Rus Livingood
June 9, 2013 – Cardinals @ Reds – 8:00pm – ESPN
Reds Record (37 – 25)
Home Record (22 – 10)
Cardinals Record (40 – 22)
Away Record (21– 10)
Starters: Lynn (8 – 1) vs. Arroyo (6 – 5)
The Setting: Home, sweet home. Can I stay up late enough to watch this game in its entirety? With an 8pm start time, the fact that I am going on three hours of sleep, and my usual 6am wakeup ritual, it is looking doubtful. I am going to give it my best effort, though.
The Game and Analysis:
•So I am dog tired at the end of the eighth inning and the game is tied 4 – 4. I keep telling myself that I will just rest my eyes during the commercials, but I woke up just before 5:30 in the morning and was wondering why the game wasn’t on anymore. Not because I expected the game to still be tied at 5:30am. . .because it felt like I slept for two minutes. I turned the channel to MLB Network and started looking for the box score online. Sheesh! The Cardinals scored seven runs in the 10th inning to beat the Reds 11 – 4. If you are a sado-masochist, read on and I will tell you how.
•The Reds hopped out to a 2 – 0 lead in the first inning. Shin-Soo Choo doubled to lead off, and went to third on Derrick Robinson’s sacrifice bunt. Joey Votto walked, and Brandon Phillips hit a bloop single to right that scored Choo and allowed Votto to go to third. Jay Bruce then hit a sacrifice fly to score Votto for the second run.
•Carlos Beltran put the Cardinals on the board with a leadoff home run in the top of the fourth inning. Matt Holliday doubled in the next at bat, and later scored on a double by Yadier Molina that tied the game at 2 – 2.
•Bruce hit a two run, two out double in the fifth inning to give the Reds the lead 4 – 2. That would be the last runs for the Reds on the night.
•Bronson Arroyo left the game after six innings, having been pinch-hit for in the sixth. He threw 84 pitches, and had a two run lead. Sam LeCure came in to pitch the seventh inning and struggled mightily. He failed to record an out, giving up a single, a double, and a single that made the score 4 – 3 before being lifted from the game. A sacrifice fly scored another run that was charged to LeCure, and it tied the game.
•As mentioned, it was 4 – 4 when I fell asleep, and it remained that way into extra innings. I didn’t see what happened live, obviously, but I saw the “highlights” the next morning. J.J. Hoover gave up some walks and hits and allowed three runs to score. He left the game with the bases loaded, and three additional runs were charged to him when rookie Curtis Partch gave up a grand slam to Holliday. The double that Hoover gave up to Daniel Descalso hit near the top of the wall. The grand slam by Holliday hit near the top of the moon. It was a rough morning for a Reds fan. This one anyway.
•LeCure’s bad outing was his third straight less than stellar performance after being near invulnerable all year. Though he gave up no runs in his last outing, he did give up two hits in his only inning of work. The game before that was when he blew the hold against Colorado and gave up a big homer in losing the decision. The Reds’ bullpen has had a rough stretch here lately.
•The Cardinals continued their hot hitting, as several players extended their lengthy hitting streaks and the club piled up 14 hits overall. John Jay went 3 – 3 and walked twice, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances. The first three Cardinals in the lineup went 6 – 15 with five runs scored and nine RBI. Meanwhile, the Reds got one hit in the last five innings.
What Worked: The Reds were having a pretty good game through six innings. They had some timely hits and Arroyo had a good outing. For The Cardinals, their bats sure worked.
What Didn’t Work: The Reds bullpen failed them, and has taken a beating the last two series.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 37 – 26 and trail the Cardinals by 4.0 games. They are tied with the Pirates.
Overall Thoughts: Through six innings, it was looking like the Reds were in the driver’s seat to take two out of three in the series and close the gap to 2.0 games behind the Cardinals for the division lead. Now they are in a tough position, trailing by four games and coming off losses in five of their last seven games. I am kind of glad I fell asleep when I did, as I really wouldn’t have been happy with staying up late to watch that 10th inning.
Up Next: The Reds travel to Chicago for a four game series with the Cubs.
