Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 6
Milwaukee 3
W: B. Arroyo (13-9)
L: J. Axford (6-7)
S: A. Chapman (33)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Good comeback performance after last night’s ugliness. Bronson Arroyo provided exactly what the Redlegs needed: seven innings, three runs on seven hits and no walks. He actually pitched a little better than those numbers indicate, but gave up a homer and a single in the eighth before leaving the game. Either way, I’ll take it.
–The Reds had a lot of home runs, including Ryan Ludwick’s first of the season; he was 2-4 on the evening. Chris Heisey, Zack Cozart, and Joey Votto also homered. As Jason, a longtime friend of the Nation, would say: “It is a home run.”
–Every Reds starter other than Shin-Soo Choo had two hits tonight, which is just trivia, but still pretty cool.
–Vintage Aroldis Chapman tonight: one scoreless inning, three strikeouts, a hit-batter, a fastball that reached 102 mph, his 33rd save of the season.
NEGATIVES
–None. This was a nice win all the way around.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Redlegs win, which is always a good thing, but the Cardinals won again, as well. Looks like the Pirates are going to lose out in San Francisco. If that holds up, the Reds will be 2.5 games back of first, with Pittsburgh and St. Louis tied atop the division.
–I’ve never been a fully-paid member of the Ryan Ludwick fan club, but if his swing can round into form, it could have a significant impact on this offense.
–That’s thirteen wins in eighteen games for the mighty Redlegs. September is going to be fun, you guys.
–Arroyo hasn’t walked a batter in his last 29 2/3 innings.
–Reds really need to win this series tomorrow. They’ll depend on Tony Cingrani Greg Reynolds. Obviously. I looked at the probables, and I just typed it without thinking twice. Oops.