Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Player of the Game
Nick Masset. This space has been accused of having a prejudice against pitchers, and perhaps the honor should go to Mike Leake, who avoided his customary disastrous inning. Instead, we'll give it to Masset who pitched well with two scoreless innings of relief, in place of the normally infallible Arthur Rhodes. Honorable Mentions go to Hanley Ramirez and Drew Stubbs.
Key Plays
- Due to an error by pitcher Sean West in fielding Mike Leake's sacrifice bunt attempt, the Reds had runners on first (Leake) and third (Paul Janish) with no outs in the third inning. Then Brandon Phillips, Chris Heisey, and Joey Votto all struck out.
- The Reds did get their runs in the fourth inning, though. Scott Rolen and Jonny Gomes walked to lead off the inning, and one out later, Ramon Hernandez singled to score Rolen. Gomes went to third and scored on Paul Janish's suicide squeeze. Then Mike Leake got a hit and Hernandez scored. Reds lead, 3-0.
- Figuring all the cool teams have a guy named Logan, the Marlins sent Logan Morrison to the plate in the fifth inning, and he got an infield single to second base. Not easy to do. One out later, Dan Uggla hit a two run homer. Reds lead, 3-2.
- In the bottom of the fifth, Chris Heisey walked, then went to third on Votto's single. Joey then stole second base, and Scott Rolen singled. Heisey scored, but Votto was thrown out at the plate. Reds lead, 4-2.
- Wes Helms homered in the sixth inning to continue the seesaw scoring. Reds lead, 4-3.
- Drew Stubbs gave the Reds a vital insurance run, homering in the eighth off of Clay Hensley. Reds lead, 5-3.
- Vital, because Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth. Per his custom, he loaded the bases with no outs. Emilio Bonifacio walked, Hanley Ramirez singled, and Logan Morrison walked. Gaby Sanchez grounded into a run-scoring double play before Dan Uggla fouled out to end the game. Reds win, 5-4.
Other Notes
- At the beginning of the ninth inning, the Reds had a 93.1% chance to win the game. After Francisco Cordero walked Logan Morrison to load the bases with no outs, the Reds chances of winning were only 57.6%, a drop of 35.5%.
- The Marlins had a runner on second base or better in every inning except the eighth.
- The Reds are 2-0 without Dusty Baker.