Titanic Struggle Recap: Send Aroldis to the minors!!!

Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….

FINAL — 10 innings
Pittsburgh 5
Cincinnati 4
W: J. Hanrahan (3-0)
L: A. Chapman (4-1)
S: C. Resop (1)
BOX SCORE

POSITIVES
–Joey Votto is the best player in the history of the universe. Tonight: 3-5 with two doubles and a run scored.

–Ryan Ludwick (!) hit two homers, both of which tied the game. Jay Bruce reached base four times in five ABs, with his 13th homer to go along with a single and two walks. He drove in two runs. Brandon Phillips also had two hits.

–Outstanding relief work from Sean Marshall and Jose Arredondo.

NEGATIVES
–It finally happened. Aroldis Chapman surrendered an earned run, and it cost the Reds a game. Had to happen eventually, didn’t it?

–I don’t know if I’d call it a negative (although that’s exactly what I’m doing, isn’t it?), but Mike Leake gave up four runs on seven hits tonight. He did go seven innings, striking out five without walking a batter, so it wasn’t all bad.

–Look at this: .294 and .289. Those are the OBPs of the top two hitters in the Reds lineup tonight (Cozart and Heisey). Someone needs to get Dusty a copy of the seminal text: “Elementary Lineup Construction 101.”

NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–You will all hammer me for this, but here goes… I really hate when the Reds lose. You guys know that. But baseball is fun. If we’re looking at it objectively, that was a pretty good game, back and forth the whole way.

–Why do the Pirates seem to have Cincinnati’s number?

–Chapman hadn’t allowed an earned run in 24 appearances, covering 29 innings. Wow.

Aroldis Chapman has given up a run, folks. No, the world isn’t ending, but he is mortal. #Reds

— Elise Lotz (@EliseMichelle) June 8, 2012

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Pirates beating Aroldis is more implausible than LeBron scoring 100 in the 1st half, with no arms, legs, or face.

— jonahkeri (@jonahkeri) June 8, 2012

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–That’s 53 straight games with a homer at Great American Ballpark.

–Joey Votto extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Why am I surprised that his career-high streak is only 14 games?

–I may have gotten a little excited here:

Ryan Ludwick ties the game in the bottom of the ninth with his 2nd homer!!! I knew this guy was going to be an awesome Red! #reds

— Redleg Nation (@redlegnation) June 8, 2012

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–Okay, the Motor City Kitties are coming to town next, for the first time in more than a decade. Go Redlegs.