Titanic Struggle Recap: A punch in the gut

Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….

FINAL
Cincinnati 2
Milwaukee 3
W: J. Axford (4-6)
L: J. Broxton (1-1)
S: J. Henderson (2)
BOX SCORE

POSITIVES
–Mat Latos pitched seven very strong innings, allowing just one run on three hits and a walk. Latos struck out eight, and to cap things off, he went 2-2 at the plate. I told you he was going to be good.

–Dioner Navarro hit a two-run homer, before his shoddy defense helped cost the Reds the game.

NEGATIVES
–TOS* Please hurry back, Joey Votto.

–Four straight losses for the Redlegs, and a sweep at the hands of the Brew Crew.

–Jonathan Broxton came in to pitch the eighth, with the Reds leading 2-1. With two outs, the first Brewer (Aoki) reached on a softly-hit, 55-foot grounder down the third base line. Unlucky. Aoki then attempted to steal second. He got a decent jump, but a good throw would have nailed him. Unfortunately, Navarro’s throw was not good, and it ended up in right-center field.

Carlos Gomez proceeded to dump a ball into short left field (a ball that Zack Cozart probably catches — and Paul Janish definitely would have snagged it — but Wilson Valdez couldn’t quite get it, despite a good effort). Tie game.

Gomez then takes off for second and Navarro mishandles the pitch, so Gomez stole the base without a throw. Ryan Braun proceeds to get a double that put the Brewers in the lead.

Broxton gets the loss, and he deserves the loss, but none of the hits he allowed were hit very hard.

NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–I don’t have any words of wisdom for you today, Nation. That was simply a punch in the gut.

–Want yet another reason the Reds need Votto back in the lineup soon?

3-4-5 hitters in this series = 4 for 34 (.118)

— MrRedlegs11 (@MrRedlegs11) August 8, 2012

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–I can’t really argue with this:

nothing like losing a game by 1 run starting your backups and not using your 2 best relievers. #reds

— Johnson Doephis (@RedTardation) August 8, 2012

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–I really wish Dusty weren’t afraid to use Sean Marshall more often.

–This has been a bad week so far, but it’s off to Chicago. The Cubs: Good For What Ails You!

*This Offense Stinks