Rus Livingood
April 8, 2013 – Reds @ Cardinals – 4:10pm – Fox Sports Cincinnati
Reds Record (4 – 2)
Away Record (0 – 0)
Cardinals Record (3 – 3)
Home Record (0 – 0)
Starters: Latos (0 – 0) vs. Garcia (1 – 0)
The Setting: My house as I hurried home from work.
I settle in front of the TV with a big plate of blueberry pancakes with chopped strawberries on top. It was a quick dinner fix, as my wife and I didn’t have much time (four minutes!) before the game came on.My daughter and I watched the first part of the game as my wife whipped up the quick and delicious meal.
Sometime soon, I will hopefully get the time to fire up the grill for a game. I will also be giving an after the game recap for this game rather than a chronological thoughts blog.
The Game and Analysis:
•Shin-Soo Choo in centerfield. It must be discussed. Choo dropped two balls in centerfield, allowing three runs. On both plays, Choo had to run back, and just got to the balls and turned around as the ball hit his glove. On both, he missed them by mere inches, but a miss is a miss. Being a 4:10pm game, the sun was shining right at the centerfielder. While I can’t speak for Choo as to if that was the issue, I can speak in generalities as a former centerfielder (at a much lower level). The sun (and the sky in general for that matter), can wreak havoc on tracking fly balls. Company that with a long run and trying to square yourself at the last moment, and it can be a disaster. You are taught to shield the sun with your glove, but the can be near impossible on a dead sprint. Much is made of former centerfielder Drew Stubbs’ coverage of center (rightfully so) and Choo’s replacement of him. Stubbs was a ridiculous speedster that made balls to the gap look like routine fly balls. Choo is no slouch in speed, but is a more natural rightfielder than a centerfielder. However, I am giving him a pass here. Anyone can have a bad game in the field, and that is what this boils down to. I don’t expect Choo to cover as much ground as Stubbs, but I also don’t expect him to make two errors in the same game frequently. If the same thing happens tomorrow, we have an issue. Otherwise, we just continue to watch Choo in center and see how it progresses. The issue I had more of a problem with in this game was Choo and Chris Heisey almost colliding on an out. I’m not sure what happened, but the centerfielder takes any ball he can get to, and both are responsible for calling it. They need to communicate better.
•Speaking of Heisey and “not sure what happened”. . .his slide at the play was a curious one. With runners on first and third and no outs, Brandon Phillips hit a sharp grounder to third. Heisey had broken for home, but the throw was up the first base line a little. Inexplicably, Heisey changed his running path at the last minute and slid directly into catcher Yadier Molina, who was nowhere near the plate. Heisey did not even touch home plate with his slide, and would have been easily safe on the play. The only plausible explanation is that he forgot how many runners were on base and was thinking he was forced out at home and needed to try and prevent the double play. It was just weird.
•The Reds and their desire to battle back in these early games gives me hope that they play tough like this all year. They definitely have not rolled over for any team.
•In the ninth inning, 15 batters came to the plate. There were five walks (two intentional); six hits (four singles and two doubles); an error; a strikeout; and two outs made by Heisey. What an inning! I was as giddy as a schoolgirl as run after run came across the plate. It seemed like the Cards could do nothing right, and the Reds could do no wrong.
•Dusty Baker pinch hit for Zack Cozart in the 8th inning, and Xavier Paul promptly tied the score with a base hit. Cozart had been struggling, and Paul has been pretty good as a pinch hitter. I don’t know if Dusty was going by any other matchup stats than that, but it worked, and that is all that matters.
•Mat Latos gave up four hits and one earned run over six innings. Three additional runs were unearned as a result of Choo’s errors. After Latos left the game, the cameras caught him consoling and pepping up Choo between innings. That was great to see. Latos has been the consummate teammate since coming to Cincy and is quickly becoming one of my favorites. He has immersed himself in the organization and is a tremendous competitor.
•In the final three innings, the bullpen gave up a walk and. . .that’s it. One baserunner. The bullpen continues to shine, and this time it was Alfredo Simon, Sam LeCure, and J. J. Hoover.
•Other than the errors allowing three runs, the Cardinals didn’t do much on offense. They had the four hits and also reached base twice on walks.
•Ryan Hanigan continues to struggle at the plate, but is a tremendous asset to the team with his handling of the pitchers and how he calls the games. He is also a deterrent to would-be base stealers, though he has not had many opportunities to show off that skill so far this year. Hopefully he gets it going, as he has always been a good contact hitter, and the idea was brought up at one point last year to bat him second in the lineup due to his ability to make contact and hit to the opposite field.
What Worked: The pinch-hitting of Paul in the eighth paid off. The tenacity of the Reds to come back, and then put the game out of reach seemed to turn out well. The bullpen was dominant again. The Reds’ bats were sizzling late in the game, and they really showed they can be explosive.
What Didn’t Work: Choo’s errors, though I don’t think they were because he can’t handle centerfield. Heisey’s slide at home was something else. I want to hear what he says about that play.
The Cardinals and their relievers could not get anyone out in the ninth inning.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 5 – 2 and continue to lead the NL Central.
Overall Thoughts: Wow. That was such a gut-wrenching game for me to watch early, as the Reds should have not been down 4 – 1. For the bottom to drop out on the Cardinals and the Reds to have that ninth inning explosion was just perfect.
The seventh, eighth, and ninth innings built up to a crescendo of overwhelming joy.
Yes, I care entirely too much about my favorite baseball team. The Reds of 2013 continue to fight and scrap and never give up. And, as always, it is good to beat the Cardinals!
Up Next: The Cardinals host the Reds at 8:15pm on Tuesday.
