unearned runs.
•The Reds were able to tie the score in the fifth on an RBI Double by Cozart, scoring Choo. The Reds had the makings of a big inning going again, but they settled for much less. They led off the inning with three consecutive hits, and had the bases loaded with one out again. Paul came through with an RBI single to score Cozart and give the Reds the lead 4 – 3, but Jack Hannahan followed with a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
•Andrus and Cruz opened up the bottom of the sixth with back to back doubles to tie the score again, 4 – 4. Leake then retired the next three batters in order on seven pitches to get out of the inning.
•The score would remain tied through nine innings, as the Reds could not capitalize on a leadoff double by Chris Heisey in the eighth or a leadoff single by Choo in the ninth. Choo was thrown out attempting to steal second with two outs and Brandon Phillips at bat. Jurickson Profar caught the throw by the catcher and made the tag. I was up in arms and yelling at the umpire that the ball was bobbled by Profar and he didn’t have control. Replays showed that I am a crazy loon.
•The Rangers put a scare in the Reds in the bottom of the tenth with a two out walk by Andrus and a single by Nelson Cruz that put runners at first and third. J.J. Hoover got Adrian Beltre to pp out to catcher Devin Mesoraco in foul territory, though.
•In the top of the eleventh inning, Todd Frazier was hit by a pitch in the first at bat. Mesoraco attempted to bunt him over, but bunted the ball foul out of play. The camera angle for the next pitch was from overhead, behind the plate, anticipating another bunt attempt. Instead, Mesoraco hit a two run home run to left field that gave the Reds the lead.
•Aroldis Chapman came on for the save, and it looked like he was going to have some problems. He walked A.J. Pierzynski on six pitches, all fastballs, and then threw two straight balls to Mitch Moreland. After getting a called strike, Chapman got Moreland to ground into a double play. It was the first swing the Rangers had taken against Chapman in the ten pitches he had thrown. They were clearly making Chapman throw strikes, something that would have been unheard of earlier this season. Chapman then struck out Profar swinging to end the game.
What Worked: The Reds got terrific pitching from Leake, and then the bullpen pitched four scoreless innings on two hits and two walks. The Reds created several favorable scoring opportunities, and came up with some key hits in the clutch.
What Didn’t Work: The defense had a horrible inning that could have cost them the game. The Reds, including Votto, work hard to be one of the best defensive teams in the league, but they have had some problems at times this year. Votto in particular has 10 errors on the season, and this is coming from a former Gold Glove winner. He makes spectacular plays all the time, but unfortunately he has also made some glaring mistakes this year.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 46 – 35 and trail the Pirates by 4.5 games and the Cardinals by 3.5 games in the NL Central.
Overall Thoughts: On this horrible road trip, it is nice to come away with the victory in a game that could have gone either way. The Reds wasted some prime opportunities to put up big innings multiple times, and the error-filled third inning allowed the Rangers to make this game closer than it had any right to be. This game marked the halfway point for the 46 – 35 Reds, who still have one of the better records in baseball despite their recent troubles.
Up Next: The Reds close out this series and this road trip against the Rangers tomorrow afternoon.
