Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Brandon Phillips. The quest for 100 RBI came up just short, but The Franchise did have two doubles, 3 RBI, and a run scored. Honorable mention for Drew Stubbs (three hits, two runs) and Homer Bailey (six shutout innings, fourth win over the Pirates).
Key Plays
- The Reds struck fast in the first inning. Drew Stubbs led off with a single, and Paul Janish sacrificed him to second. Joey Votto walked, then Brandon Phillips launched a double to score Stubbs. Scott Rolen and Jay Bruce made weak outs to end the threat.
- The Stubbs-Phillips connection paid off again in the third inning, as Stubbs and Votto singled, advanced on a wild pitch, and Phillips got his second RBI of the game with a ground out. Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in.
- Homer Bailey was pretty solid all afternoon, but in the fifth inning he gave up a leadoff triple and a walk. Then he struck out the side. Bad. Ass.
- The Reds put the game to bed in their half of the fifth inning. Paul Janish walked with one out, then stole second. He went to third on Joey Votto's infield single, and came around to score on Phillips's double to the wall. Scott Rolen then slammed a triple, bringing in Votto and Phillips, before scoring himself on a single by Jay Bruce. It hasn't seemed like it most of the time this season, but we've got the makings of a pretty solid offense.
- Juan Francisco walked! ROAR. Then Stubbs and Votto singled to load the bases with Phillips up, trying hard to reach 100 RBI. Sadly, he grounded into a double play instead.
Other Notes
- The Reds finished with 78 wins, and in fourth place in the NL Central. That's an improvement of four wins and one place over last year.
- Brandon Phillips was the only member of the Opening Day lineup that didn't spend time on the disabled list... and even he had "fractures."
- Phillips wound up just short of 100 RBI, and Francisco Cordero was just short of 40 saves. Yes, they're two of the most worthless stats, but round numbers are always exciting. Incidentally, Phillips's 98 RBI were the second most by a Reds second baseman. Joe Morgan had 110 in 1976.
- Drew Stubbs had three hits and a walk today to finish the season with a .267 average and .323 OBP. Big deal. Joey Votto had three hits and a walk today to finish the season with a .322 average and .414 OBP. Big deal. Juan Francisco finished the season with a .429 average and .520 OBP. ROAR.
- Final attendance at Great American Ball Park was 1,747,919 this year, the smallest number since 1986.
- The Pirates only committed 73 errors all season, a franchise record. It led the majors, and provides a clear correlation between defense and winning.
- Of course, the Pirates were also shut out a major league-leading 17 times, which provides a clear correlation between not scoring runs and losing.
- The Reds finished the decade with one winning season.