No XBH? No Problem! Reds 9, Brewers 1.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

It's always fun when the offense and the pitching are both dominant enough to make choosing the winner a tad impossible.  The lineup pounded out 10 singles, strutted out 9 walks, and flashed some solid leather despite not fielding an everyday group, and the pitching combined to limit the Brewers to just a single run on 4 hits and a single walk.  Hmm.

Homer Bailey was certainly spectacular, but I'll give the nod today to Shin-Soo Choo, who was on base each of his 5 times to the plate at the top of the lineup, and given how lackluster the offense was yesterday, it was a welcome, welcome addition.  Choo was 2 for 2 with a run scored and 3 walks, and he even tossed in a stellar yet cringe-inducing sliding catch in CF that fortunately resulted in no more than a collective myrp from Reds nation.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Bailey, of course, whose 8 inning, 119 pitch performace kept the Brewers' offense completely off-guard;  Ryan Hanigan, who was 2 for 5 with 3 RBI;  Jack Hannahan, who had no errors during his 1 for 3, 2 R, 2 BB afternoon;  Joey Votto, who was 1 for 2 with 2 BB; and Chris Heisey, who was 2 for 5 with an RBI and 2 R.

And Brandon Phillips, and Jay Bruce, and Todd Frazier, and Alfredo Simon!  And even Cesar Izturis - a little bit.

Key Plays

• While a GIBP managed to thwart an early 1st inning scoring chance for the Reds, they wasted little time in rectifying that unfortunate outcome.  In the Top of the 2nd, Jay Bruce, Chris Heisey, and Jack Hannahan each singled to start the inning, and Ryan Hanigan followed with a 2-RBI single of his own to break the seal.  Bailey followed with a pop out on a bunt, Choo walked to reload the bases, Cesar Izturis lined out, and Hannahan came in to score on a passed ball by catcher Martin Maldonado.  Votto was then walked intentionally to re-reload the bases before Phillips hit the second 2-RBI of the inning.  Reds led, 5-0.
• Phillips led off the Top of the 5th with a walk, the 4th and final walk of the afternoon by Brewers' pitcher Wily Peralta.  Phillips then moved to 2B on a wild pitch from Peralta, and he advanced to 3B on a fly out from Bruce.  Chris Heisey then singled to plate Phillips, and Peralta was finally pulled in favor of Tyler Thornburg.  Thornburg walked Hannahan and gave up an RBI single to Hanigan that moved Hannahan to 2B, Bailey sac bunted Hannahan to 3B, and Choo, Izturis (!!?!), and Votto followed with walks, the last of which scored another run.  Reds led, 9-0.
• Bailey surrendered a sholo Hhome Rhun to Khris Davis to lhead off the 5th, but he settled in comfortably afterwards and motored through 8 innings.  Alfredo Simon came on to pitch the 9th and continued where Bailey left off, and that was that.  Reds win, 9-1!

Fangraph Section That Would Make You Assume Izturis & Hannahan Did Not Play

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2013-08-18&team=Brewers&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2013-08-18&team=Brewers&dh=0&season=2013">FanGraphs</a></span>

Other Notes

• According to Jim Kelch, the last time the Cincinnati Reds scored 9 or more runs without a single extra base hit was August 9, 1975.  That's back when jch24 only had 6 kids.
  
• All things considered, it's pretty hard to argue with winning 5 of 7 on any road trip, regardless of how ugly the lowest low may have been and regardless of competition.  I'll certainly take it.
• St. Louis is predictably dispatching the Chicago Baby Bears to the tune of 6-1 in the 8th inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are locked in a 2-2 extra innings affair with the Arizona Diamondbacks as we speak. 
  
• Tunin'?  Tunin'!
• More tunin'!
• Hot tunin'!