Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL — 13 innings
Cincinnati 6
Houston 5
W: A. Simon (6-4)
L: J. De Leon (0-1)
S: A. Chapman (37)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–It’s late, so this will be short. Reds win a 5+ hour ballgame that they should have lost a hundred times. I’ll take it.
–Jay Bruce is magnificent. Tonight, he reached base five times, going 3-5 with three doubles, two walks, and three RBI. Two of those RBI came on a double in the top of the 13th inning to give the Reds enough runs to hold on for victory.
–Only one other Red had three hits: Billy Hamilton. Making his first major league start, Hamilton went 3-4, walked twice, and stole four bases. The Astros and everyone else in the stadium knew he was stealing every time, and they couldn’t catch him, even when Houston pitched out.
NEGATIVES
–Bunts and questionable bullpen management decisions and more bunts. You know, the usual.
If it weren’t so late, I’d go through the litany of silliness. Read through Chris’ twitter feed to get the flavor of what happened.
–No one pitched well for the Reds, and I mean nobody, but several relievers escaped without giving up a run. Because the Astros stink.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–That was one of the more poorly-played games of the season, but the Redlegs escaped with a sweep. They’ll head to Pittsburgh now, trailing the Bucs by only a half-game for second place.
–Hamilton is the first player in the modern era to swipe four bases in his first major league start. He’s now second on the Reds in SBs, with 9. That guy is fast. Have you noticed that?
–I’m telling you, the Astros may be the worst major league team I’ve seen in my life. Simply brutal. They make mistakes that you wouldn’t expect out of 10U travel teams.
–Latos vs. Liriano on Friday, in Pittsburgh. A preview of the NL Wild Card game?