The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Devin Mesoraco did some major impacting today, and he gets the nod. The Reds' catcher went 3 for 4 with a solo homer and 2 runs scored on the afternoon, his homer traveling and estimated 413 feet en route to denting the second deck bleachers above LF. Props, groovy eyes.
Honorable Mentions are due to: Jack Hannahan, who chipped in with a 3 run dinger as a pinch hitter in the 6th; Mike Leake, who struggled a bit with his command, but managed to keep the Cubs scoreless over his 5 2/3 IP; and Manny Parra, who fanned two of the three batters he faced in tossing a scoreless 8th inning.
Key Plays
- The Reds went to work on Jeff Samardzija in the Bottom of the 2nd. Jay Bruce led things off with a single, and he moved to 3B when Todd Frazier followed with a double to the wall in LF. Productive outs then got the Reds on the board, as Xavier Paul grounded out to 2B to get Bruce in and move Frazier to 3B, and Frazier then scored on a grounder to 2B by Zack Cozart. Reds led, 2-0.
- In the Bottom of the 4th, Mesoraco took a hanging breaking ball from Samardzija and knocked the everliving crap out of it for his 9th homer of the season. Reds led, 3-0.
- Xavier Paul singled with one out in the Bottom of the 6th, and Derrick Robinson came in to run for Paul. Robinson was then out at 2B on a fielder's choice courtesy of a Cozart grounder, but Cozart then got to 2B on a wild pitch and made it to 3B on an infield single from Mesoraco. Big Bopper off the Bench Jack Hannahan then was summoned to pinch hit for J.J. Hoover, and he promptly launched his first homer of the season (and his first career pinch-hit homer) to further ruin Samardzija's afternoon and wrap things up for the good guys. Alfredo Simon, Manny Parra, and Sam LeCure then combined to finish what Leake and Hoover had started, and that was that. Reds win, 6-0.
FanGraph Detailing the Steady Path of Inevitability
<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2013-09-11&team=Reds&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=2013-09-11&team=Reds&dh=0&season=2013">FanGraphs</a></span>
Other Notes
- Mesoraco's single in the 2nd snapped an 0 for 13 skid.
- Those pesky Pirates are beating the Rangers again. They're currently up 4-2 after 6 innings.
- The Reds will have tomorrow off before heading to Milwaukee to begin a 3 series, 9 game road trip that will take them to Houston and Pittsburgh, too.
- 'Murrica.