Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Tom Gorzelanny. 7.1 innings of three hit, one run ball, with a walk and six strikeouts. He also went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI in his Cubs debut.
Key Plays
- Kosuke Fukudome, the first batter of the game, hit a home run. If you didn't think the Reds were done for that point, you have more optimism than I.
- Johnny Cueto actually shut down the Cubs after that, until the sixth inning. With one out, Aramis Ramirez doubled and Jake Fox was hit by a pitch. Alfonso Soriano singled and the bases were loaded. Cueto struck out Mike Fontenot, and there was a glimmer of hope that Cueto would escape unharmed. But Willy Taveras couldn't come up with a diving catch off the bat of Koyie Hill. The hit went for a double and scored Ramirez and Fox. The pitcher, Gorzelanny, singled next to drive in Soriano. Dusty brought in Danny Ray Herrera, who gave up a hit to Fukudome, and just like that the Cubs had tacked on four more runs.
- Derrek Lee homered off of Nick Masset to begin the seventh inning to finish off the Cubs scoring.
- Finally in the eighth inning, the Reds decided they should do something offensively, instead of just something offensive. Craig Tatum got hit by a pitch, and then Willy Taveras got his second hit of the game (!) to move Craiggers to second. Then Joey Votto, as he is wont to do, singled to drive in a run. God bless that man.
- The "comeback" continued in the ninth inning, as Jonny Gomes got hit by a pitch, and then new Red Wladimir Balentien atoned for some of his suspect fielding with his first home run as a Red. 6-3, and with two outs, Tatum hit a double to tantalizingly prolong the rally. For the second night in a row, Willy Taveras found himself in the Javier Valentin Memorial Last Out of the Game position. And he did his predecessor proud with a ground ball to the second baseman. Reds lose 8 in a row.
Too lazy to post a win probability graph. Besides, the win was never probable.
Other Notes
- This 8 game losing streak is the longest for the Reds since 2005. All 8 of these losses have come at home.
- Cueto is 0-5 with a 9.85 ERA in his last six games.
- You can blame it on the rain if you want, but there were only 17,992 in attendance, and most of those were Cubs fans.
- With Cueto's loss, the Reds only have two starters that have a .500 record or better - Bronson Arroyo (10-10) and Edinson Volquez (4-2).
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