| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (12-12) | 8 | 12 | 0 |
| Atlanta Braves (11-13) | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Marquis (3-1) L: Stults (1-2) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | |||
The Good
—Jason Marquis was pretty good for the second start in a row. He pitched 6.1 innings, allowing 3 runs. I’m not about to become a Marquis convert or anything, but he still gets credit when he has a good game, and he did today. If he did this every time out, you’d never hear a peep from me about him.
–Most of the offense was good today. Marlon Byrd, Todd Frazier, and Zack Cozart all homered. Cozart, in particular continues to impress after hitting himself to the brink of irrelevance last year.
—Jay Bruce had two triples Triples are fun.
–The defense was pretty good. Bruce and Byrd both made nice catches in the outfield. Byrd has been especially solid this year in left. At least, to watch he has been.
The Bad
—Kevin Gregg totally Kevin Gregg’d it tonight. He did manage to finish the game without having Chapman replace him. That was nice, I guess.
—Billy Hamilton was 0 for 5. That’s not a good night.
Not-So-Random Thoughts
–Back before the season started, I predicted the Reds would be a .500 team. That’s coming to fruition so far. However, I continue to think the Reds might end up better than that. It really won’t take much luck for the Reds to be in the wildcard hunt. I wrote about some of the ways they’ve been unlucky on Friday, and those are still true.
–I like that Tony Cingrani is finally getting some usage. I think he’s probably the best pitcher in the pen not named Chapman.
–I really enjoyed the feel of tonight’s game. The season has been going to a little bit now, and everything feels less urgent. Baseball, as it moves through the summer is so glorious in its constancy. I find it comforting. Especially when the Reds win.
–So far this year, it feels like the Reds are going to handle the bad and mediocre teams. That’s good. There are usually only one or two teams a year with winning records against winning teams. If the Reds can place themselves in that second tier, it will be a nice season.
–For a while, Jason Marquis was throwing a no hitter. I was all prepped to post a picture of a goat farting a rainbow if that happened. It didn’t, but it’s something to look forward to if it does.