| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (14-13) | 3 | 10 | 2 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates (12-15) | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Leake (2-1) L: Cole (4-1) S: Chapman (6) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | |||
The Good
–How about this guy Mike Leake? Leake pitched eight shutout innings, allowing six hits and no walks. Leake has now tossed sixteen consecutive scoreless innings in his last two starts. I’m glad I remembered to start him on my fantasy team tonight.
–So Marlon Byrd is beginning to heat up, eh? Byrd homered for the third straight game; he was 2-4 on the night.
–Brandon Phillips was 3-4 tonight with an RBI and a run scored. Todd Frazier tripled and walked. Mike Leake doubled in a run in the first inning.
The Bad
–Joey Votto struck out in the third inning, then slammed his helmet into the ground. Home plate umpire Chris Conroy proceeded to eject Votto from the game, whereupon Votto went completely nuts, bumping Conroy in the process.
You could read Votto’s lips as he protested the ejection: “What did I do? What did I do?” What you did, Joey, is earn yourself a suspension that a team already playing with a 24-man roster can’t afford. Yeah, Conroy was probably quick to issue the ejection, but still…
–Kris Negron and Todd Frazier committed errors. They should try not to do that again.
Not-So-Random Thoughts
–The Redlegs are over .500! Print those playoff tickets!
–It’s really kinda funny: everyone expected the Pirates to be a playoff contender, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t be in the hunt (unless Andrew McCutchen is hurt). But the Reds are now 5-0 against the Bucs this season. Cool.
–That was the first shutout win of the year for the Redlegs. It’s also the sixth straight win for Leake over Pittsburgh.
–I was looking forward to tonight’s matchup, because Leake has been pitching well, and Gerrit Cole has probably been the best pitcher in the National League thus far in 2015. As you might imagine, I couldn’t have been more pleased with tonight’s result. The Reds handed Cole his first loss of the season, and I love this nugget: Cole has given up six extra base hits all season, and five of those were surrendered to the Redlegs.
He'd be upset if he knew I was talking about it, but Brandon Phillips' OBP is acceptable right now.
— Chad Dotson (@dotsonc) May 7, 2015
–The Reds are 10-2 against Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. They are 4-11 against everyone else. What does this mean? I have no idea.
–Series finale tomorrow, as the Reds go for the sweep. Disco DeSclafani will face AJ Burnett. Go Reds.