Rus Livingood
May 29, 2013 – Reds @ Indians – 7:05pm – Fox Sports Cincinnati
Reds Record (33 – 19)
Away Record (13 – 12)
Indians Record (27 – 24)
Home Record (15 – 10)
Starters: Masterson (7 – 3) vs. Arroyo (5 – 4)
The Setting: I am watching at home with the family and my recovering dog. We just had dinner with my parents and my nephew, and I am stuffed. If the Reds weren’t playing, this would be an evening where I went to bed at 8pm. At least I got the grass mowed as soon as work was over and before dinner. It was really hot out, but I’m glad I got it out of the way.
The Game and Analysis:
•This was one of those games that was bound to happen sooner or later. The bats went cold; the defense had a hiccup; the pitching hit a snag. The Reds lost 5 – 2, and ended up losing ground in the standings. Sigh.
•Joey Votto got the Reds on the board in the first inning with a solo homer to dead centerfield. It was Votto’s sixth homer in 12 games, and tenth on the year. Votto is still tearing the cover off the ball, though he has slowed slightly at the end of the month. His obscene slash line on the month so far is .417/.513/.677. Since April 20, he is hitting .384 with nine doubles, nine homers, and 22 RBI. Prior to that date, he was hitting .264 with one double, one homer, and five RBI. You don’t hear too many whispers of whether his knee surgery sapped his power anymore.
•Arroyo was looking like he was going to keep the game a low-scoring affair, but then he just could not get anyone out. When he drops off, he drops off. He had given up a solo homer to Mark Reynolds in the third that tied the score 1 – 1, then three doubles in a row in the fourth to see the Indians take the lead 2 – 1. Then in the sixth, with the first two batters retired, Arroyo could no longer get outs. He gave up four straight hits, three singles and a Jason Giambi home run that scored three to make the score 5 – 1. Arroyo’s final line: 5.2 innings, 8 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 5 runs on 87 pitches. He was chugging along pretty good until that point, and all of his pitches just started to look like batting practice tosses.
•The fourth inning could have been much bigger for the Indians. With one out, Asdrubal Cabrera doubled. Nick Swisher followed with an RBI double to the left-center gap to score Cabrera. Giambi followed him and absolutely crushed a ball to the centerfield wall for a double, but Swisher held up thinking it might be caught. Shin-Soo Choo fired a strike to the cutoff man Brandon Phillips, who fired to home to nail Swisher at the plate, saving a run. On ball four to the next batter, Giambi was thrown out by seemingly 10 feet trying to steal third for the third out of the inning. The Reds dodged several bullets that inning to keep the score 2 – 1.
•Giambi has crushed the ball in this series. In limited at bats this year, his power numbers and overall production is staggering. His batting average is low however.
•Xavier Paul hit a monster home run to dead center in the ninth inning to bring the final score to 5 – 2. Paul hit a couple of balls on the screws during a game recently, only to see them be long outs. There was no catching this ball.
What Worked: Well, Votto hit another home run. Arroyo wasn’t pitching badly at all until the bottom fell out.
What Didn’t Work: The Reds didn’t have much offense at all in this game, bookending their scoring efforts with a couple of solo homers in the first and ninth innings. Votto made an error on a play that he usually makes in his sleep.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 33 – 20 and are now 2.5 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central. They are tied with the Pirates.
Overall Thoughts: The Reds have been playing well, but came up on the short end of the stick here. A different pitch here or a key hit there, however, and this ballgame could have ended quite differently. It’s one of the major reasons I love baseball. I just enjoy it a lot more when those key plays go in the Reds’ favor and the pick up the win. And of course St. Louis and Pittsburgh won again.
Up Next: The Reds finish up this short series in Cleveland tomorrow.
