Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Houston 4
Cincinnati 12
WP: Volquez (1-0)
LP: Figueroa (0-1)
BOXSCORE
POSITIVES
–We said it over and over last year, but this team just never quits. Of course, why should they? They’re professionals, aren’t they?
Whatever. This team battles and battles and battles. After the top of the first inning, the Reds were down 4-0. Twelve unanswered runs later, the Reds have their fifth win against zero losses on the season.
–Paul Janish is flat-out awesome. His defense today was just fantastic. Heck, every night it seems like he makes at least one play that would have been a hit the last couple of years. Tonight, made three.
Oh yeah, and he’s hitting the ball, too. Janish went 3-5 tonight, with 2 RBI and a run scored. He’s hitting. .444/.444/.500 on the year. This is exactly the start I was hoping to see from Janish, and he needs to stay hot if he wants to keep that shortstop job. Hope that happens.
–These Reds bats continue to hammer the baseball. Jay Bruce and Joey Votto had two hits, with one of Votto’s knocks being a double. Scott Rolen also had a double to go with 3 RBI. In total, eight different Reds drove in runs, including Edgar Renteria who drove in his first run as a Red.
Paul Janish (The Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua II)
Also, and this won’t come as a surprise, Phillips had an ESPN Web Gem nominee, as he went up the ladder, leaping to spear a liner over his head. It was a thing of beauty (as was the double play he started earlier in the game).
–Excellent relief work from Logan Ondrusek, Aroldis Chapman, Bill Bray, and Francisco Cordero. Chapman hit 104 on the gun. Ho-hum.
NEGATIVES
–Edinson Volquez stunk up the park in the first inning again. He just couldn’t find the strike zone, and he spotted the Astros four runs before the Reds even had a chance to bat. Sure, he settled down and actually ended up “earning the win” but it wasn’t pretty. In all, Volquez went five innings, gave up those four runs on five hits, with 8 strikeouts and FIVE walks.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–That’s 5-0 now, the best start for the Reds since the 1990 Wire to Wire Reds. Wow. Cincinnati is the only remaining unbeaten team in the National League.
–The Houston Astros are bad. A train wreck.
–After giving up those four runs in the first, Cincinnati pitching shut down the Astros to the tune of three hits and no runs for the remainder of the game. Maybe it’s because we’ve seen it so often from this team, but I wasn’t particularly worried, even after being down 4-0. Just had a good feeling about our guys.
–Bill Bray was dominant in his inning of work. Is it too much to ask that Bray stay healthy for just one season?
–With Heisey starting in left field in place of Jonny Gomes, the Reds defense tonight was the best it’s been (the only place that could be improved is behind the plate, had Hanigan been starting). It’s fun to watch a team that can pick it like tonight’s lineup.
–Neither team hit a homer, for the second straight game. That’s only the second time that’s happened in GAB history.
–I love this team.