Let’s recap today’s titanic struggle….
FINAL — 11 innings
Washington 5
Cincinnati 8
W: J. Arredondo (1-0)
L: T. Clippard (1-1)
S: S. Marshall (1)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Eight runs and thirteen hits? In one game? Is this heaven?
–Joey Votto reached base four times. Three of those were walks (sorry, Dusty), but the big hit was a two-run double in the eleventh inning that gave the Reds the lead.
–Zack Cozart had three hits and scored two runs. Ryan Ludwick had two hits, including a grand slam in the first inning. Ryan Hanigan had two hits and an RBI.
–Aroldis Chapman is the greatest pitcher on earth. Two innings pitched, four strikeouts, one hit allowed.
–Sean Marshall picked up his first save as a Red, but it wasn’t easy. Things went better for Logan Ondrusek and Jose Arredondo out of the bullpen.
NEGATIVES
–The Redlegs jumped out to a five run lead, which they promptly handed right back. When the game went into extra innings for the third time in this series, well, it didn’t look good. Fortunately, Cincinnati was able to pick up the win somehow. Thanks, Joey Votto.
–Scott Rolen: 1-6 on the day, .121/.171/.182 on the season. Ugly.
–Brandon Phillips returned to the starting lineup, but appeared to re-injure the hamstring in the seventh inning. He stayed in the game, and even doubled later, but eventually had to leave the game. Not good.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–The Reds really needed that win. The fan base needed it, too, didn’t we?
–Baseball is a funny game. The Reds scored ten runs in their last six games, yet they scored eight today.
–Mike Leake gave up five runs, but he did pitch into the seventh. I dunno; watching the game, I thought he was throwing pretty well. I guess that shows how much I know.
–Aroldis Chapman needs to be a starting pitcher, pronto.
–Cincinnati heads to St. Louis for a three-game series beginning Tuesday. Fasten your seatbelts.
http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2012-04-15&team=Nationals&dh=0
Source: FanGraphs