Time for a recap of today’s titanic struggle….
FINAL — 10 innings
Arizona 2
Cincinnati 3
WP: Cordero (1-2)
LP: Zavada (1-2)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Thom Brennaman: “Doesn’t it seem that it’s always up to Joey Votto?” Yes, it does.
–Fortunately, Votto continues to come through for this club. Today, he had four hits, including the game-winner in the bottom of the tenth. This guy is just beyond words.
–The good Aaron Harang showed up today, but the Reds gave him the same run support as usual, i.e., no offense. Harang pitched 7 good innings, giving up four hits and two runs. He struck out 8 and walked 3. I’ll take that out of Harang every day of the week.
–Ryan Hanigan really isn’t this good. But he is playing like a star catcher in 2009. Today, Hanigan batted four times. He reached base four times. Three hits and a walk. Hanigan just keeps doing everything that’s asked of him, even if Dusty Baker doesn’t let him get off the bench very often.
–Of course, let’s not forget Ramon Hernandez, who came off the bench to reach base twice in two ABs.
–Drew Sutton made his major league debut in the bottom of the ninth, in a very tense situation. He delivered, getting the RBI to tie the game. Welcome to Cincinnati, Drew!
–Jay Bruce gunned down the would-be go-ahead run in the top of the tenth inning, after Francisco Cordero walked the bases loaded with one out. Then, in the top of the inning, Bruce laid down a good bunt when asked. Nice to see him contributing in other ways.
–For some reason, Chris Dickerson is not permitted to lead off. Dusty doesn’t think he is as good as Corey Patterson-Lite. So he had to bat seventh today. Of course, he had two hits and a walk, plus an important RBI. I’m not a huge Dickerson fan, by any means, but this is getting ridiculous. He keeps playing very well.
–Paul Janish and Brandon Phillips looked pretty good defensively — again — up the middle, according to Marty and Thom.
–Good work by Nick Masset and Daniel Ray Herrera out of the bullpen. What an amazing job the bullpen has done this year.
NEGATIVES
–TOS*
–Marty Brennaman: “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a team that is as offensively-challenged as this team.” Indeed.
–The Reds left 16 runners on base. It’s just astounding to contemplate how bad that is.
–Terrible outing by Francisco Cordero. Of course, he got the win. Need any more proof of why “wins” is a terrible statistic with which to rate pitchers?
–Willy Taveras is a worse leadoff hitter than Corey Patterson. It’s a joke. Why isn’t he batting eighth?
ETC.
–Great comeback win by Cincinnati. Down by one going into the bottom of the ninth, they somehow figured out how to win this one. Good win.
–Hanigan is now batting .336, and his OBP is .423. His OPS is 826. Wow.
–When are people going to realize that you absolutely cannot run on Jay Bruce’s left arm?
–Another question: when is Dusty going to realize that Jerry Hairston, Jr., is not good?
–Don’t look now, but Brandon Phillips is really struggling lately. His OPS is under 800 for the first time in a while.
–The Reds just aren’t much better than Arizona. I know a lot of us don’t want to believe that, but it’s true.
–But who cares today? Reds win! And Joey wants to celebrate:
*This Offense Stinks.