Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Joey Votto. Our studly first baseman went 3-4 with his 24th home run of the season. Honorable mentions go to Hunter Pence, Logan Ondrusek, and Orlando Cabrera.
Key Plays
- The Astros jumped out to an early lead, assuring there would be no perfect game for Travis Wood. Angel Sanchez and Lance Berkman hit one out singles. Sanchez moved to third on Carlos Lee's fly out (they do not go first to third in Houston), then scored on the first of Hunter Pence's four hits. Astros lead, 1-0.
- The Reds had only managed one hit off of Bud Norris until the fourth inning when Orlando Cabrera singled and went to second on Chris Johnson's throwing error. Norris then walked Joey Votto and Jonny Gomes, and the bases were loaded with no outs. Jay Bruce hit a sacrifice fly to score Cabrera, and then Miguel Cairo got hit by a pitch to reload the bases. Joey Votto got thrown out at home on Drew Stubbs's grounder, but with two outs, Ryan Hanigan singled and Gomes and Cairo scored. Reds lead, 3-1.
- In the bottom of the inning, Hunter Pence once again singled, and went to third on Jeff Keppinger's single (former Reds know what's up). Chris Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Pence. Reds lead, 3-2.
- Joey Votto hit a two out solo homer in the fifth inning. He's so great. Reds lead, 4-2.
- In the sixth inning, Carlos Lee led off with a single, then Hunter Pence (grrr, Pence!) hit a shallow fly to left field that found its way into the Crawford Boxes. Game tied, 4-4.
- Tim Byrdak came into pitch the eighth inning, and Astros fans immediately wish he hadn't. Joey Votto and Jonny Gomes had back to back singles off of him, and Jay Bruce pulled a double down the right field line to drive in the go-ahead run. Nelson Figueroa came in to relieve Byrdak and quickly struck out Miguel Cairo. Then Drew Stubbs hit a blast to center field. It was caught, but it was deep enough to score Jonny Gomes. Reds win, 6-4.
Other Notes
- This was Francisco Cordero's 100th save as a Red. He's only the 4th Red to save 100 games. His 277 career saves are 25th best of all time, but assuming that Jason Isringhausen gets called up to the big league team, six other current and former Reds are ahead of him. How many can you name without looking?
- Logan Ondrusek got his first career win. Travis Wood is still searching for his.
- Noted failure at driving people in, Ryan Hanigan, got his first RBI since May 21. That gives him 19 this season, and 22 in the rest of his career.
- Hunter Pence got four hits in a game for the first time since June 3, 2009.