Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
This one has to go to future Red Matt Kemp, who went 3 for 5 with 2 HRs (one a grand slam) and a walk.
Honorable mentions to Johnny Cueto (7 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 ER) and Joey Votto (2 for 4 with a HR and a walk).
Key Plays
- The Reds offense looked pretty bad in the first five innings against Clayton Kershaw. In that time he saw fifteen batters, giving up a Votto single that was erased by a CS--and striking out nine. In that time, the Dodgers managed one run against Johnny Cueto.
- But the Reds had more luck in the sixth. Ramon Hernandez led off with a single, and after Paul Janish flied out, Cueto bunted him to second. Drew Stubbs drew a walk, then Brandon Phillips singled to score Ramon. Oh, and Joey Votto next hit one out to right to score three more. Reds lead, 4-1.
- Matt Kemp led off the seventh with a HR, then the next three Dodgers went down in order. Reds still lead, 4-2.
- The Reds piled on in the bottom of the inning. Jay Bruce led off with a single. After Gomes flied out, Ramon walked. Janish then singled to right, and Mark Berry sent Jay Bruce home. A good throw beat him by quite a bit. And then a pinch hit single by Chris Heisey and a Stubbs double scored three more. Reds lead, 7-2.
- Nick Masset made his 31st appearance of the season in the eighth. After striking out Dioner Navarro, he gave up three consecutive singles. He was pulled for Bill Bray, making his 30th appearance of the season. Bray walked the only batter he faced. He, in turn, was pulled for Logan Ondrusek (31st appearance), who promptly gave up a Matt Kemp grand slam. The game was then tied at 7.
- The Reds threatened in the ninth, with a one-out single by Ramon Hernandez. Mike Leake came in to run for him, but Janish fouled out and Heisey flied out to send it to extras.
- Which reminds me: after that mess of an eighth inning, Jose Arredondo and Francisco Cordero each pitched a scoreless inning. But of course Carlos Fisher was next, and he didn't pitch so well. He gave up a leadoff single, and that runner was bunted over. Another single put runners on the corners with one out. Two more singles scored another two runs. The announcers said maybe Bruce should have thrown home on the second one, where he might have had an out, but I didn't see it so I can't say for sure. Regardless, the next batter was Andre Ethier, who grounded to Fisher. It looked like a double play ball, but Fisher threw it into center field, scoring another run and leaving two men on base. The next play was a grounder to Votto, who got the runner at second . . . but Fisher didn't bother to cover first so they didn't get that out.
- Finally, Dusty replaced Fished with Jeremy Horst, his last available pitcher. After a balk, he got James Loney to fly out. Stubbs made a nice catch to end the threat, but the Dodgers had scored four.
- Three singles, two groundouts and a flyout in the bottom of the inning added up to one run for the Reds. Reds lose, 11-8.
Other Notes
- As has been mentioned previously, the Reds bullpen has been heavily used. They lead the NL in IP, in case you've forgotten.
- And once again, Dusty used every pitcher in the bullpen tonight. As of yesterday, nine pitchers in the NL had 29 or more appearances. Three of those are Reds relievers. All three pitched tonight.
- Yeah, I know this doesn't help much, but the Reds scored a lot of runs off of Kershaw. Even after this game, his ERA is 3.05, but they scored 6 runs in 6 and 2/3 innings off of him.
- Oh, and this.