Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 3
Oakland 0
WP: Cueto (7-2)
LP: Mazzaro (2-2)
S: Cordero (19)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Great start by Johnny Cueto. Seven innings, seven hits, no runs, four strikeouts, two walks. Cueto is now 7-2 with a 3.97 ERA. He’s inconsistent, as are all young pitchers, but he’s improving.
–Jay Bruce went 3-3 with a walk and 2 RBI. He’s hitting .282/.358/.467 on the season. I’m happy with that.
–Jonny Gomes was 2-3 with a double, an RBI, and a HBP. He’s heating up again, I hope.
–Superb outing by Nick Masset today. That was as sharp as he’s looked all year. Good outing for CoCo, too. These guys really stepped up their game today.
–Joey Votto went 0-2, but he walked three times. Our buddy Mike notes that Votto has gotten on base in 49 straight games. That’s the longest streak of consecutive games getting on base by a Red since Don Blasingame in 1962/63, and it’s the third-longest streak by a Red since 1920 (behind only Frank Robinson and Blasingame). Unreal.
–Paul Janish was very efficient today. He picked up the bats quickly and returned them to the dugout, putting them back in the correct spot in the bat rack every single time. This kid is fun to watch as bat boy.
NEGATIVES
–Orlando Cabrera, hitting leadoff, went 0-5 again. This is not a recording. He’s now “hitting” .238/.276/.327. He’s 0 for his last 18. This is getting disgraceful.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–After the recent debacle in Seattle, where the Reds scored just one run while getting swept in a three-game series, I said this:
I’m very interested in seeing how the Reds respond against Oakland. All season long, these guys have bounced back after bad spells.
The good guys certainly responded, and I’m proud of them. They didn’t always play well, but they earned a sweep of Oakland. More importantly, this west coast road trip ends up 3-3. I’ll take a .500 record on the road every time. Did the Reds have to make it so hard, though?
–Miguel Cairo had a couple of hits and made a good play late in the game defensively. Unfortunately, he made another bone-headed defensive play earlier in the game. I really don’t like having this guy in the lineup, and he’s certainly the worst #2 hitter in the majors.
–Nice sweep, Reds! Now enjoy your trip home and let’s see some good baseball this weekend.
–We really need a Johnny Cueto sombrero. Maybe that can be my off-day project.
Jay Bruce