Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle(s)….
FINAL — Suspended game from yesterday
Philadelphia 0
Cincinnati 1
W: A. Chapman (2-0)
L: P. Aumont (1-2)
BOX SCORE
FINAL
Philadelphia 2
Cincinnati 11
W: M. Leake (1-0)
L: J. Lannan (0-1)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Before tonight’s titanic struggle, of course, the Reds and Phils finished up last night’s rain-suspended contest. It took the Reds nine minutes — a Cozart single, Votto walk, Phillies error, and a Jay Bruce RBI single — to complete what they started yesterday. Aroldis Chapman got the win tonight without even throwing a pitch.
–Once the regularly-scheduled game got started, Mike Leake began trying to emulate Homer Bailey’s performance from last night. Leake threw seven masterful innings, allowing no runs and three hits, striking out seven and walking none. A brilliant evening…oh, and he also went 3-4 with a triple, three runs scored, and an RBI.
–Zack Cozart was 3-5 with a double, a homer, three runs scored and two RBI. Not bad.
–The rarely-used Devin Mesoraco had two doubles, scored two runs, and drove in another. Brandon Phillips was 2-2 with 3 RBI. Jay Bruce had two hits and two RBI. Todd Frazier hit a homer.
NEGATIVES
–None.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Sweep! The Reds are now back above .500, for good, we hope.
–I’ll take this version of Mike Leake every night, if you don’t mind.
–People are determined to freak out over Joey Votto, it appears. There are about a billion things in my life that concern me more than a guy who is hitting .277/.521/.404.
–Does Mesoraco get credit for Leake’s great performance like Ryan Hanigan gets credit every time a Reds pitcher tosses a gem? The answer, obviously, is no, just as Hanigan gets too much credit (“catcher ERA” is mostly nonsense).
Don’t let my praise of Mesoraco be construed as a dislike for Hanigan. I love Hanigan, despite his slow start. He’s a good catcher, and he deserves to be the starting catcher for the Reds. I just wish Mesoraco played more. Letting Hanigan start three of every five games doesn’t seem like a drastic plan, and it’s a good way to keep both players fresh all season long.
But what do I know?*
–I apologize for my Twitter avatar:
This sweep of the Phillies, should it happen, is coming about two and a half years too late.
— Chad Dotson (@dotsonc) April 18, 2013
The reds are so good, they won twice today despite not playing 9 full innings.
— Jason Linden (@JasonLinden) April 18, 2013
Joey Votto, right now, is on pace for a 11 WAR season. The last Red to do that was Joe Morgan. It’s not a slump, kids.
— Jason Linden (@JasonLinden) April 18, 2013
#Reds have scored 10+ runs three times this season. They only did it 4 times in 2012 and their first wasn’t until 5/26.
— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) April 18, 2013
*Don’t answer that.