Time for a recap of tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
St. Louis 4
Cincinnati 6
WP: Cueto (3-1)
LP: Piniero (4-2)
S: Cordero (9)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–How good has Johnny Cueto been this year? Tonight, he went 7 innings, gave up 5 hits and just a single run. His ERA on the year is down to 1.59. Has anyone in the majors been better than Cueto this year (other than Zack Greinke and Dan Haren)?
–Great way to start the series against the division leader! Kudos to this lineup full of castoffs, has-been’s, might-be’s, and never-was’s. They’ve done well for two straight nights. If it’s all the same to you, however, I’d prefer a lineup built around Joey Votto.
–For the first time in a while, Willy Taveras had a good game from the leadoff spot. He was on base three times out of four, but am I the only person wondering why Taveras never steals a base? What happened to HAVOC!?
–Ryan Hanigan keeps plugging away, getting a couple more hits (and gunning down a big baserunner in the 9th). Adam Rosales had a couple of hits, as well. As we’ve said before, you gotta have these bench players contributing like this for the Reds to have a chance.
NEGATIVES
–The old David W******s (I don’t even want to type his name) made his 2009 debut in the 8th inning tonight, giving up a homer to the first hitter, a base on balls to the third, and an RBI double to the fourth hitter. Yeah, it was inevitable that he was going to do this at some point, but why tonight? Why against the Cardinals? He turned an easy victory into a nail-biter. Classic W******s.
ETC.
–Jerry Hairston is pretty much rotten, but he had a couple of hits and a couple of RBI tonight. Great to see a contribution from Junior.
–Let’s be honest: the Reds are not going to win a ton of games with an infield of Hernandez, Hairston, Janish, Rosales, and Hanigan. I’m glad we’ve escaped the last two days relatively unscathed, but after the starters, this team is very thin.
–Did I mention that Johnny Cueto is great?
–Laynce Nix had an ugly night at the plate, but he made a couple of pretty good plays in the field.
–Hurry back, Joey Votto!
–I will be at the games tomorrow and Sunday. Stop by and say hello.