| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
|  Cincinnati Reds  (15-18) |
3 | 4 | 0 |
|  Boston Red Sox  (17-17) |
4 | 10 | 0 |
|  W:  Breslow (2-0)    L: Hoover (1-4) | |||
|  Box Score |   Play-by-Play  |    Photos  |    Depth Chart   |   FanGraphs Win Probability | |||
Positives
Skip Schumaker drilled Jake Peavy’s first pitch to him in the third inning into the Reds’ bullpen. The homer drove in Chris Heisey, who was on third base after doubling. Good thing the Reds had Zack Cozart bunt Heisey from second to third. Otherwise there might have been another runner on base when Schumaker homered.
Mike Leake held the Red Sox to two runs over seven innings. He struck out four. Leake gave up eight hits and two walks. In the seventh, after giving up a lead-off walk, he buckled down and struck out Dustin Pedroia (for the third time tonight) and got Victorino to fly out. Another outstanding start from Leake against a tough lineup.
Chris Heisey made two exceptional defensive plays in LF. In the seventh, he prevented the tying run from scoring when Shane Victorino drove a ball into left center. Heisey caught it on a dead sprint.
Sean Marshall struck out the two batters he faced in the eighth inning.
Bronson Arroyo helped the Diamondbacks beat the Milwaukee Brewers today. That’s two starts in a row for Arroyo giving up no earned runs over seven innings.
Negatives
After striking out David Ortiz, Manny Parra was left in to face Mike Napoli, who he walked. Bryan Price then got the match-up he wanted as J.J. Hoover came to face Johnny Gomes. Hoover was awful, giving up two runs. He failed to do his basic job, which was to throw strikes and challenge hitters. While Hoover did himself no favors, he did seem to be the only pitcher all night who didn’t benefit from an expansive strike zone called by umpire Brian Gorman.
The Reds only had a one run lead going into the bottom of the eighth because they didn’t hit much tonight. They were held to four hits. Joey Votto was 1 for 10 this series. A big part of their offensive woes come from their lack of a bench and having to start hitters like Neftali Soto and Roger Bernadina.
Not so random thoughts
The last time, we won the game the day after.
It feels like the Reds are playing with one arm tied behind their collective back, given the horrendous condition of their roster. But that’s not fundamentally changing much any time soon.
General manager Walt Jocketty has been loud and clear, the players on the roster now have to stand up and do their jobs. I’m for that. I’m also for the general manager doing his job. With the condition of the Reds bench being what it was this series, if I’d have been Jocketty, I’d have kept my mouth shut and spent that finger-wagging time working on answers.
The Reds are reaping the consequences of the terrible off-season by the front office. It was said by many at the start of the year, the Reds roster was tissue-paper thin. The injuries they’ve sustained have exposed that. Yesterday, the general manager said that if Billy Hamilton had to go on the DL, he didn’t know who they would call up to replace him. Just think about that for a second. Or maybe it would be better if you didn’t think about it.