Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
San Francisco 2
Cincinnati 4
W: J. Arredondo (2-0)
L: C. Hensley (1-2)
S: S. Marshall (4)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–The Reds are back to .500.
–Bronson Arroyo only went five innings, and he wasn’t sharp, scattering nine hits…but he only allowed one earned run. He definitely looks like a different pitcher this year. Maybe there was something to all that “Bronson had mono!” talk.
–Brilliant work by the Reds bullpen tonight. JJ Hoover (in his major league debut), Jose Arredondo (win), Aroldis Chapman (hold), and Sean Marshall (save) were very good.
–Ryan Hanigan was 2-3, the only Red who had multiple hits tonight. Joey Votto had a big run-scoring double, and Scott Rolen actually hit one out of the park. Rolen’s hit opened the scoring in the 7th inning when Cincinnati scored all their runs.
–Drew Stubbs led off, and he reached base twice (hit and a walk).
NEGATIVES
–None.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was a win.
–Reds have won three in a row, and five out of six. They go for the series sweep tomorrow. Do you see now why we kept telling everyone to keep calm and carry on through the early struggles?
–Rolen’s homer was his first since July 6 of last year. I hope he hits another one before July 6 of this year.
–Arroyo’s the fifth starter on this team. I’ll take an outing like this. Then again, he is now sitting on a 2.70 ERA. Maybe he’s the #2 starter?
–Brandon Phillips is still hurt (although he did make a pretty good defensive play tonight). It’s difficult to watch. Just put him on the DL already.
–Sweep time tomorrow afternoon.
Source: FanGraphs