Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Chicago (NL) 2
Cincinnati 0
W: T. Wood (9-11)
L: B. Arroyo (13-11)
S: K. Gregg (31)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Nice start by Bronson Arroyo, who gave up two runs on seven hits in seven innings. Arroyo struck out six and didn’t walk a batter, but he did surrender two solo homers that provided all the offense for the Cubs.
–Zack Cozart was 2-4 with two doubles (he’s not hit in 14 straight games). Joey Votto was 2-4 with two singles. Ryan Ludwick and Shin-Soo Choo each doubled.
NEGATIVES
–No offense. Lots of hacking.
–Brandon Phillips made a couple of very nice plays in the field (that’s a positive), but that quad is still obviously bothering him a lot.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Very uninspired performance by the good guys tonight, especially after last week’s fireworks.
–Our old friend Travis Wood was very good again tonight, tossing seven shutout innings.
–Oh well. Can’t win ’em all, I guess…but you’d certainly like to win all the ones in which you are playing the Cubs.
–Reds drop to two back of first-place St. Louis. Tony Cingrani will attempt to get the Redlegs back on track tomorrow.