Wanted: Shutout at Coors Field; Must Have Saturn Nuts. Reds defeat Rockies, 3-0.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Ryan Ludwick continued his 34 year old renaissance, tonight going 2 for 3 with a walk, double, 2 runs scored, and an RBI. Thankfully, as Jay Bruce has cooled off, Luddy has heated up, and he's now firmly entrenched as, SSS aside, the Reds second most dangerous bat. Ideally, this will help Walt prioritize at the upcoming deadline, as we may well have found the LF we've been looking for since the Dunn trade.

Props are due to Bronson Arroyo as well, as the veteran righty evened his W/L record at 6-6 with 6.2 IP of shutout baseball. Ryan Hanigan pitched in with a 2 for 3 night (with a BB), and Arolids Chapman was dominant in the 9th for the save, touching 101 mph with 3 Chapmans.

Key Plays

• Things were quiet for both sides until the Top of the 4th. Brandon Phillips got the inning started with a single, and he channeled his inner 2010 self by tagging up and taking 2nd on a Bruce flyout to deep right field. That proved to be huge as Ryan Ludwick doubled, assuring BP scored. After Scott Rolen reached on an infield single, Todd Frazier hit a deep-enough fly ball to center, scoring Ludwick. Reds lead, 2-0.
  
• The Reds struck again in the 6th. After Bruce struck out, Ryan Ludwick and Scott Rolen both singled to chase Drew Pomeranz from the game. Adam Ottavino came on for the Rockies, and promptly threw two wild pitches to advance the runners and then plate Ludwick. Reds lead, 3-0.
• Arroyo was effective, if not dominant in his near 7 innings, breaking a string of awful starts in Coors Field. Alfredo Simon closed out the 7th and shut the Rockies down in the 8th, and Chapman dominated the 9th to close out the shutout. Reds win, 3-0!
  

via www.fangraphs.com

Other Notes

• That's 8 in a row, folks, and damn if it doesn't feel great. Stand Up and give these Reds a round of applause, folks.
• The Rockies were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring positon. That's either a sign that they have zero character, or that's just sick bullpenning from our Reds.
• I'm heading down to Coors tomorrow to watch Johnny Cueto pitch. For as good as he's been, I sure expect Johnny Cueto to think it'll be a sellout tomorrow.
• Go Reds! They're Petey's favorite team!