Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cleveland 3
Cincinnati 10
WP: Harang (6-7)
LP: Laffey (0-2)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Great game for Drew Stubbs. Feeling the heat, he delivered with a 2-4 night, with a homer, four RBI, and two runs scored. Outstanding.
–You gotta admit that Aaron Harang, as frustrating as he can be at times, has been pretty good lately. His ERA is around four over his last 13 starts, and tonight he went 7 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits. He wasn’t particularly sharp, but he was the old bulldog again, battling, battling, battling.
–Jay Bruce continued his hot hitting, going 2-2, both doubles, plus a walk, three runs scored, and a sacrifice fly RBI. This guy is just pounding the ball right now.
–Brandon Phillips led off and got on base twice. Funny how that works. (The ordinary leadoff “hitter,” Orlando Cabrera, was dropped all the way to second in the lineup and he went 2-5 himself. That’s the first time he’s gotten on base since the Clinton administration, I think.)
–Good work by Logan Ondrusek and Micah Owings out of the bullpen.
NEGATIVES
–None.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–That’s four wins in a row. Suddenly this doesn’t look like the same team that scored one run in three games out there in Seattle. No one should be surprised; this team has bounced back like this all year. It’s what makes them fun to watch (most of the time).
–Those green caps look ridiculous. And I have the right to say that: on my only trip to Cooperstown (1997), I bought a green Reds cap like they’re wearing tonight. I wore that cap nearly every day. I’m not proud of that.
–The Reds are undefeated (3-0) when Brandon Phillips leads off.
–The Cardinals are losing as I write this. If they can’t come back, the Reds will be back in first place all by themselves. How fun. (And yes, I’m scoreboard-watching in June. Deal with it.)
George Grande