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One small step for man, one mashed deep from Frazkind. CIN 5, STL 3.

The Reds 3B mashed a tripledinger, and that powered the Reds to a win over the filthy Cards.

By Wick Terrell
It's a Dusty Baker Honorary High-Five!
It's a Dusty Baker Honorary High-Five!
Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Todd Frazier's season may have thus far been quiet to the rest of Major League Baseball, but it's not been quiet in the world of the Cincinnati Reds, and I've got a feeling that if he continues to hit the way he's hit, other places will be taking notice, too.

Frazier launched his 9th dinger of the season, a 3-run shot that game the Reds their first lead of the game, and he's now on pace to hit over 30 dingers and drive in over 90 runs before season's end.  Couple that with the fact that he plays Gold Glove caliber defense and is a fan of Frank Sinatra and, well, he's pretty much the greatest baseball player I could think of in six seconds.

Put another JNMHSotG trophy in your cabinet, Todd, and get a bigger cabinet while you're at it.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Brayan Pena, who went 2 for 3 with a run scored, an RBI, and a diving stop at 1B that made him smile from the get-go; Billy Hamilton, who walked, scored a run, and stole a pair of bases; Jay Bruce, who doubled and scored in his first game back in the lineup; Homer Bailey, who limited the Cardinals to just 3 runs through 6 innings despite again not having his best stuff; and the back end of the bullpen, who tossed up spotless innings to bring home the win.

Key Plays

  • Brayan Pena got the Reds' first rally started with a 1-base NERT  in the Bottom of the 3rd.  He moved to 2B on a groundout by Zack Cozart and to 3B on a sac bunt from Bailey, and after Hamilton walked and stole 2B, Frazier flew one to the moon for a 3-run dinger.  Reds led, 3-0.
  • The filthy Cards promptly got a pair back in the Top of the 4th, however.  After Matt Carpenter singled and Kolten Wong walked, they moved to 2B & 3B respectively on a Matt Holliday ground out.  Both then scored on a RISPy single by Allen Craig that seared a mental note on 'tHom's brain.  Reds led, 3-2.
  • Jay Bruce got back into action with a leadoff double in the Bottom of the 4th, and after he moved to 3B on a single by Ryan Ludwick, Jah Brule came in to score on a sac fly by Pena.  Reds led, 4-2.
  • A pair of singles by Craig and Matt Adams set up an RBI opportunity for Jhonny Peralta in the Top of the 6th, and he phromptly chapitalized on said ohpportunity by ghrounding into a fhieler's chhoice.  Reds led, 4-3.
  • Mesoraco wasted no time in getting that run back, though, as he mashed an offering from Seth Maness off the facade of the upper deck in LF for a solo dinger in the Bottom of the 6th.  Manny Parra, Jonathan Broxton, and Aroldis Chapman then pitched a scoreless inning each, and Game 1 was in the books.  Reds win, 5-3!
FanGraph Section Effectively Illustrating the Reds Current Climb to 1st Place


Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes

  • Devin Mesoraco deserves most every single accolade being thrown his way after his remarkable start to the 2014 season.  'tHom loves him because he's got 18 RBI in 19 games played, and, well, I love him for that too, 'tHom.
  • Donald Lutz is back with the big leaguers, and he finished the game as the 1B in the 9th inning.  Welcome back, Hulk!
  • Mesoraco's slugging percentage of .739 alone is higher than the OPS of every Red on the 25 man roster except for Frazier.
  • Tunes.

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