Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Jay Bruce. The Man Who Was An All-Star Before Andrew McCutchen reached base five times in four at-bats. Quite impressive. His three hits included the go-ahead home run in the tenth inning. Honorable mentions go to Ramon Hernandez (2-5 with a dinger, two runs scored, and 3 RBI) and Joey Votto (3-5 with a walk).
Key Plays
- Even the emergent Johnny Cueto is not immune to the first inning woes. Rickie Weeks continued to terrorize Cincinnati pitching, leading off the game with a single. Cueto then threw wildly on a pickoff attempt, and Weeks went to second. He tagged and took third when Nyjer Morgan flew out, and scored on Corey Hart's single. Hart himself was also a beneficiary of Cueto's wildness, taking second on a wild pitch. One out later, Mark Kotsay singled softly, but it was enough for Hart to score, since he was running on the pitch. Brewers lead, 2-0.
- The Reds immediately got it back and more. Jay Bruce walked leading off the second inning, and scored one out later when Fred Lewis hit a double. Then the scorching hot Ramon Hernandez hit another home run. Caliente! Reds lead, 3-2.
- Yuniesky Betancourt (?!) touched up Cueto for a double in the bottom of the second. Jonathan Lucroy grounded out to the mound and Betancourt went to third. Then he scored on Shaun Marcum's squeeze bunt. Game tied, 3-3.
- And that's the way it stayed until the tenth, despite the Reds loading the bases twice and having two runners on another time. But Jay Bruce homered off of Marco Estrada in the top of the tenth, which seemed to open the floodgates. Newly minted All-Star Scott Rolen doubled and Edgar Renteria sacrificed him to third. Ramon Hernandez banged a single off of Yuniesky Betancourt, and Rolen scored. Chris Heisey reached base safely when Craig Counsell misplayed his ball (man, how bad is the Brewers defense?), and, after Drew Stubbs struck out, pinch hitter Miguel Cairo singled up the middle. Hernandez scored. Then Joey Votto singled and Heisey scored. Then Brandon Phillips singled and Cairo scored. A pretty amazing inning from an offense that hadn't shown much. Reds lead, 8-3.
- A familiar sinking feeling crept into the guts of all Reds fans as Francisco Cordero, for some reason, came in to close out the five run game. The first batter he faced, Josh Wilson, smashed a ball off him that went into right field for a double. Then Yuniesky Betancourt singled, and Wilson scored. But Coco was nails after that, retiring the next three batters and preserving the win for Cincinnati. Reds win, 8-4.
Other Notes
- Francisco Cordero has actually given up 298 runs in his career. Begin the countdown to 300!
- Jay Bruce has 17 home runs against the Brewers in his career, by far the most against any one team. The next closest is Pittsburgh, against whom he has 12.
- Scott Rolen was named to the All-Star Game to replace the injured Chipper Jones. Going into this game, Rolen had an OPS+ of 84, the lowest since 2005, when he was injured and only played 56 games for the Cardinals. He had an OPS+ of 84 in that season too, and funnily enough, was an All-Star.
- Happy Dontrelle Willis Eve!