Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Chris Heisey. Ecto Cooler went 3-5 with two runs and a three run dinger. And he stole a base. And he played both left and center. So versatile! Heisey now has 18 home runs in 299 plate appearances, or one every 16.6 PA. Jay Bruce, the team leader, is homering just once every 21 PA. Honorable mentions go to Dave Sappelt (reached base twice, scored a run, and stole his first base) and Devin Mesoraco (doubled, caught a runner stealing).
Key Plays
- Brandon Phillips is, shall we say, an effective leadoff hitter. He doubled off of Chris Schwinden to start the game, moved to third on Edgar Renteria's sacrifice bunt, and then scored on Joey Votto's sacrifice fly. Even the Bothan that was handing over the plans to the Death Star said, "Damn, that's a lot of sacrifices!" Reds lead, 1-0.
- With two outs in the second, Schwinden made a fielding error on a ball hit by Dave Sappelt, and he reached base safely. Then he stole second, and Devin Mesoraco drove him in with a double. Reds lead, 2-0.
- Homer Bailey ran into a spot of bother in the third inning. He struck out the pitcher, but Jose Reyes and Ruben Tejada both singled. Willie Harris, who's apparently a #3 hitter, flew out, but David Wright singled and Reyes scored. Then Nick Evans hit a double, and Tejada and Wright both came home. Mets lead, 3-2.
- Chris Heisey manufactured a run in the fourth to draw terms level again. He bunted with one out and successfully got himself on first. Then he stole second, and motored all the way home on Dave Sappelt's shallow single to left. Game tied, 3-3.
- The Mets immediately answered back. Jason Pridie hit a one out triple, and Jose Reyes hit a sac fly after Bailey walked the pitcher. If he gets the pitcher out, like Schwinden's .167 average suggests he should have, Reyes's fly ball counts for naught. Instead, Mets lead, 4-3.
- Homer Bailey did work out of a two out, bases loaded mess by striking out Pridie in the fifth. It would be Bailey's last action of the night.
- With one out, Tim Byrdak faced the Reds in the seventh inning. Byrdak doesn't have a great track record of late season success against the Reds, and so it was tonight. He faced Joey Votto and Jay Bruce and gave up singles to both of them. Josh Stinson relieved him, and promptly gave up a three run shot to Chris Heisey. It was legen... wait for it... dary! Reds lead, 6-4.
- People try to tell me that Jose Arredondo is a good pitcher. Every time I pay attention, though, he's giving up runs. Like in tonight's eighth inning. He walked Mike Baxter with one out, then Jose Reyes hit a ball into the right field corner. Baxter scored, but Jay Bruce's throw and Brandon Phillips's relay were able to nail Reyes at third. Ruben Tejada singled, but Devin Mesoraco threw him out, and Arredondo thanked both his defense and the Mets' terrible baserunning for getting him out of the inning. Reds win, 6-5.
- After putting the first two runners on in the ninth, Francisco Cordero induced a lame bunt and a game-ending double play to preserve the victory.
Other Notes
- The Reds can still finish the season with 80 wins. So very 2006.
- The Reds loaded the bases in the sixth inning, but didn't score.
- Joey Votto is great. It doesn't really have anything to do with the game, but maybe if we tell him that enough, he'll stay.