Rus Livingood
July 5, 2013 – Mariners @ Reds – 7:10pm – Fox Sports Ohio
Reds Record (49 – 36)
Home Record (29 – 14)
Mariners Record (37 – 48)
Away Record (16– 26)
Starters: Harang (3 – 7) vs. Leake (7 – 3)
Storylines: Yesterday’s game was rained out, and the Giants do not visit Cincinnati for the rest of the year. The two clubs have one common off day remaining, August 29 (my birthday!), but the schedule wouldn’t be favorable for the teams to fly to Cincinnati for that game and then fly back out to their respective road trips. Plus, that would put both teams in a ridiculously long stretch of games with no days off. On that day, the Giants will have just left Colorado while the Reds are due to play there the next game. There is no way the Reds are going to give up a home game, though, so this game will have to be played on the final day of the regular season. Hopefully their will not be any one game playoffs necessary for either of these teams, as that would further complicate the issue.
The Setting: I had to go back to work today following a Thursday holiday. It was unenviable, but I powered through it. Now I get to watch the Redlegs play from the comfort of my couch. I guess it wasn’t all that bad.
The Game and Analysis:
•The Reds fell behind early – and I do mean early – and were never able to catch up. The Reds just couldn’t get it done at the plate as they dropped the first game of the series to the Mariners 4 – 2.
•Mike Leake was pushed back to start this game on an extra day’s rest following yesterday’s postponed game. Brad Miller tripled off Leake to start the game, and Nick Franklin homered on the next pitch. Four pitches into the game, the Reds trailed 2 – 0. Miller’s triple was a liner to right that Bruce tried to stop from reach the wall, but just could not make the play he wanted to make. Leake threw 26 pitches in the inning, 15 of which came on consecutive batters that fouled off a total of six pitches between them.
•Michael Saunders led off the second inning with a solo homer to right to give the Mariners a 3 – 0 lead. Leake threw only seven pitches in that ining, but he was already in a major hole early in the game.
•Aaron Harang was the starter for the Mariners, and he made a triumphant return to Cincinnati. Overall, he went six strong innings, giving up two runs and picked up the victory. Harang was the backbone of the pitching staff on some very bad teams while he was in Cincinnati, and was also a tremendous asset to the community through some programs he started while here.
•Saunders put the Mariners up 4 – 0 in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to score Kyle Seager. Seager walked and went to second on a wild pitch by Leake. In the next at bat, Mike Zunino did exactly what every Major Leaguer should do in that situation, as he hit a ground ball to second to move Seager to third. Saunders then hit the sac fly. It seems so simple, and I wonder why the team I follow doesn’t do that on a consistent basis. When you get a man on second with no outs, you don’t need a hit to get him in. You just have to execute.
•Brad Miller looked like a triples machine in this game, as he hit another one to right field in the fifth. Miller’s liner just went over the leaping Joey Votto’s glove at first, and went down the line and into the corner. Miller was motoring and slid in easily at third to avoid being tagged out by the relay. He has only been in the Majors since June 28, and could make a big name for himself if he keeps smacking line drives and hustling around the bases.
•The Reds finally pushed across a run in the fifth inning. With two outs, Devin Mesoraco singled. Jack Hannahan came in to pinch-hit for Leake, and he also got a single to extend the inning. Shin-Soo Choo then hit a double down the left field line to score Mesoraco, but Hannahan had to be held up at third. It made the score 4 – 1 after three consecutive two out hits. Zack Cozart could not get any more runs in though, as he grounded out to end the inning.
•Votto led off the sixth inning with a mammoth homer to centerfield to notch the score at 4 – 2. The ball hit halfway up the Batter’s Eye backdrop in center, at an estimated 433 feet. Votto is just such a good hitter, and also has the poer to launch baseballs like that to dead center or the opposite field. Scary.
•That would be all the scoring for the day as both bullpens shut the other team down. Seattle’s relievers pitched three scoreless innings and allowed only one batter to reach on an error. The Reds threw four innings and gave up a walk and a harmless single that was immediately erased by a double play.
•The aforementioned error by the Mariners could have been costly. Xavier Paul ended up on second on the play with no outs. Remembering how well Seattle moved the runner over earlier, I was eager to watch the Reds do the same. Mesoraco struck out swinging; pinch-hitter Chris Heisey grounded out to third; and Choo struck out looking as Paul never moved off of second base. It is just frustrating to see the Reds struggle at situational hitting.
What Worked: The Mariners played a very well-executed game and capitalized on their opportunities. The Bullpens for both teams deserve mention.
What Didn’t Work: The Reds failed to move runners over. End of story.
Where They Stand: The Reds are 49 – 37 and trail the Pirates by 4.5 games and the Cardinals by 2.5 games in the NL Central.
Overall Thoughts: I get so frustrated and disappointed with this team at times because they have all the pieces to be so much better than they are. I realize I am complaining about a team that is 12 games over .500, and few short years ago I would have killed to have a team this good. Such is the life of a fan, I guess.
Up Next: Game two is tomorrow.
