Rus Livingood
April 29, 2013 – Reds @ Cardinals – 8:15pm – Fox Sports Cincinnati
Reds Record (14 – 12)
Away Record (2 – 8)
Cardinals Record (14 – 10)
Home Record (5 – 4)
Starters: Latos (1 – 0) vs. Wainwright (1 – 1)
The Setting: Stately Livingood Manor
The Game and Analysis:
•Terrific way to start off the game as Shin-Soo Choo hits a double and is bunted over to third by Zack Cozart. Joey Votto drives him in with a single and the Reds lead 1 – 0. Brandon Phillips walks, but Jay Bruce strikes out and Todd Frazier hits a pop fly in foul territory to end the inning. That was hopefully a sign of good things to come. Choo and Votto have been on base all season, but the second spot in the lineup has not been productive. Moving the runner over for your perennial MVP candidate and the cleanup hitter who is near the league lead in RBIs is a smart move.
•Mat Latos gave up a walk and a single in the bottom half of the inning, but even a wild pitch didn’t get the Cardinals on the scoreboard. Phillips kept the ball in the infield on the single, which kept Jon Jay from possibly scoring.
•The Reds go in order in the top of the second, and then the Cardinals do the same. The score remains 1 – 0 Reds after two innings.
•Cozart reached on an infield hit in the third, but Votto hit into a double play to end the inning. In the bottom half, Jon Jay is hit by a pitch and Matt Carpenter walks. Matt Holiday grounds to shortstop, and Cozart is able to get the lead runner at third. The next batter grounds out and Latos escapes unscathed.
•In the top of the fourth, Phillips singles and Bruce hits into a force out. Still a runner on first, but now one out. Frazier doubles, and there are runners on second and third now. Xavier Paul grounds out to short and Bruce scores to put the Reds up 2 – 0. Devin Mesoraco is intentionally walked, and Latos strikes out for the third out.
•Yadier Molina singled and later went to second on a groundout. To my surprise, he stole third base without a throw. The announcers talk about how Pujols used to steal without a throw all the time, and that Molina had picked up on the art of knowing when to steal. He is not what you would call fleet of foot by any stretch of the imagination, but he got a tremendous jump as Latos basically ignored him at second. The Cardinals are unable to score, though.
•Nothing for the Reds in the fifth as Choo, Cozart, and Votto are retired in order. In the Cardinals’ half, they get back to back singles with two outs, but a fielder’s choice ends the inning. Latos has given up some singles and allowed some others on base, but he is rolling right along and extending his streak of scoreless innings to 16. He is sitting at 76 pitches through five innings.
•The Reds are retired in order again in the sixth, and this game is looking like it could come down to the bullpens.
•Molina singles in the bottom of the sixth, but a double play ball by David Freese erases him. Freese is really struggling right now. He is hitting well below .200 and is hitless in his last 14 at bats if I heard the announcer correctly. Latos finishes the inning with 91 pitches on the game. His spot is due up third, and it will probably depend on the situation if they pinch hit for him or not. If it is a sacrifice situation, he’ll stay in the game for another inning I would guess.
•Wainwright retires the side in order again, including pinch hitter Donald Lutz. Latos is out of the game and will turn it over to his bullpen. Wainwright has retired the last ten batters he faced, and is at 99 pitches through seven innings.
•They pinch hit for Wainwright, as the pitcher’s spot leads off the inning. Logan Ondrusek is in for the Reds in relief. Jon Jay walked again, but the score remains 2 – 0 after seven innings.
•Other than a Votto single, the Reds are quiet in the eighth inning. The Cardinals had retired 12 in a row before Votto’s single. In the bottom half of the inning, Allen Craig drops in a double off Jonathon Broxton, and Molina comes up big again with a huge double to drive him in. It’s 2 – 1, and the Cardinals have no one out. Cozart nails the lead runner at the third for the second time in the game on the next batter, and that play may prove to be a major one in this one run game. A runner on third with one out is a lot scarier than a runner on first with one out. Carlos Beltran flies out, and Pete Kozma grounds out to Votto to end the inning.
•The Reds go down in order in the ninth, and Aroldis Chapman is coming in for the save. He gets Shane Robinson to fly out on his second fastball, and there is quickly one away. Jay grounds out after fouling a couple off, and Chapman hit 100 on the gun with that pitch. He gets Matt Carpenter to fly out, and this one belongs to the Reds!
What Worked: The Reds jumped on the board early with the sac bunt to put Choo on third. I hope to see more of that if Cozart continues to struggle. The pitching was stellar, and really picked up the team after the Cardinals pitchers started shutting the bats down. The defense also came up big with some plays to get lead runners.
What Didn’t Work: Anything listed here would be splitting hairs, as the Reds played an outstanding game.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 15 – 12 and trail the Cardinals in the NL Central by mere percentage points.
Overall Thoughts: It is always good to come to St. Louis and get a win. The Reds need to step the offense up a notch or two, but Adam Wainwright is a great pitcher. Latos and the defense just came up a little bigger in this game.
Up Next: The Reds return for game two against the Cards tomorrow evening.
