Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Mike Leake.  The man who'd give you the shirt off that rack threw eight innings, allowing only six hits and one run.  What innings limit?  He also scored the winning run.  Honorable mentions go to Brandon Phillips (another home run!) and Edgar Renteria (took three hits to get as many bases as Phillips got with one).

Key Plays

• Brandon Phillips hit a leadoff homer.  It's fantastic to see how he's thrived in that spot.  Reds lead, 1-0.
• Ryan Dempster walked Devin Mesoraco to start the fifth inning.  Mike Leake tried to bunt him over to second, but Mesorocksinhispockets was thrown out.  Dempster then walked Brandon Phillips and Edgar Renteria followed up with a single.  Leake scored.  Dempster walked Joey Votto (his third of the inning), loading the bases for Jay Bruce, who promptly grounded into an inning ending double play.  Reds lead, 2-0.
• The Cubs tried to get something going in the sixth.  Carlos Pena led off with a double, and the improbably named Bryan LaHair singled.  With runners on the corners, Alfonso Soriano grounded into a double play, but unlike Jay Bruce's, his was productive.  Pena scored.  Reds win, 2-1.

via www.fangraphs.com

Other Notes

• Mike Leake has 12 wins.  That should be good enough to be the most for the Reds staff this season.  He also has 118 strikeouts.  Johnny Cueto would need 16 to catch him, but the new groundball specialist seems unlikely to get that.  Leake's 12 wins are a 50% improvement over last year's 8.
• Francisco Cordero has 33 saves on the season.  He needs one more to match his lowest total as a Red.