It’s not everyday that you see the first play of the day be a pickoff attempt. That is exactly what happened as the Reds and Cardinals resumed a suspended game from last night. J.J. Hoover, who threw five pitches last night and was on the mound when the game was suspended, stayed in the game for the Reds 13 hours later. Hoover got the benefit of Pete Kozma being thrown out trying to steal second by catcher Ramon Cabrera, and was able to get out of the eighth inning with the game tied at two.
Here is Steve Mancuso’s recap of the first seven innings.
Eugenio Suarez began the bottom of the eighth with a single on an 0-2 count. Adam Duvall hit a ball to right field that was just out of Jason Heyward’s reach in rightfield. The ball bounced off the top of the wall and into the stands to gave the Reds a 4-2 lead.
It was Aroldis Chapman time in the ninth. Broadcaster Tim Verducci said that Bryan Price told him that Chapman may be able to go two innings if he limits his pitches in the ninth inning. Thanks to Adam Duvall’s home run, Chapman may be able to pitch in the second game. Chapman struck out the side in the ninth on 12 pitches, and the Reds won 4-2.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (59-81) | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| St. Louis Cardinals (88-53) | 2 | 10 | 2 |
| W: Hoover (8-1) L: Broxton (2-5) S: Chapman (30) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | Game Thread 1 | Game Thread 2 | |||
Positives
How about Adam Duvall? He now has more home runs (3) in 16 PA with the Reds than Skip Schumaker has (2) in 112 games. Ya, so let’s stop with playing Skip and let Mr. Duvall finish the season playing LF everyday for the Redlegs.
Don’t forget about Billy Hamilton and Joey Votto’s contributions to this game. Their contributions might have come yesterday, but Hamilton had three hits, and Votto had three walks.
Good pitching all around. Michael Lorenzen may have allowed 10 hits in five innings, but he limited the damage and only walked one batter (while striking out 5). Brandon Finnegan pitched two perfect innings in his debut yesterday (struck out 2). Hoover and Chapman also pitched a scoreless inning.
Negatives
Nothing to see here.
Not so random thoughts……….
–7 of 9 losses for the Cardinals? It would be nice to see the Reds send the Cardinals out of town with two more losses, and really put the pressure on them as they try to secure the NL Central.
–I really like Reds wins that come in less than 30 minutes.
–The Reds really keep doing a great job of avoiding that 82nd loss, and securing another losing season.
Up Next:ÂÂ
Cardinals at Reds
Saturday, 1:30 PM
TV: FOX National
Anthony DeSclafani (27 GS, 3.75 ERA, 3.81 FIP) vs Lance Lynn (26 GS, 3.12 ERA, 3.38 FIP)