Rus Livingood
July 23, 2013 – Reds @ Giants (Game 1) – 7:05pm – Fox Sports Cincinnati
Reds Record (56 – 43)
Away Record (24 – 26)
Giants Record (45 – 53)
Home Record (27 – 22)
Starters: Cingrani (3 – 1) vs. Surkamp (0 – 0)
News: Okay, this might sound a little complicated. The Reds and Giants game from July 4 was rained out. The only mutual off day for the two clubs was August 29, and they were both on road trips (or traveling to a road trip at that time), so heading to Cincinnati for a game that day and immediately heading back West would be a nightmare for both clubs. The other option was for the two clubs to play each other on the last day of the season. That day is also held open for one game playoffs, and of course there is a possibility of an additional game needing made up by that time. Ultimately, the two clubs decided that they would play a double header during this series, with the Reds being a home team during one of the games. They worked out a split of the gate and all of the business aspects as Cincinnati is losing one of their physical home games. Lastly, the second game will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game, how double headers used to be played.
The Setting: Yeah, there is no chance I’ll be able to stay up for both games. As you might remember, I have a Dale Carnegie sales class on Tuesdays for the rest of the summer, which means I work from 7am to 3pm; drive to Belle, WV for my 4:30pm class; begin the drive home around 8:15pm; and finally get home around 9:15 – 9:30pm. I have both games recording, and I will watch as much as I can tonight.
The Game and Analysis:
•The Giants got on the board in the bottom of the first after the Reds had gone down in order to start the game. Tony Cingrani gave up a walk to Andres Torres and a single to Marco Scutaro to put runners on the corners with no outs. One out later, Pablo Sandoval hit a sacrifice fly to score Torres to make the score 1 – 0. That would be all the Giants would get in the inning.
•The Reds came back in a big way. With one out, Jay Bruce hit a ground rule double. Todd Frazier (technically) got a single when he popped up to Scutaro at second, allowing Bruce to go to third. Zack Cozart singled to left to score Bruce and tie the game 1 – 1. Devin Mesoraco followed with a three run homer to left-centerfield to make the score 4 – 1 Reds. The ball looked like a deep popup off the bat, but carried into the stands. Besides Shin-Soo Choo getting hit by yet another pitch, that would be all for the offense in the second inning.
•The Reds picked up where they left off in the third inning, tacking on another three runs to blow the game open. Joey Votto led off with an opposite field homer to make the score 5 – 1. After Brandon Phillips flied out, Bruce was hit by a pitch and then stole second base. Frazier followed with a line drive off the top of the wall down the leftfield line. Bruce scored easily (6 – 1), but leftfielder Jeff Francouer turned and fired the ball to second with a frozen rope of a throw to nail Frazier by about 15 feet. That was a heck of a throw! The Reds would follow with three consecutive singles by Cozart, Mesoraco, and Cingrani. Cingrani’s single to center was his first career RBI to make the score 7 – 1. That would also chase Eric Surkamp, who was making his first start of the season. He lasted 2.2 innings and gave up seven runs. Choo flied out to end the inning.
•The score would remain 7 – 1 until the bottom of the fourth, when the Giants got their second sacrifice fly of the game to bring the score to 7 – 2. The inning mirrored the Giants’ first inning as Cingrani gave up a walk and a single to begin the inning, but the runner had to reach third this time via tagging up on a fly ball. The walks are still biting Cingrani, though they are relatively harmless when your offense is dusting up the other team.
•The Reds immediately answered with a Cozart solo home run in the top of the fifth, getting that run back and making the score 8 – 2. It was the third hit of the day in three chances for Cozart. Mesoraco followed with a single, marking his third hit in as many appearances. These two did a lot of damage in this game.
•The final run for the Reds came in the seventh inning, pushing the score to 9 – 2. Phillips led off with a double and went to third on a groundout by Bruce. A groundout by Frazier scored Bruce. Cozart followed with his fourth hit of the game, a single to leftfield.
•Cingrani would last 6.2 innings. He walked the leadoff hitter in the seventh, and then retired the next two batters. Cingrani had reached 118 pitches by that point, so he was relieved by Alfredo Simon who got the final out via groundout as well.
•Simon would pitch the rest of the game, logging 2.1 innings on 31 pitches. He gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth, allowing all three hits that he would give up on the day. In the end, it was a meaningless run and too little, too late for the Giants. Overall, it was a solid outing by Simon that allowed the rest of the bullpen yet another game off, giving them ample arms for the second game of the doubleheader.
What Worked: The offense was hot yet again, which was a welcome sign. Cingrani and Simon being able to handle all of the pitching duties saved the bullpen for the second game. Would that come into play? You never know, and that is why Cingrani threw as much as he could in the seventh inning (without going over his pitch count limit, which I assume is 120). Several Reds had good games, but Cozart (4 – 4, 3 R, 2 RBI) and Mesoraco (3 – 4, 1 R, 3 RBI) had huge days.
What Didn’t Work: Choo went 0 – 3, snapping his 16 game hitting streak. Cingrani would be even better if he could limit those walks.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 57 – 43 and trail the Cardinals by 4.5 games, and the Pirates by 3.0 games in the NL Central.
Overall Thoughts: This was another great performance by the Reds, and they have owned the Giants this year. I have to believe this is partly due to the Giants coming from an 0 – 2 deficit to win all three playoff games in Cincinnati last year to knock the Reds out of the playoffs. On to game two we go, and this game will be viewed with the help of my trusty DVR.
Up Next: Game two of the doubleheader starts about 30 minutes after this game.
