Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 2
Milwaukee 1
W: T. Cingrani (6-2)
L: K. Lohse (8-8)
S: A. Chapman (30)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–What a night for young catcher Devin Mesoraco. As our man John Fay put it:
He had two hits, a run scored, a nice play on a pop behind the plate for a critical out, a caught stealing and an unassisted tackle (more on that later). He also directed the pitching staff through another solid performance.
That caught stealing was particularly important. With one away in the bottom of the eighth, Mesoraco threw an absolute laser to second to nab Milwaukee’s Jeff Bianchi — the potential tying run — trying to steal.
–That Joey Votto guy had a good game too: he hit the sixth inning homer that provided Cincinnati’s winning margin.
–Tony Cingrani continued his outstanding season. Tonight, he went six and a third, allowing one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out nine. Good stuff.
–Excellent bullpen work by Sam LeCure, Manny Parra, Jonathan Broxton, and Aroldis Chapman.
NEGATIVES
–None.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–That’s five straight wins for the mighty Redlegs, eight of their last nine, and ten wins out of thirteen. After that disastrous St. Louis series, the Reds have played much better. It’s always darkest before the dawn, you know?
–How good have the Reds starters been this season? Well, they’ve been even better than that recently. Over the last seven games, Cincinnati’s rotation has posted a 1.35 ERA.
–Where are all the people who gave up on Mesoraco back in April and May? Those guys are probably out having a beer with the people who gave up on JJ Hoover. (Though the old guy who gave up on Homer Bailey and Jay Bruce couldn’t go out for a drink tonight; he’s preparing for tomorrow’s radio broadcast.)
–I thought this was an interesting exchange:
It's evident how relieved Dusty is to have his bullpen template back. No more hard decisions.
— Chris Garber (@cgarber8) August 16, 2013
@jluckhaupt When he's willing to actually manage, Dusty did a nice job with the bullpen. He just does everything he can to avoid doing it.
— Chris Garber (@cgarber8) August 16, 2013
–The Reds are just 2.5 games behind first-place Pittsburgh. The National League Central is a race once again.