Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 9
St. Louis 8
WP: Del Rosario (1-0)
LP: Reyes (2-1)
S: Cordero (16)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Scott Rolen…I mean, come on! This guy is something else. Two homers tonight, a double, 3-4, 4 RBI. Just a great night against his former team, and Rolen is now hitting .290/.354/.592 on the season. Just…wow.
–Welcome back, Joey Votto! In his first game back, all Votto does is go 4-5 with a homer, a triple, and three runs scored. I’m reminded of what they used to say about Wade Boggs: the guy could fall out of bed at 3 AM and still hit .300. Votto is now hitting .326/.417/.589. Go vote for him for the All-Star team.
–How good has Jonny Gomes been? Tonight, Gomes reached base four times, going 1-2, walking twice and getting hit by a pitch. The one hit, of course, drove in the run that gave the Reds the lead. Gomes is Mr. Clutch, after all. He’s now hitting .307/.366/.527 on the year.
–Nice work by the bullpen in this one, including Nick Masset, who recorded a huge strikeout on Colby Rasmus in the 8th inning. The pen held the Cards in check over the last four innings after Cueto’s meltdown.
–Ramon Hernandez had a couple of hits, and continues to swing a good bat.
NEGATIVES
–Worst outing for Johnny Cueto in a long while: 5 IP, 10 hits, 8 runs, all earned. First time in his career that Cueto didn’t strike out a single batter.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Pretty exciting ballgame, and when it was finished, the Reds were back in first place by themselves. Importantly, when they pack up and leave St. Louis tomorrow, they’ll still be in first, either way.
–Almost forgot: Gomes made a great throw to nail a runner at the plate tonight, too. The guy can do it all.
–When did CoCo morph into David Weathers, where he has to scare us every time he pitches? I used to be confident when he entered a game.
–The Reds were up big early, and this could’ve really been a deflating loss. After the Cards clawed all the way back to take the lead, I was scared, but the Reds kept battling. Great win.
–I remain a big fan of Felipe Lopez, and I have often wished he were still the SS here in Cincinnati. That said, he was brutal defensively tonight. Positively Orlandesque, or worse.
–Scott Rolen now has 13 homers. He had 11 each of the last two seasons. What is going on here?
–Ryan Franklin has a great goatee.
–Nice to see Enerio Del Rosario record his first major league victory.
Scott Rolen
Joey Votto