Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 3
San Diego 2
WP: Volquez (2-0)
LP: Latos (0-1)
S: Cordero (2)
BOXSCORE
POSITIVES
–Brandon Phillips continues to do everything for this team. Besides a nifty defensive play or two, BP went 2-3 with a walk. He’s now hitting .410/.455/.538 on the season. That’s good.
–Chris Heisey hit a big two-run homer, and made a really good defensive play in center field that helped limit the damage in San Diego’s two-run first inning.
–Edinson Volquez struggled in the first inning — AGAIN — but settled down to throw six very nice innings, allowing just two runs on three hits. For the last five innings of that outing, Volquez was simply dominant.
–Jordan Smith and Bill Bray were dominant, pitching a couple of scoreless innings between them. I continue to maintain that this bullpen has a chance to be very, very good.
–Speaking of which, Francisco Cordero was dealing in the ninth inning. He gave up a bloop single, but he was throwing 95-96 MPH, and really looked strong. I like this version of CoCo.
NEGATIVES
–Volquez’s continued first-inning troubles. Jay Bruce’s continued struggles.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–A very nice way to start this series, after a brutal finish in Arizona. Really a well-played game by the Reds tonight. I’m going to sleep better.
–There can’t be very many fourth outfielders around baseball who are as good as Chris Heisey.
–If Volquez didn’t stink so bad in the first inning, he’d be unbeatable.
–I’d like to see the Reds pick up a win tomorrow, to ensure at least a .500 road trip. That’s all I was hoping for, anyway.
Dat Dude BP (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)