Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 4
NY Mets 3
W: J. Cueto (2-0)
L: S. Marcum (0-5)
S: A. Chapman (9)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Two more extra-base hits for the scorching-hot Jay Bruce: an RBI double, and the go-ahead homer in the sixth. Joey Votto had two hits, a walk, and a run scored.
–Logan Ondrusek, JJ Hoover, Sean Marshall, Jonathan Broxton, and Aroldis Chapman combined for four shutout innings, holding the Mets in check. Chapman, in particular, was back to his dominant self.
–Brandon Phillips drove in a couple of runs, and made two spectacular defensive plays. Ho-hum. Just another day at the office for Dat Dude.
NEGATIVES
–Yeah, Cesar Izturis batted second. Such a moronic decision that it’s almost incomprehensible, but it is what it is. Get used to it. This type of nonsense will never change.
–I don’t know if it’s really a negative, but Johnny Cueto wasn’t particularly sharp in his return to the Reds rotation. He threw five innings, giving up three runs on three hits and four walks. Cueto did strike out eight. He’s gonna be fine.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Nice win. The Reds are 5-2 on the current road trip.
–Bruce is now hitting .284/.327/.481. Slightly better than Brandon Phillips (.280/.325/.463) at this point, though the numbers are remarkably similar (as Doug noted).
This is true. RT @jdarney The #Reds are really good.
— Redleg Nation (@redlegnation) May 21, 2013
“Chappy leaves ’em happy, in New York.” Sheesh, George Grande.
— Redleg Nation (@redlegnation) May 21, 2013
Mets announcers: “Have you noticed how serious the Reds bench is? So businesslike. Not a lot of laughing.” twitter.com/dinner_roll/st…
— dinner_roll (@dinner_roll) May 21, 2013
Has anyone noticed that Brandon Phillips has a good glove?
— Redleg Nation (@redlegnation) May 21, 2013
@dotsonc @cgarber8 #dustysnack #Reds twitter.com/joshneisler/st…
— joshneisler (@joshneisler) May 21, 2013