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The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Ryan Ludwick was plunked hard in his first PA of the day, and he responded by picking up a pair of hits later in the game, the biggest of which was the 2-out, 2 RBI double to the wall that proved to be the difference in the game. Luddy's off to a solid start to the season - he's now hitting .293/.354/.431 - and while the power he showed in 2012 has yet to fully return, he's still serving as a RH threat capable of extending the depth of the offense. Have a JNMHSotG for your trophy case, Mr. Studwick.
Honorable Mentions are due to: Tony Cingrani, who tossed 6 innings of one run ball while striking out 7 Pirates along the way; Sam LeCure, who tossed a perfect 8th inning (and struck out the side in the process); Joey Votto, who singled, walked, was hit by a pitch, and scored; and Jonathan Broxton, who saved his 4th game in 4 tries as the Reds closer of the present by throwing a perfect 9th inning.
Key Plays
- A walk, an umpire's decision, and some iffy defense helped give the Pittsburgh Pirates the early lead in this one. Neil Walker drew a 1-out walk in the Bottom of the 1st, and Andrew McCutchen reached on an infield single that Todd Frazier seemed to think may have been a foul ball (that was probably fair), and Pedro Alvarez followed with a soft grounder that bounced off of Brandon Phillips for - according to the official scorer - a single that brought Walker home. Reds trailed, 1-0.
- Cingrani waded through the next four innings unscathed, and Brandon Cumpton did his best to keep the Reds' offense at bay, too, but the good guys finally broke through in the Top of the 6th. Votto was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Frazier was, too, a few batters later. With runners on both first and second, Ludwick smashed a double to the wall in left-center that brought both around to score. Reds led, 2-1.
- Cingani escaped the Bottom of the 6th despite allowing a pair of baserunners, and Logan Ondrusek, LeCure, and Broxton combined to close the door with clean innings in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. Reds win, 2-1!
Source: FanGraphs
- Cingrani allowed more than 5 hits (6) for the first time in his 23 career starts, a stat that was more fun that it was truly descriptive. Today's performance was better than at least a handful of his other starts given his ability to get through 6 IP and his rather limited number of walks.
- The Reds are currently 5-2 on their three city road trip, and today's win brought them back to the .500 mark for the season at 11 wins and 11 losses. Put a dimmer switch on your collective freakouts.
- Today's win improved the Reds record in 1-run games to 3-106, roughly.
- Devin Mesoraco went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts today, prompting Bryan Price to consider moving him down in the order.
- If my count is correct, the Reds were hit by 6 pitches from the Pirates in this series, while Reds pitching only hit one Pirate hitter. TO.THE.CHIN.
- Tunes.
