| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (5-5) | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals (6-3) | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| W: Wacha (2-0) L: Cueto (0-2) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | |||
The Good
–Not much to say here. Joey Votto was 2-3 with his fourth homer and a walk. Zack Cozart went 3-4, which always seems like a reason to celebrate.
The Bad
–Marlon Byrd’s introduction to Cincinnati has been, well, less than inspired. Tonight, Byrd was 0-4 with three strikeouts, plus a very poor defensive effort in the seventh inning that contributed to the one bad inning Johnny Cueto suffered tonight. On the season, Byrd’s slash line is .132/.132/.158. That’s not good.
–Another classic Bryan Price move tonight. In the bottom of the 7th, with the game tied at 1, Price walked John Jay intentionally to load the bases for Yadier Molina. You can guess how that worked out. Molina doubled in three runs. Game over.
–JJ Hoover wasn’t great, but he wasn’t helped by an error from Brandon Phillips at second base.
Not-So-Random Thoughts
–Rerun. I think we’ve seen this exact same game against the Cardinals no fewer than fifteen times in the last five years.
–Cueto was great for six innings before he stumbled a bit in the seventh (and he wasn’t helped by Byrd’s defense and Price’s decision-making). On the night, Cueto allowed four earned runs on six hits in seven innings. Cueto struck out ten Cardinal batters. He deserved better.
–That was just the third time in his last 23 starts that Cueto gave up four earned runs in a game.
–Please, Bryan Price: stop with the bunts and the intentional walks and the silly bullpen management. (Note: nothing wrong with Price’s management of the bullpen tonight.)
–The Reds have lost five of their last six games since starting the season 4-0.
–Homer Bailey makes his season debut tomorrow. Looking forward to that.
–First appearance of Milton in 2015? We all love you, Milton, but…go away and don’t come back:
Milton was unhappy with Cincinnati’s performance tonight.