The Reds won their 63rd game tonight, ensuring they won’t lose 100 games. They also evened the season series 9-9 against the Brewers. /waves tiny Reds pennant/ The Reds are 32-34 against the NL Central, with ten division games remaining.
Reds 9 Brewers 7  |  FanGraphs  |  Latest on Billy Hamilton’s shoulder
Joey Votto extended his on-base streak in his first at bat with a two-strike double. Later in the game he added a blast to deep right center field for his 28th home run of the year. Todd Frazier hit his 35th homer of the season. He’s fourth in the NL in home runs, 2nd if you don’t count hitters who play half their games in Colorado. Brandon Phillips had three hits, including the game winning, two-out single in the top of the 8th. Eugenio Suarez had a hit and a walk.
When Tucker Barnhart, who is batting .271/.346/.373 against right-handed pitchers, successfully executed the strategy of a sacrifice bunt in the 6th inning it reduced the chances of the Reds winning. It lowered the Reds run expectancy from 1.373 to 1.352. A team is better off having runners at first and second with no outs than second and third with one out. The strategy reduced the chances of the Reds winning by about a half of one percent net. These stats are in the public sphere, available even to professional baseball managers.
Tony Cingrani gave up two runs on two hits, including a home run, in his one inning of work. Manny Parra and Burke Badenhop combined to give up a run on a couple weak ground ball singles. J.J. Hoover pitched the eighth and struck out three.
The Brewers have had 29 at bats against Aroldis Chapman this year. They have struck out in 17 of those plate appearances. Chapman has given them one hit and one walk.
.349/.459/.552 – whose line is it? Not Joey Votto’s. Not Bryce Harpers. That’s Shin-Soo Choo’s second-half split. His Rangers team is in first place by 2.5 games.