Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Jason Heyward. The anointed one went 3-6 with three doubles, including one that drove in the two winning runs in the tenth. Honorable mentions go to Joey Votto and Chris Heisey.
Key Plays
- Martin Prado led off the third inning with a single off Johnny Cueto. Prado moved to second on Jason Heyward's grounder, and then Chipper Jones lined a hit to right field. Jay Bruce fired the ball home, but Prado made a good slide to beat Ramon Hernandez and score. Braves lead, 1-0.
- With two outs in the bottom of the third, the Reds finally got something going against Kris Medlen. Brandon Phillips singled, then took second on a balk. Orlando Cabrera singled (the only time he would come through with two outs) and Phillips scored. Then Joey Votto doubled, scoring Lando, and Scott Rolen singled to bring Votto around. Reds lead, 3-1.
- Cueto lived dangerously all night, and got burned in the fifth inning. Chipper Jones singled with one out, and then Brian McCann - who had struck out in his two previous at bats - homered on the first pitch he saw. Game tied, 3-3.
- Some shaky fielding saw the Braves load the bases with no outs in the sixth. Omar Infante singled off of Orlando Cabrera's glove, and Melky Cabrera hit a double on a pop up to Brandon Phillips. Cueto had a chance to get a big out, facing the pitcher, but instead he hit Kris Medlen with a pitch. Martin Prado then hit a slow grounder to second. Phillips made the throw to Cabrera covering second to force Medlen, but Prado beat the double play throw. Maybe Phillips had a play at the plate, and maybe he didn't, but Infante scored, and Cueto's night was over. Bill Bray came in and struck out Jason Heyward, then got Brian McCann to ground out after walking Chipper Jones. An excellent job of holding the Braves to one run. Braves lead, 4-3.
- With the game coming swiftly to an end and still needing a run, Joey Votto dramatically homered in the eighth inning. However, it led off the inning, so the game was only tied. But Scott Rolen doubled, and the sense that the Reds would come back again was palpable. Jonny Gomes hit a shallow ball to right field that was caught. Rolen tagged and ran hard to third where he was safe! Jay Bruce came up with a runner on third and one out, but struck out. Then Drew Stubbs hit a dribbler right in front of the plate and was thrown out. Game tied, 4-4.
- Brooks Conrad hit a long fly ball to right field in the ninth inning, conjuring up memories of his grand slam. Defensive replacement Chris Heisey drifted back and caught the ball above the wall, robbing Conrad of a second game-winning home run. Extras!
- Francisco Cordero faced two batters in the ninth inning and came back out to pitch the tenth. He got Omar Infante on a grounder, but walked Melky Cabrera. A big strikeout of Matt Diaz followed, before issuing another walk to Martin Prado. Jason Heyward then came up and hit a line drive that bounced off of a sliding Jonny Gomes's leg. Cabrera scored and Prado beat the throw to the plate. Braves win, 6-4.
Other Notes
- The Reds struck out eight times. Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs had five of those.
- Prior to tonight's 0-4, Bruce had at least one hit in the last eight games he started.
- The Reds bullpen had not given up any runs in 21.1 innings until Jason Heyward's RBI double off of Francisco Cordero.
- Jonny Venters had pitched 50.1 innings and not given up a home run all season -- until he faced Joey Votto in the eighth inning.
- If the Reds lose tomorrow, they would finish July at 13-13, the first month this season without a winning record. They are 7-7 in extra inning games.