| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
|  Cincinnati Reds  (38-37) | 6 | 8 | 0 |
|   Chicago Cubs  (31-43) | 1 | 5 | 1 |
|  W: Broxton (3-0)    L: Rondon (1-2) | |||
|  Fangraphs Win Probability |   The Worldwide Leader’s Box Score  |   Game Photos | |||
Positives
The Reds have a winning record for the first time in 2014! The Brewers were shutout by Gio Gonzalez. With the win, the Reds are six games behind the Brewers in the loss column and trail the Cardinals by three games in the Division of Death.
Rumors of Chris Heisey‘s demise have been greatly exaggerated. He started the winning two-out ninth-inning rally with a bloop single to right-center. He advanced to second on a wild pitch/stolen base. From there, he scored on a hard ground ball base hit by Billy Hamilton that was just out of the reach of Starling Castro. Hamilton put together a great at bat after two “strike” calls that appeared to be six inches off the ground.
After the offense had been quiet since the first inning, the heart of the lineup finally came through in the ninth. Todd Frazier followed Hamilton’s hit with a single, Joey Votto walked to load the bases, then Devin Mesoraco blasted a grand slam into the centerfield bucket.
Alfredo Simon pitched well enough to win his eleventh game. He gave up one run, five hits and one walk in seven innings. The one run he gave up was to lefty Anthony Rizzo, who reached across to the right-handed batters box to hit a pitch that was a foot off the plate for a home run to left field.
Great defensive play by Skip Schumaker in the bottom of the seventh inning to rob Nate Schierholtz of a single with a runner at first when the game was still tied.
Negatives
None.
Not so random thoughts
Devin Mesoraco’s OPS is now 1.035 compared to Brandon Phillips at .696. That’s a rather large difference between the candidates who could bat clean up. For those who don’t like modern statistics, Mesoraco has 38 RBI compared to 34 for Phillips. And BP has had 140 more AB than DM.
Is there any doubt whatsoever which of them should be batting in the middle of the lineup? No. The question is whether Bryan Price will bat Phillips and Ryan Ludwick sixth and seventh. If he’s serious about accountability regardless of veteran status he should. He should, but I doubt he will.
Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t show up with a deadly cross for the Cubs tonight. As Greg wrote in his excellent series preview though, this isn’t the same Cubs team that the Reds have beaten up the past few seasons, particularly their pitching. You can see why teams are interested in Jeff Samardzija.