Let’s recap today’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 6
Chicago (N) 4
W: L. Ondrusek (2-0)
L:  C. Marmol (2-2)
S: A. Chapman (7)
POSITIVES
— The Reds put together a great eighth inning at the plate, scoring four runs with only one hit — four walks, one HBP, one single by Jay Bruce and two sacrifice flies (Super Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco). Jack Hannahan took a walk with bases loaded.
— Tony Cingrani didn’t have his A+ game today, but still only gave up 3 hits and one walk in six innings. He struck out five hitters despite facing the smallest strike zone in the history of major league baseball. He retired the last ten batters he faced. Other than one hitter, he shut the Cubs down. Two big mistakes, but still a positive start.
– Shin-Soo Choo hit the first pitch of the game for a home run (5) and scored another run (24) after walking. More Choo, please.
— Joey Votto got on base three times in five PA. Not sure off the top of my head if that raises his OBP. He also turned in a sterling defensive play at 1B.
— Solid effort by the bullpen (Ondrusek, Broxton and Chapman) with three innings of shutout work. Nice bounce back game by Chapman.
— Be thankful that Carlos Marmol doesn’t pitch for our team.
NEGATIVES
— Alfanso Soriano‘s four RBIs exceeded his RBI total for the entire year.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
— The Reds got contributions across the entire lineup today. Even Corky Miller got on base from a walk.
— While both Hannahan and Mesoraco contributed from the bench, the Reds continue to be hamstrung by weakness there. Dusty Baker sent Donald Lutz (a left-handed hitter) up to hit against a tough LH relief pitcher.
— Corky Miller is batting .083 — but that’s an improvement over what Ryan Hanigan was hitting (.079) before he went to the DL.
— Not sure how the Reds managed to win with the Cubs batting 1.000 with RISP today. (Maybe it’s because they only had one opportunity.)
— With a Mat Latos win tomorrow, the Reds can finish the road trip 5-5. Not great, but certainly better than the last one.
— The stupid Cubs are good for what ails ya.
TOP GAME THREAD COMMENTS
— rightsaidreds: Dusty does not have the offensive ‘breathing room’ to throw away an lineup spot in the order with Miller’s bat.
— fakename: Maybe giving BP an extra day off wasn’t the best way to deal with his hot streak. He’s looked terrible so far.
— rayman5000: The Reds and Cubs both have middle infielders with great defense who hit around .200. The Cubs bat their guy 8th.
— Richard Fitch: The intersection of Bad and Worse: Batter who sits on fastballs all day meets pitcher who throws little else.
— Mwv: The only reservation I really have at this point is how Cingrani will do when he doesn’t have his better stuff. To me that will make or break him as a potential fifth starter this season. I guess the other question I’d have is how much we could use him. If he replaces Leake would you pitch him all the way to the end or does he have an innings cap? Good questions to be asking though, he’s been incredible thus far up at the big leagues.