Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Homer Bailey. 8 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 7 K, 1 BB. Easily his best game pitched in the big leagues and it came against the 4th best offense in the NL.
Key Plays
-
Wladimir Balentien doubled with 2 outs in the 2nd inning and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Jonny Gomes, who continues to make a strong case to be the everyday left fielder next season, singled to drive in Balentien and the Reds led 1-0.
- Corky Miller walked to lead off the third inning and moved to second on Bailey's sacrifice bunt. Drew Stubbs was sawed off but managed to hit the ball into the outfield enough to score Miller from second. One out later, and after Stubbs first career stolen base in the big leagues, Joey Votto hit his 20th double of the season to drive in Stubbs and give the Reds a 3-0 lead.
- In the top of the 6th, Rafael Furcal and Matt Kemp led off the inning with back-to-back singles, but Bailey got a strikeout, fly out , and pop out from Andre Ethier, Manny Ramirez, and Casey Blake to get out of the jam.
- Gomes congratulated his pitcher's effort with his 16th home run of the season, giving the Reds a 4-0 lead. Did I mention that Gomes is making a case to be the everday starter in LF?
- Bailey ran into trouble again in the 8th as Furcal led off with a bunt single and one out later Ethier walked. Dusty Baker visited the mound and "looked his pitcher square in the eye" according to George Grande. He decided to leave Bailey in to face Manny Ramirez. Ramirez hit the ball hard off of Bailey, but it was right at Stubbs in center field. Bailey then struck out Blake on a questionable strike 3 call to snuff out the rally.
- Nick Masset replaced Bailey in the 9th inning and gave up a solo home run to James Loney to start the inning. That was the only batter he faced as it was now (supposedly) a magical save situation, and despite the fact that Francisco Cordero had pitched in the prior 3 games, Baker called on his closer to get 2 outs. Cordero got the first out rather easily, but then allowed singles to pinch hitter Mark Loretta and Furcal and loaded the bases with a walk to Kemp. Ethier then struck out on a pitch that hit his foot, but the ball kicked away from Corky Miller and all of the runners and the batter were able to advance, making it a 4-2 game. Cordero made it exciting, but eventually he struck out Ramirez looking to end the game and give the Reds their 5th straight win.
via fangraphs
Other Notes
- The 5-game win streak is the Reds longest of the season and their such streak since May of 2008.
- The win broke the Reds 9-game losing streak to the Dodgers.
- The 8 innings that Bailey pitched were the most in his Major League career. It was the 4th time this season he's pitched that many innings including in the minors after having only done it once prior to this season.
- Bailey's 7 strikeouts were also a career high for him in the bigs, topping the 6 strikeouts he put up against the Phillies on July 8th.
- Votto became the 21st player in Reds history with multiple seasons of 20 home runs and 20 doubles in the same year. Last year he hit 32 doubles and 24 home runs in 589 plate appearances.
- Cordero did not get the save in the game because he did not pitch at least one inning. When a pitcher comes in the game with a 3-run lead, he has to pitch at least one whole inning to get the save. If he pitches less than an inning, then the only way he can get the save is if he comes in with the tying run at least on deck.