Rus Livingood
August 6, 2013 – Athletics @ Reds – 7:10pm – Fox Sports Cincinnati
Reds Record (61 – 51)
Home Record (33 – 19)
Athletics Record (64 – 47)
Away Record (29 – 27)
Starters: Straily (6 –5) vs. Latos (10 – 3)
The Setting: This will be on a delay for me as I have my Tuesday evening class and the travel back from that class to deal with. DVR is my friend.
The Game and Analysis:
•The Reds were happy to put their last series behind them and start anew after an off day yesterday. They got a terrific outing by Mat Latos as they cruised to a 3 – 1 win against the Athletics. All the glorious details are below.
•The A’s couldn’t do anything with a doubleand a walk in the first inning, and neither could the Reds with two singles that put runners on first and second with one out. Brandon Phillips grounded into an inning-ending double play to get the A’s out of the jam, and keep the game scoreless after one inning.
•After a 1-2-3 top of the second, Jay Bruce put a run on the board in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff homer to left-center. Bruce’s 23rd homer came on a pitch away by Dan Straily, and Bruce just went with it and drove it that way. That has been a major improvement by Bruce this year. As I mentioned before, Straily pitched at Marshall, where I went to school and the town I live in. I root for him to do well, but I hope the Reds put up 30 runs on any pitcher they face so. . .yeah. That would be the only run for the Reds in that inning, so the score was 1 – 0 after two innings.
•Latos would give up a one out triple to Coco Crisp in the third, but Crisp would be stranded. Crisp’s hard grounder went just inside the first base line and went all the way to the corner in foul ground. I don’t have any sort of stat handy to back up my claim, but Latos tends to strand runners in scoring position a lot.
•The third inning started a lot like the first inning for the Reds, as they had runners on first and third with one out. Instead of singles by both Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Votto like in the first, Choo walked this time and went to third on Votto’s single. Phillips would follow with his 84th RBI on the year as he dropped a single into the left-center gap. Votto would go to third on the play, as he was running on the pitch. That would be all the Reds could muster, though, as Bruce struck out and Devin Mesoraco flied out to end the inning. It was 2 – 0 Reds after three.
•The Reds got some help by bruce in the field in the fourth as he robbed Josh Reddick of extra bases and prevented a run from scoring. Reddick lined the ball deep in the gap in right-center following a walk, but Bruce ran it down and just was able to reach for it on the run at the warning track. It is plays like that where a weak offensive stretch can be counter-acted. Very nice play by Bruce!
•In the fifth, a rare Phillips error allowed runners on second third with no outs. With the bases loaded and two away, Latos got Yoenis Cespedes to ground out to third to end the inning and maintain the shutout. With the Reds not scoring much, the Reds’ ability to blank the A’s has been huge so far.
•The Reds picked up a much-needed run on an error in the fifth. Choo led off with a double, and Derrick Robinson bunted him over. Reliever Jerry Blevins fielded the ball, but his throw to first sailed high, allowing Choo to score and Robinson to be safe at first. The A’s then got a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play, and Phillips grounded out to end the inning.
•The sixth and seventh innings saw the Brewers retired in order. All the Reds would get was a single by Latos. In the top of the eighth, Latos would retire the first batter before giving up a double to Jed Lowrie. That would be all for Latos, who gave up four hits and three walks in his 7.1 scoreless innings. That was a much-needed start for the Reds. J.J. Hoover retired both batters he faced to end the inning and continue his scoreless streak.
•After the Reds went down in order in the top of the ninth, Aroldis Chapman was called on for the save. He struck out the first two batters but then gave up a home run to pinch-hitter Derek Norris. It was now 3 – 1 Reds. Chapman would strike out the final batter of the game, giving him the save and the Reds win. His velocity was down a little for this game, and that was the sixth homer he has given up this year. His ERA is now back over 3.00. The Reds are going to need a more dominant Chapman for the playoff run and the playoffs themselves.
What Worked: Latos turned in another good pitching performance, allowing the Reds to be in a great position for the win. Choo was on three times and scored two runs.
What Didn’t Work: Chapman gave up the homer in the ninth to spoil the shutout the Reds had going. Not much to complain about here otherwise.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 62 – 51 and trail the Pirates by 6.5 games and the Cardinals by 4.5 games in the NL Central.
Overall Thoughts: This was a big win for the Reds. They need several more of those in a row so they can cut into the lead of the teams in front of them. I wanted the shutout in a bad way, but I will take a win any day.
Up Next: The final game of this short two game series is tomorrow.
