Rus Livingood
April 26, 2013 – Reds @ Nationals – 7:05pm – Fox Sports Cincinnati – My Phone
Reds Record (13 – 10)
Away Record (1 – 6)
Nationals Record (11 – 11)
Away Record (7 – 6)
Starters: Bailey (1 – 1) vs. Zimmerman (3 – 1)
The Setting: Huntington, WV, and my viewing ability is going to be limited. I will be following on my phone nearly pitch for pitch when I can’t watch the game on TV. I have one final ceremony this semester that I must attend as advisor of my Fraternity, and I think they would frown on me having a television wheeled in just so I can watch the Reds game.
The Game and Analysis:
•Oh come on! Back to back games of being held to one hit? According to the Reds on Twitter, the last time this happened to the Reds was July 5 – 6, 1900 vs. Brooklyn at League Park in Cincinnati. I am sure it has happened since then to other teams, but I didn’t bother to try and find out through Elias or any other stat company.
•Xavier Paul (starting in LF) got a single in the third inning. Todd Frazier struck out but made it to first on a passed ball. Corky Miller walked in the eighth inning, and that was the only three base runners for Cincinnati. No one reached second.
•Shin-Soo Choo’s streak of games reaching base as a Red came to an end.
•Homer Bailey pitched a great game, going 7.0 innings and giving up only one run on five hits. He was only at 89 pitches when he was lifted for a pinch hitter, but you have to try and get a run at that point. There was a runner on first—only the third of the game—representing the tying run. Had Miller not walked prior to Bailey’s at bat, I am sure Bailey would have gotten to stay in the game for another inning. He lowered his ERA to 2.81 on the year, but is 1 – 2 for his efforts.
•The Reds saw 91 pitches from Jordan Zimmerman. They were swinging early in the count and letting him cruise right along. Of the 30 batters Zimmerman faced, 22 of them saw three pitches or less during their at bats. Of those 22, nine saw two pitches, and six made outs on their first pitch. You cannot take away from Zimmerman’s excellent game, but the Reds helped him out by not working the count much.
•The first four batters in the lineup for the Reds went 0 – 15 on 40 pitches!
•Bryce Harper tripled off of Bailey and was singled home by Jayson Werth for the games’ only run in the fourth inning.
•The game lasted two hours and eight minutes, which is one of the fastest games that I recall for the Reds over the last few years. I’m sure they have had games around that time or shorter, but the games seemed to fly by.
•The Reds have now scored one run or less in 10 of their 24 games this year! Feast or famine.
What Worked: Zimmerman and Bailey both pitched wonderfully, though Zimmerman was obviously at a higher level. Bailey threw 64 strikes in 89 pitches (71.9%), and with some offensive help from his team, could have gone for at least one more inning and would have gotten even more praise for his performance. The Reds starters have had several games already where they have pitched about as well as could be asked only for the team to lose the game.
What Didn’t Work: The Reds have gotten two hits in two games of this series. Choo saw his consecutive games streak of reaching base snapped. My ability to watch the game was limited to about two batters due to the length of the game. I’m not sure I wanted to see much more than that anyway.
Where They Stand: The Reds are two games back from the Cardinals and remain ½ games behind the Pirates in the NL Central.
Overall Thoughts: It is sad that I am hoping for two or three hits by the Reds tomorrow just so they don’t get no hit or one hit. The offense is just that bad right now. Something is going to need to be done to turn this offense around quickly.
Up Next: Game three of the four game set is tomorrow at 1:05pm, and I will get to watch every pitch.
