Astros get pwned by Owings, Reds win 4-2

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Micah Owings.  1 for 1, double, 2 RBI.

Key Plays

• Willy Taveras and Michael Bourn traded awesome catches against each other early in the game.  Taveras' catch - seen above - robbed Bourn of extra bases.
  
• Both teams got multiple runners on in the first inning, but neither team scored a run.
  
• The Astros scored the first run of the game in the third inning on a single from Bourn and a single from Tejada that scored Bourn from first.  He's kind of fast.
• The Reds put up another threat in the 4th inning when Edwin Encarnacion walked and Laynce Nix singled him to third, but Ramon Hernandez grounded out to end the threat.
• Edinson Volquez walked the bases loaded in the 5th, but induced a double play out of Geoff Blum that involved a beneficial call from the umpire where he called Hunter Pence out despite the fact that he had not been tagged out on the play.  The Astros failed to score in the inning.
• A Jerry Hairston Jr. walk, Ramon Hernandez single, and an errant throw on sacrifice bunt attempt by Alex Gonzalez put the first run on the board for the Reds in the 7th inning.
• Owings pinch hit for Volquez in the 7th, doubling deep to left-center and plating two runs to give the Reds a 3-1 lead.
• The first two runners got on base in the bottom of the 7th, but Arthur Rhodes convinced Lance Berkman to ground into a double play and struck out Carlos Lee swinging to get out of the jam.
• The first two runners got on base in the bottom of the 7th 8th, but Arthur Rhodes David Weathers got out of the inning on a sacrifice bunt, line out, and a strike out without surrendering a run.
• The Reds played add-on in the 9th after Darnell McDonald tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Willy Taveras.
• The first two runners got on base in the bottom of the 7th 8th 9th, but Arthur Rhodes David Weathers Francisco Cordero managed to get out of the inning while surrendering a single run on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Lee.

via www.fangraphs.com

Other Notes

• Edinson Volquez looked much better today than he has so far this season.  He still walked too many hitters (5 on the day), but he was able to get the Astros to swing and miss considerably more than he has with any other team this season.  The Astros aren't a strong offensive team, so I'll take this start with a grain of salt, but all in all it was good to see Volquez have some success on the day.  Plus, he gets the win, which, as we know, is all that matters.
  
• I'm as big of a fan of Micah Owings' bat as anyone, but it really is an indictment on the bench of the Reds right now that he is the only reliable bat off of it, though I will credit Jerry Hairston Jr. for his stellar performance as a non-starter today.
  
• The defense was very up and down today.  There were a couple of times where players fell asleep, specifically around first base.  But, there were also 3 or 4 excellent plays including Taveras' catch, a nice play on a double play by Encarnacion on a ground ball from Berkman in the 7th, and a nice snag on a line drive by Votto.  I suppose we're stuck taking the good with the bad at this point.