Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 10
Baltimore 5
W: B. Arroyo (7-6)
L: B. Matusz (1-3)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Classic Joey Votto night: 3-4 with two homers, a walk, 3 runs scored, and 5 RBI. MVP.
–The Reds hit five homers tonight. Besides the aforementioned VottoBombs, Jonny Gomes (1-3, 2 BBs), Scott Rolen (2-5, 2 RBI), and Drew Stubbs (2-5) all homered. Brandon Phillips was 3-5 with a double and two runs scored.
–Aroldis Chapman returned in impressive fashion. In his first outing since being activated from the disabled list, Chapman struck out the side in the ninth, using only 12 pitches. Bill Bray and Logan Ondrusek were great out of the pen tonight, too.
NEGATIVES
–Bronson Arroyo wasn’t particularly good tonight. Six and a third, five runs on nine hits and three walks. Arroyo surrendered four homers, as well.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Good to see Joey Votto return to form. His first homer, in the third inning, was the 100th of his career.
—The Reds are 25-17 with Chapman on the roster, and 15-31 without him.
–Cincinnati improved to 3-8 in interleague play.
–Homer Bailey returns tomorrow. Reds need to win this series before heading to Tampa for yet another interleague series.