Let’s recap today’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Philadelphia 4
Cincinnati 2
W: T. Cloyd (1-1)
L: J. Cueto (17-7)
S: P. Aumont (1)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Not a great Labor Day for the good guys, but Jay Bruce had a nice afternoon. Bruce went 2-4 with a homer and two RBI. For the season, Bruce now has 30 homers and 89 RBI. Not too shabby.
–Ryan Ludwick was the only other Red with two hits; he had a single and a double, and a run scored.
–JJ Hoover and Logan Ondrusek each pitched a perfect inning.
NEGATIVES
–Johnny Cueto didn’t have a terrible outing, so it seems strange to list this as a negative…but it’s Cueto we’re talking about. A seven-inning outing, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out five — not a good Cueto start.
Cueto could have mitigated the damage but for an uncharacteristic episode in the fifth. At the time, the Phillies hadn’t been able to score, but Cueto allowed two-out hits to the #8 hitter and the opposing pitcher. Predictably, Jimmy Rollins made Cueto pay by depositing a three-run homer in the stands.
Before that three-batter snafu, and after it, Cueto was largely good today.
–Once again, the Reds were shut down by a soft-tossing young guy.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–That wasn’t much fun, but I hope you guys and gals are enjoying the rest of your Labor Day.
–Reds Magic Number:
