| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
|  Cincinnati Reds  (40-38) | 3 | 10 | 0 |
|   San Francisco Giants  (46-33) | 1 | 5 | 2 |
|  W: Leake (6-6)    L: Vogelsong (5-4)   S: Chapman (15) | |||
|  Fangraphs Win Probability |   The Worldwide Leader’s Box Score  |   Game Photos | |||
Positives
Mike Leake followed up his dominating performance against the Toronto Blue Jays with an even more brilliant one against the Giants. He went 8 innings, giving up four hits and one walk. Leake obliterated his career high in strikeout, which had been eight, by whiffing twelve Giants.
As I’ve been saying, Leake is having his best season for the Reds. His ground-ball and strike out rates are up, along with his fastball velocity. His walk-rate, always tight, is at a career low. Expect more of this, as his ERA-predictors are at or below 3.50.
Brandon Phillips blasted a home run into left center field. It would have been nice if that at bat had taken place with two runners on base, which it would have had a certain someone not made an ill-advised attempt to tag up on a pop-up to second base.
Once again, Phillips’ bat looked sharp the first day back after sitting out. Phillips did seem to be limping around a bit with his sore heel, but made two outstanding defensive plays, ranging far to his right.
Jay Bruce had three knocks, including two doubles that made it his seventh straight game with an extra base hit. That’s the longest such streak for the Reds since 2009. Bruce missed a home run in his last at bat by a foot.
Two nights ago, Reds’ announcer Marty Brennaman said: “I really believe this young man (Jay Bruce) has gone backwards as a hitter in the last 3 years.” Bruce was hitting .284/.341/.556 in the month of June before tonight. Yes, that’s a slugging percentage over .550. Before tonight.
Zack Cozart broke up the pitchers’ duel with a double down the left field line. Bruce scored from first base on a play Jeff Brantley described as “big time hustle” and observed “Bruce didn’t look like he’d had knee surgery there.”
Negatives
The Reds ran themselves out of two innings. Billy Hamilton in the 7th and Brandon Phillips in the 8th made outs at home plate that ended threats.
Not so random thoughts
With the win, the Reds are two games over .500 for the first time this year. They are only two games behind St. Louis, who lost to the Dodgers. The Cardinals have three more games against LA and Adam Wainwright lost this game. If, come Monday morning, the Reds are in second place, well, you heard it here first.
Rookie umpire, horribly erratic strike zone.
With the starting lineup the Giants are fielding right now, it would be prudent to research the career high strikeout totals for Johnny Cueto, Alfredo Simon and Homer Bailey.