| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
|  St. Louis Cardinals (80-67) | 0 | 3 | 1 |
|   Cincinnati Reds (70-77) | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| W: Cueto (18-8)   L: Lynn (15-9)   S: Chapman (33) | |||
|  FanGraphs Win Probability |  The Worldwide Leader’s Box Score  |   Game Photos | |||
Hey, a one-run win!
The Reds scored the game’s only run in the bottom of the eighth. Brandon Phillips — Brandon Phillips (!) — led off with a walk. Jay Bruce — Jay Bruce (!) — slapped a single to center field. Then Ramon Santiago — Ramon Santiago (!) — hit a soft line drive that Cardinals center fielder John Jay charged and dropped, allowing DatRun to cross the plate.
Johnny Cueto and Cardinals starter Lance Lynn were locked in a pitchers’ duel through 7.5 innings. Cueto gave up just three hits and a walk over eight innings, while striking out seven St. Louis hitters. Cueto retired the last fifteen batters he faced. His eight shutout innings lowered his ERA to 2.15. Surprisingly, Cueto managed to do all that without his personal catcher. (Will Brayan Peña get Wally Pipped by a hitter with an OPS of .924?)
Aroldis Chapman, pitching for the third day in a row, retired the Cardinals in the ninth to preserve the win and shutout.
Lance Lynn, meanwhile, had given up just two hits and no walks through the first seven.
Cueto’s eight shutout innings were also a product of outstanding defense. In the top of the third with a runner at third base, Todd Frazier laid out to snag a ground ball ticketed for extra-bases off the bat of Matt Holliday. Frazier recovered in time to flip the ball to Cueto who was covering first base, causing Holliday to slam his helmet in frustration. It’s a shame the video doesn’t include Jeff Brantley’s call, which was tremendous.
In the top of the seventh, Jay Bruce robbed Matt Adams of his daily home run in GABP by jumping at least a foot above the right field fence (video).
To commemorate the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Reds took part in an unveiling ceremony with the USO that set a Guinness World Record for the most signatures on a flag. The USO (United Service Organization) is a non-governmental organization. The 115,000-plus signatures were gathered digitally and in-person from all fifty states and seven countries. The previous record, set in 2012, was about 33,000 signatures. This was the first stop for the flag. The second will be in Foxborough, MA at Gillette Stadium for a soccer game and the third in Dover, DE for a NASCAR race.
The Reds announced that Joey Votto would make the upcoming nine-game road trip to Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis. If the doctors say that Votto is healthy and the first baseman hasn’t experienced discomfort after practice, the Reds haven’t ruled out Votto playing the final week of the season. According to Bryan Price, the situation isn’t really close to that place at the moment (Rosecrans). But you have to admire the former MVP’s determination to return even in a lost season. (Fay)
Today marked the first time the Reds have won three games in a row since August 7. And that, Nation, is called a winning streak.