Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Milwaukee 1
Cincinnati 3
W: M. Latos (6-2)
L: Y. Gallardo (6-6)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Mat Latos. Wow. Tonight, we finally saw the Latos we thought we were getting when the Reds made the big off-season trade to acquire the kid: 8 innings pitched, one run allowed on four hits and two walks. Latos struck out 13 batters, and tossed 109 pitches in the complete game victory.
What more can you ask? Brilliant outing by Latos, and I’m really happy for the young guy.
–Welcome back to the lineup, Drew Stubbs. Stubbs reached base three times, going 2-3 with a double, a walk, and his 14th stolen base in 17 tries. (That’s good, by the way.)
–Jay Bruce had the big blast, a double that scored two runs in the fourth.
–Guess what? Latos also went 2-3 at the plate. Is there anything he can’t do?
NEGATIVES
–None.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Does everyone feel a little better about the Reds tonight?
–Latos threw 24 straight strikes at one point. That’s good. This is also good:
#Reds Mat Latos threw 1st pitch strikes to 27 of 33 batters he faced tonight in CG 4 hitter vs #Brewers
— Steve Berthiaume (@SBerthiaumeESPN) June 26, 2012
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–Scott Rolen had a rough game today:
That’s Scott Rolen’s first Golden Sombrero as a Red. #Reds
— Miss Enquirer (@MissEnquirer) June 26, 2012
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Three of the strikeouts were called third strikes, for what that’s worth.
—As reported by our friends at ESPN, the 63 games with a homer at Great American is the longest active streak in the majors and the longest since Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park also had a 63-game homer streak from 2007-08, according to STATS LLC.
–Willie Harris was sent to the minors before the game. No further comment necessary. He plays hard when he’s in a Cincinnati uniform. That’s all I can ask of him.
–The Reds picked up a game on the Pirates (2 GB) and the Cardinals (3 GB) today.
–One final comment:
I know it’s kinda douche-y, but I’m going to enjoy saying “I told you so” about Mat Latos to all the doubters, at some point. Kid can pitch.
— Chad Dotson (@dotsonc) June 26, 2012
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–Let’s go ahead and wrap up a series win tomorrow, Redlegs. Okay?
Source: FanGraphs