Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Arizona 5
Cincinnati 7
WP: Maloney (1-2)
LP: Saunders (2-6)
Save: Bruce (1)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Jay Bruce saved the game by robbing a homer that would have tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. Is there anything Jay Bruce can’t do?
–I wrote a fairly long, well-thought out post three days ago, stumping for Paul Janish to be the primary shortstop rather than Orlando Cabrera. It had all kinds of cool stats, like WAR and wOBA and more. I had planned to post it early this week.
Since I composed that post, Orlando Cabrera has been on fire. Tonight, Cabrera had three doubles in four ABs, and he scored three runs. That post may never see the light of day.
–Speaking of hot, Drew Stubbs had another good day: 2-3 with a walk, and 2 RBI. Stubbs also launched a homer into the upper deck in the first. It was a moon shot. Love that kid.
–Outstanding work by the bullpen, with one notable exception. Bill Bray, Matt Maloney, Nick Masset, and Aroldis Chapman were very good, and the Reds needed it after Homer Bailey was unable to go past the third inning.
–Jonny Gomes had two hits, two runs, and two RBI. One of the hits was … wait for it … a triple!
NEGATIVES
–Francisco Cordero. Sigh….
–For the love of all that is good and pure, Dusty Baker, give Brandon Phillips (0-4 again tonight) a few games off.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Magic number: 11. If the Cardinals end up losing again to the stupid Cubs (and that’s looking likely), that magic number will drop to 10, and the Reds will lead the division by 8 games. Wow.
–Now is the time to let Aroldis Chapman close out games. We can’t afford to let Cordero blow important games the rest of this season. Free Aroldis Chapman.
–I’m worried about Homer Bailey. He wasn’t right for most of the night, and it was clear that something was bothering him. I look forward to hearing what was wrong.
–He has stunk at the plate for most of the season, and I still think Janish gives the Reds a better chance to win…but I can’t deny that I kinda like Orlando Cabrera. Not because of his play — although he played well tonight — but mostly because he just seems like a good guy. He is having fun, he plays as hard as he can, and he’s just likeable.
(Just because I like a guy, however, that isn’t a statement on their playing abilities. Heck, Janish and Gomes are two of my favorite guys on this team, and Gomes has been just terrible.)
–I’ve never seen a team that had a chance to make the playoffs quit like the Cardinals have. I love it.
–Good grief, what a fun season.
