Rus Livingood
August 22, 2013 – Diamondbacks @ Reds – 12:35pm – Fox Sports Cincinnati
Reds Record (72 – 55)
Home Record (39 – 21)
Diamondbacks Record (65– 60)
Away Record (29 – 34)
Starters: Cahill (4 –10) vs. Latos (12 – 4)
The Setting: A day game during the week right now is an instant DVR job for me. There is zero chance of trying to follow along on the radio with the hectic workdays we have going on right now. I’ll be watching this at home this evening on DVR.
The Game and Analysis:
•Mat Latos held the Diamondbacks to as little offense as he could and kept the Reds in the game in a low-scoring affair. In the end, a couple of wild throws allowed Shin-Soo Choo to score the go ahead run in what ended up a 2 – 1 victory for the Reds. All the savory details are below.
•Through the first three innings, Latos threw 30 pitches and the only base runner he allowed was when he hit Adam Eaton with a pitch in the first inning. Latos has pitched terrifically all year, but some days you can tell he is going to breeze through the lineup, and this appeared to be one of those days early.
•Cahill would get into a jam in the second inning, giving up a one-out ground rule double to Jay Bruce. With two outs, Cahill walked Devin Mesoraco and Zack Cozart to load the bases before striking out Latos to avoid giving up any runs.
•In the third inning, Cahill would find himself in trouble again. Choo led off with a single to center and went to second on a wild pitch with one out. Joey Votto would walk, and another wild pitch would allow both runners to move to second and third. Brandon Phillips hit a routine grounder to second, but it was good enough for his 94th RBI on the year and a 1 – 0 Reds lead. Bruce would follow with a walk before Ryan Ludwick struck out looking to end the inning. Through three innings, Cahill had thrown 62 pitches.
•The top of the fourth would see the Diamondbacks pick up a run against Latos. Eaton singled to lead off the inning and went to second on Paul Goldschmidt’s single. Martin Prado grounded into a 6 – 3 double play, but Eaton advanced to third on the play. Aaron Hill would smash a one-hopper to third that bounced up and off of Todd Frazier’s glove at third. The ball went into foul ground as Eaton scored to tie the game at 1 – 1. It was ruled an infield single, which was the right call. Frazier reacted quickly and it just ricocheted off his glove into the air instead of bouncing down in front of him. Jason Kubel struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt, and Mesoraco threw a ball to first that Votto had to make a great pick on for the final out.
•Cahill bounced back from his early woes to throw an eight pitch fourth inning. Latos responded with a six pitch top of the fifth. The bottom of the fifth saw Cahill give up a single to Votto, who was then thrown out attempting to steal second base. Even though it was looking far from it with Cahill’s wildness early, we had ourselves a pitcher’s duel.
•Latos could not keep Eaton off base today, as he gave up a one-out single to him in the sixth. Goldschmidt followed with a single to put runners on first and second with one out. Prado grounded a ball to third that Frazier had to backhand. He threw to second to try and turn two, but his throw was in the dirt. Phillips made like a first baseman to get the out at second, but the inning would continue. Hill couldn’t come up with another big two-out hit, though, as he grounded into a force out to end the inning.
•Cahill would continue his efficiency, throwing just six and eight pitches in the sixth and seventh innings respectively. Latos had a 1-2-3 seventh inning himself, and the score remained tied at 1 – 1 as Cahill exited after the end of the seventh. The final line on Cahill: 7.0 innings, 4 hits, 4 walks, 1 run, and 7 strikeouts on 97 pitches.
•Latos would come into the eighth inning sitting on 95 pitches. He struck out pinch-hitter Tony Campana (batting for Cahill) on four pitches; got Gerardo Parra to ground out on two pitches; and then finally retired Eaton for the first time all day on a one-pitch lineout to center field. Seven pitches was all it took to retire the side in the eighth, as Latos continued to dominate.
•The Reds would get their second major threat of the day as they faced Eury De La Rosa in the bottom of the eighth. Choo singled up the middle to start the inning, and advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt by De La Rosa. Frazier laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Choo to third with only one out, bringing Votto to the plate. Votto walked, and the last pitch sailed up and in away from the catcher for a wild pitch. Choo slid in for the score, giving the Reds the 2 – 1 lead. De La Rosa was pulled and replaced by Will Harris, who got the final two outs to send us to the ninth.
•Aroldis Chapman threw two innings in last night’s game, so he was unavailable. Latos was already at 102 pitches, so Sam LeCure was brought on for the save attempt. He gave up a leadoff single to Goldschmidt, who collected his third hit of the day. After a force out at second, Aaron Hill singled to put runners on first and second. LeCure struck out Jason kubel for the second out, and then retired Wil Nieves on a routine grounder to second for his first save. The Reds won 2 – 1.
What Worked: Latos was dominant. His final line: 8.0 innings, 5 hits, 0 walks, 1 HBP, 1 run, and 6 strikeouts on 102 pitches. Choo took advantage of errant throws and wild pitches to score both runs for the Reds.
What Didn’t Work: The offense was stagnant for the most part. The Reds were 0 – 4 with runners in scoring position.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 73 – 55 and trail the Pirates by 2.5 games and the Cardinals by 1.5 games in the NL Central.
Overall Thoughts: This was a big win for the Reds. The Cardinals and Pirates went on to win their games today, so the Reds were able to hold on to their current position and not lose any ground. All the praise needs to go to Latos for his stellar performance today.
Up Next: The Reds welcome the Brewers to town for a three game weekend series.
