Rus Livingood
July 3, 2013 – Giants @ Reds – 7:10pm – Fox Sports Ohio
Reds Record (48 – 36)
Home Record (28 – 14)
Giants Record (39 – 44)
Away Record (15– 29)
Starters: Zito (4 – 6) vs. Cingrani (3 – 0)
The Setting: I am watching at my house via DVR on a bit of a delay. We had a cookout at our house this evening, and I am starting the game about an hour and a half late.
The Game and Analysis:
•This game had a weird feel to it, mostly due to the management of the game by Giants manager Bruce Bochy. He was treating this game like it was a one-game playoff. I don’t mind seeing that strategy, and Bochy is an excellent manager; it just came across as odd. The use of the bullpen would become a factor, too, as the game went to eleven innings before the Reds pulled out a walk-off 3 – 2 win.
•Tony Congrani and Barry Zito kept the game a low-scoring affair, though they both had their fair share of base runners allowed. Cingrani struggled with walks, allowing four in his 5.2 innings of work. He threw first-pitch strikes to only 12 of his 24 batters faced, and was consequently often behind in the count. Nonetheless, he only gave up two runs on a home run that followed a walk. He left with the Reds trailing 2 – 1.
•Zito pitched only 4.0 innings, throwing 88 pitches. He had a 2 – 1 lead, but gave up back-to-back singles to open the fifth inning. Bochy pulled him and brought in a reliever, beginning a somewhat bizarre handling of the bullpen, particularly at that point in the game. Zito scattered seven hits, but was in a jam in the fifth inning when he was replaced and had just come away with a scoreless inning that could have been a bigger inning had the Braves not come up with a big defensive play to end the inning.
•The Reds got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning when Jay Bruce was hit by a pitch and went to third on a single by Todd Frazier. Chris Heisey brought Bruce home with a sacrifice fly to make it 1 – 0. Devin Mesoraco followed with a single, but a Cingrani bunt was unsuccessful as Zito fired to third to get the lead runner. Shin-Soo Choo grounded out to end the inning.
•The Reds would threaten again in the fourth as Mesoraco singled with two outs, and Cingrani followed with a double. The centerfielder was playing Cingrani like he consistently drives the ball to the opposite field gap. It was a curious defensive alignment. The count was full, so Mesoraco was running on the pitch. Cingrani slapped the ball over the second baseman’s head, and the centerfielder had a long run to the ball. Mesoraco initially help up at third; then he ran toward home; then he stopped because he would have been out by 70 feet. He was tagged out in a rundown, and the play prevented the Reds from wither being up 2 – 0 or having runners on second and third with the top of the order coming up. It is hard to tell how the inning could have ended up, but I was calling for Mesoraco to go home the whole time.
•In the fifth, the Giants took the lead on a two-run homer by Tony Abreu. The home run followed a five pitch walk by Cingrani. He has been prone to the home run this year (nine in eight starts), and his recent control issues (10 walks in his last 9.2 innings pitched) can lead to some major problems. If you put runners on base with walks, it is bound to hurt you sooner or later. Here, the Giants took a 2 – 1 lead.
•In the bottom of the fifth, Zito gave up a leadoff single to Choo, who stole second and went to third on a single by Zack Cozart. This is where Bochy lifted Zito in favor of Jose Mijares, a tough lefty brought in to face Joey Votto. He struck out Votto and was then replaced by George Kontos, who promptly struck out Brandon Phillips and Bruce. It looked like such a promising inning for the Reds, but Bochy looked like a genius as he showed how important a win would be to the Giants right now.
•The Reds were able to tie the score in the sixth inning on a solo home run by Heisey. The one out blast came off Kontos, and Reds announcer and former pitcher Jeff Brantley quipped, “No matter what kind of manager you are, you can’t manage around that” as Heisey circled the bases.
•In the eighth inning, Alfredo Simon put the Reds in a bit of a jam. After getting the first two outs, he struck out Pablo Sandoval, but it was on a wild pitch that allowed Sandoval to reach first base. He then walked Brandon Belt and hit Hecotr Sanchez to load the bases. Simon was taken out of the game for Manny Parra, who got pinch-hitter Joaquin Arias to fly out to end the inning and prevent the Giants from making a huge impact on the game.
•The game would go to extra innings, and the Giants threatened in the eleventh when Arias hit a one out double off J.J. Hoover. After the next out, Hoover walked Gregor Blanco on eight pitches, but struck out Abreu to end the threat.
•The bottom of the eleventh started with a Frazier walk. He was successfully sacrificed to second with a bunt by Heisey. Mesoraco was intentionally walked to bring up the pitcher’s spot, and pinch-hitter Ryan Hanigan flew out for the second out of the inning. That brought up Choo, who lined a screamer over the first baseman’s head for the walk off win.
What Worked: Heisey had his first start after a long stint on the disabled list with a hamstring injury. He had batted as a designated hitter in some interleague games, but this was his first full game. He came through in a major way for the Reds, driving in their first two runs and setting up the third and final run with a good sacrifice bunt. Bochy managed the game well, and in my opinion showed how good management can alter a game. Even in the loss, you could tell he was doing everything he could to set up his team for the win, and they needed it desperately.
What Didn’t Work: The Reds had some prime situations to come up with some runs, and they failed to do so. They were 2 – 12 with runners in scoring position, and one of those was the walk-off hit by Choo.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 49 – 36 and trail the Pirates by 4.0 games and the Cardinals by 2.0 games in the NL Central.
Overall Thoughts: After a tough road trip, the Reds have beaten up on the troubled Giants to kick off their home stand. This was a great victory, but I couldn’t help but think the Reds should have easily beaten the Giants in this game. A win is a win in the standings, though, and both the Pirates and Cardinals won their games tonight, too. The Reds need all the wins they can get.
Up Next: The final game of this four game series is tomorrow, and I will get to enjoy it with a day off work and a big Fourth of July cookout.
