Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Yuniesky Betancourt. He went three for five with a HR. Not a bad night. Honorable mention goes to Scott Rolen, who went 4 for 6, all singles. He was caught stealing in awkward fashion in the sixth inning though.
Key Plays
- Orlando Cabrera led off for the Reds with a single. Of course Brandon Phillips then bunted him to second, he moved to third on a Joey Votto groundout, and he scored on a Scott Rolen single. Reds lead 1-0.
- Jay Bruce started the Reds second inning with a double. Drew Stubbs then scored him with a single, moving to second on the throw. Then even Corky Miller got a hit, singling to score Stubbs. Reds lead 3-0.
- Jay Bruce led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a home run. Reds lead 4-0!
- Bronson Arroyo was cruising through four innings, but looked very different in the fifth. He gave up two singles followed by a Yuniesky Betancourt double to score a run. He got Chris Getz to ground into a fielder's choice--they went home with it--but runners ended up on second and third. Pinch hitter Wilson Betemit then walked to load the bases. A Scott Podsednik single scored Betancourt, and then Jason Kendall grounded to Orlando Cabrera, who started the double play. Brandon Phillips didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to get it to first, though, and after some indecisiveness, the umpire ruled Kendall safe at first. This allowed another run to score before David DeJesús struck out to end the inning. But hey, the Reds still lead 4-3!
- This changed in the sixth, when Billy Butler drew a leadoff walk. Betancourt came up with two outs and Butler on first; he promptly hit a home run to left. Royals lead, 5-4.
- Goodroyo returned to pitch a scoreless seventh inning. Then Logan Ondrusek came in to pitch in the eighth, and threw the first of three scoreless innings of relief.
- The Reds then threatened to blow open the game in the bottom of the eighth. Phillips led off with a single and stole second. Next, Joey Votto drew a walk. Scott Rolen hit one to deep left center, but everyone had to hold up because a catch looked possible. It ended up as just a single to load the bases. Jonny Gomes flied out and Jay Bruce hit one just deep enough to center that BP could score on a horrible throw. A Drew Stubbs groundout ended the inning with only one run scored. Tied at 5.
- Nobody scored again for a while, and the game went into extra innings.
- The Reds had another great chance in the bottom of the tenth. Rolen and Gomes both singled to put men on first and second with no outs, but Jay Bruce fouled out, Drew Stubbs struck out looking, and pinch hitter Miguel Cairo grounded out. On to the eleventh!
- Micah Owings came in to pitch, and looked...uneven. After getting a groundout, he walked consecutive batters He got Alberto Callaspo to line out to Bruce, then Betancourt singled in front of Stubbs. Stubbs came up throwing and seemed to have Billy Butler out at home, but Votto cut off the throw and diverted it to tag out the runner at third. In the process, a run scored. Royals lead, 6-5.
- In the bottom of the eleventh, Ramon Hernandez led off with a single. Cabrera bunted him over, then Phillips singled. Runners on first and third, one out. Votto came up and fouled out on the first pitch, then Rolen lined out to left. Royals win.
Other Notes
- This was not a pretty game for Joey Votto. Other than the walk, he did nothing offensively, going 0 for 5. He also cut off the throw from Stubbs that almost certainly would have had the winning run out at home.
- Some say that Bruce should have bunted in the tenth. It should be noted that he only has one sacrifice bunt in his entire career. I'm just sayin'.
- On the bright side, Logan Ondrusek looked great in the seventh inning. He struck out two and didn't allow any baserunners. This is a good thing.