Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Yovani Gallardo. Gallardo is a good pitcher and our offense is very bad. Put that together and you get 9 strikeouts in 5.1 innings (including 8 in the first three), 1 ER, and the win.
Key Plays
- Micah Owings looked very hittable from the beginning. In the first, J.J. Hardy walked, then singles by Ryan Braun, Mike Cameron, and Mat Gamel scored two runs.
- The Reds loaded the bases in the second inning with one out, but Ryan Hanigan and Owings struck out, and no runs were scored.
- Walks continued to haunt Owings, as he gave light-hitting Jason Kendall a free pass in the bottom of the second. Gallardo bunted him over, Craig Counsell moved him to third on a single, and J.J. Hardy drove him in with a sac fly. Smawbaw!
- The Reds hinted at making a game of it in the third. Jerry Hairston, Jr. got to second on an error and scored on a Jay Bruce single. Brandon Phillips also singled to have two men on with one out. Laynce Nix and Ramon Hernandez both took called third strikes, and that was that.
- The Brewers then put the game safely out of reach, like taking Danny Ray Herrera's glove and putting it way up high on the kitchen table, with Mike Cameron's two-run homer, our Frisch's Big Boy Big Play of the Game.
- Brandon Phillips homered in the fifth, prompting him to swing and fall down for the rest of the game.
- The Reds put runners on the corners with one out in the sixth. Chris Dickerson grounded into a force out, and although the Brewers were conceding a run, Hanigan did not try to score from third, and Mark Berry just kind of stood there. Hairston then struck out, and that was that.
via FanGraphs
Other Notes
- Following their sweep of the Diamondbacks on May 13, the Reds had the best road record in baseball (13-5). They have lost every road game since then.
- Nick Masset is flirting with a sub-1.00 ERA. It currently sits at 1.06. That's only the third best ERA in the bullpen, and five relievers have ERAs under 2.00.
- This is the first time the Reds have been swept in Milwaukee since July 3-5, 2006. (And if we had won those three games, we would have won the division that year.)
- Jerry Hairston, Jr. drew a walk from Trevor Hoffman. It was Hoffman's first walk of the season.
- The Reds did not score on Milwaukee's bullpen once during this series.
- Those who selected 5-2 on the road trip poll, including yours truly, are starting to feel pretty foolish.