He went to Jared's! Reds own Diamondb's

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Willy Taveras.  Taveras had about as good a game as a leadoff hitter can have, going 5-5 with a double, 2 RBI, 4 R, and a SB.  In seven innings.

Key Plays

• The offense showed up in a big way, right from the beginning of the game.  A single, double, and walk by our first three batters loaded the bases, but Brandon Phillips predictably grounded into a double play to score the run.  Still, we scored first so the outcome was never in question.
• Bronson Arroyo led off the third inning with a single, his first hit of the year.  Taveras got on with a bunt, and both runners scored on Cherry Hudson's second triple of the game.  A double by Brandon Phillips drove him in.  4-0 good guys!
• Until Felipe Lopez doubled and Justin Upton hit one uptown.  4-2.
• Taking that as a challenge, Laynce Nix and Adam Rosales hit back to back homers of their own in the fourth, before a double by Taveras and single by Votto put the score at 7-2.
• Lopez continued to bedevil his former team with a home run in the fifth inning.  He ended the night 3-4.
• Reliever Bobby Korecky went looking for a hotline, because he got abused in the sixth inning.  Double to Rosales, single to Taveras, stolen base by Taveras, walk to Hudson, single by Votto, single by Phillips, and a wild pitch, and that's four runs given up.
• It was more of the same in the seventh, when Nix singled off Korecky, Rosales doubled, and Taveras got a single to drive in Nix before another wild pitch allowed Rosales to score.
• For some reason, Bronson Arroyo came in to pitch the seventh, even though he had 113 pitches and a seven run lead.  He gave up a home run to Mark Reynolds.
• Josh Wilson pitched the ninth inning for the 'Backs.  Position players pitching is the new Wildcat formation.

via FanGraphs

Other Notes

• Jay Bruce had his hit streak snapped.
• Ramon Hernandez went back to catcher since Joey Votto was healthy again.  He went hitless.  Ryan Hanigan replaced him in the 8th and singled.
• The only other Reds leadoff hitter to have 5 hits in a game was Ryan Freel, on June 23, 2006.
• Arroyo's hit means that all the starters now have at least one hit.
• Also, besides Arroyo, the starting lineup didn't have anyone with a batting average below .200.  The offense is really coming around!  We have a positive run differential!
• The Reds are tied for second in the division, two games behind St. Louis.
• The Reds are an MLB-best 11-5 on the road.