Let’s recap today’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
St. Louis 1
Cincinnati 3
W: H. Bailey (4-4)
L: J. Garcia (9-4)
S: F. Cordero (18)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–An outstanding performance by Homer Bailey: 7.1 innings, one run allowed on three hits. Even better, he pitched into the eighth and only threw 88 pitches. He was throwing free and easy, and with confidence.
–It’s hard to start your major league career any better than Zack Cozart has. He has hit in all six games in which he has played since the promotion from AAA, and today he went 2-4, scored two of the three Cincinnati runs, and hit his first major league homer. Seems like he is in the middle of every rally, too.
–Miguel Cairo had a triple. I repeat: Miguel Cairo had a triple. Now I’ve seen everything.
–Good work by Nick Masset and, especially, Francisco Cordero today. It was good to see CoCo get back on the horse and look dominating again.
–Drew Stubbs had two hits, including a double. Joey Votto had a double. Ryan Hanigan had a huge single to drive in Cairo with the Reds’ go-ahead run.
NEGATIVES
–Reds only left five on base, but until Hanigan knocked in that run, I was starting to worry that this team would never drive in another runner in scoring position.
Zack Cozart doesn't want to go back to AAA (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
–Two out of three over the Cardinals to begin the second half. Me like.
–The maturity we’ve seen from Homer this season has been surprising, and pleasing. If we could just keep him healthy, we could see some amazing things from this young man.
—Surprising stat: Since joining the Reds, Miguel Cairo is hitting .304/.369/.444 as a starter. That’s really good.
–Wow, Ryan Theriot fits in well with St. Louis. In the sixth inning, there was a bad throw to second, a foot pulled off the bag, and Cozart was called safe (he later scored on a wild pitch). Immediately, Theriot became unhinged, screaming at the umpire. He was tossed immediately, but didn’t let go. Theriot proceeded to bump not one, but two umpires before he was escorted from the field.
Sheesh, I can’t stand the Cardinals.
–I love that the Reds scoring today was created by Zack Cozart, Ryan Hanigan, and Miguel Cairo.
–Despite his excellent play during his major league debut, take a look at the screenshot below (from ESPN’s game recap). Zack can’t get any love from ESPN.
Don’t worry…they’ll learn his name soon enough.
