And This One Belongs to the Reds! Reds 6, Rangers 4.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Just minutes after some jerk-wad espoused that he had no confidence when Devin Mesoraco was at the plate after acknowledging that the young Reds' catcher had yet to have a hot "streak" in his career, the Pride of Punxsutawney, PA rocked a 2 run 'raco that put the Reds up for good in the Top of the 11th. Screw the 0 for 4, 3 K game he'd had previously, because if you hit the big fly that gets the proverbial monkey off the team's back, you get the nod. Props to Devin for playing daily while Ryan Hanigan rests his bum ankle during this series, too. I'm anxious to see Devin vs. Yu Darvish tomorrow; well, kinda.

Hat tips are due to Mike Leake, who labored through the Reds pulling a Shakesperian quality direction of "Cubs Defense" to toss 7 innings of 4 hit, 1 ER ball. Shin-Soo Choo also looked markedly better today with a leadoff HR and a single off a LHP (what!) as part of his 3 for 4, 2 BB day. Joey Votto also pitched in with 2 hits and a walk but pfffffft.

Key Plays

• Choo kicked things off by taking the first pitch of the game deep for his 12th HR of the year, which also gave the Reds their first in-game lead since the Clinton Administration. In the Top of the 3rd, the Reds tacked another one on when Derrick Robinson reached on a Jurickson Profar error, Choo walked, Cozart sacrificed and Votto was walked behind him (DRINK!), and Brandon Phillips followed with an RBI single. Reds led, 2-0.
• Unfortunately, the defense tried to Cub the game away in the Bottom of the 3rd. Engel Beltre reached with one out after Joey Votto Benny Hill'd a grounder, and after Leonys Martin singled to move Beltre to 3rd, Ian Kinsler hit one to Votto, and he did his best impression of Tim Tebow aiming at an open receiver while aiming for Mesoraco at home. Beltre scored and everyone else moved up, and Elvis Andrus followed that with a grounder to his counterpart, and Zack Cozart chucked it at a seemingly unsuspecting Jack Hannahan at 3B and OMG LULZ WTF the Rangers walked away with a 3-2 lead after a sac fly. GRRRRRPYDERP.
• The Reds chased Nick Tepesch in the Top of the 5th with HITS WITH RUNNERS ON BASE. WITH HITS WITH RUNNERS ON BASE. WITH HITS...WITH RUNNERS...ON BASE. I'm not making this up. Choo led off with a single, and he came around to score when Zack Cozart 2-holed a 2-bagger. Votto singled, Tepesch was pulled, a BP grounder moved Votto over, Jay Bruce was walked on purpose, and XP gave it to us with an RBI single that broke a 4 for 51 string for the Reds with runners in scoring position. Reds led, 4-3.
• Leake gave up a hit to Andrus and a ground rule double to Nelson Cruz, but we don't care about that. Flash forward 7 hours and 5 innings, and Devin Mesoraco stepped to the plate opposite Kyle McClellan with Todd Frazier already on 1B after being Choo'd. Devin proceeded to pull a Lincoln and tell McClellan his services were crap, and Aroldis Chapman put our minds at ease in the Bottom of the 11th to wrap things up. Reds win, 6-4!