Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Los Angeles 5
Cincinnati 8
WP: Leake (1-0)
LP: Kuo (0-1)
S: Cordero (6)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–The Reds won a series? Sweet!
–Mike Leake’s first major league win. More on Leake later.
–Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer in the sixth to give the Reds the lead. Bruce’s approach at the plate is so much better than it was next year. You can just tell he’s starting to get on a good roll (since April 12, he’s hitting .278/.357/.611). The next month or two may be fun to watch.
–Ryan Hanigan (remember him?) went 3-4 with an RBI. Hanigan is now hitting .409/.458/.591 with 6 RBI. It’s a crime that he can’t get in the lineup more often.
–Orlando Cabrera is now my favorite player. No, not because he went 3-4 with a walk tonight (yeah, they were the three weakest hits ever, but I’ll take that every single night). No, OC is now my favorite player because he was rocking the stirrups tonight! Here’s hoping the rest of the team succumbs to his veteran leadership and starts wearing stirrups too.
–Drew Stubbs batted somewhere other than leadoff for the first time in his major league career, and he responded with a glimmer of hope that he’s breaking out of his slump. Stubbs went 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
–Arthur Rhodes is flat-out dominant. Period.
–Every starter got a hit, with the exception of Leake. TOIA*.
NEGATIVES
–None. I’m not going to nit-pick after winning a series.
ETC.
–Dusty Baker didn’t hit the center fielder leadoff for the first time in seventy-nine seasons! It’s amazing. Prepare for the apocalypse!
–Mike Leake gave up eight hits and five runs in 7 innings, which isn’t great…but I swear he really pitched pretty well, even though the final line doesn’t show it. Leake gave up a couple of runs in the first, then made one bad pitch in the seventh, but in between, he was very, very good. This kid’s maturity is amazing. He has a chance to be a good one.
–Fun times. Let’s hope for more of that against San Diego this weekend.
–Keep up the hot hitting, Jay…and celebrate with a sombrero!
*This Offense Is Awesome.