Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
The Padres bullpen. After gaining a 3-2 lead in the 7th, Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams, and Heath Bell each pitched a perfect inning, including a stretch where they struck out 6 Reds hitters in a row. I'm still not sure why Jim Day refers to this team as the "Battlin' Redlegs".
Key Plays
- The Pads struck first, with Kevin Kouzmanoff doubling in Tony Gwynn Jr., who tripled to lead off the game.
- The Reds answered in the bottom of the 2nd, when Jonny Gomes drove in Edwin Encarnacion to tie the game, and Craig Tatum's grounder bounced off of 1st base to drive in Laynce Nix and give the Reds a 2-1 lead.
- Adrian Gonzalez, who has seemingly killed the Reds this season, blasted a solo shot halfway up the moon deck to tie the game in the 3rd.
- Tony Gwynn Jr. doubled to lead off the 7th, and after Nick Masset came in with runners on 1st and 3rd, Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a sac fly to give the Pads the lead. Ball game.
Other Notes
- Craig Tatum had his first major league hit. Whoopee.
- How long is it going to take before something happens with Ryan Hanigan? Not being able to pinch hit for Tatum in the 9th was a minor inconvenience.
- The leadoff combo of Willy Taveras and Alex Gonzalez was a combined 0-for-8. I'm sure Dusty is shocked by this, but nobody else should be. I fully expect to see the same two players at the top of the lineup tomorrow, because "they're due".
- Edwin was 2-for-4. I guess that's something.
- The scouts in the stadium saw what we've been seeing of Bronson Arroyo all season. He had a quality start, going 6 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 9 hits, but wasn't anything spectacular. Just solid, and threw a ton of pitches.
- I'm not going to go on a tirade against Dusty because he's done much worse than this, but leaving Bronson in to pitch the 7th with 112 pitches under his belt probably wasn't a good idea.
- Pete Rose was in attendance, with a woman who looked like a prostitute. This was much more exciting than the game.
- The Reds have now lost 6 of their last 7. Since they didn't win consecutive games, the baby goes back under the basket. Sorry kid, you were so close to freedom.
