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The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
You get the walkoff, you get the goods!
Todd Frazier walloped a 2-out double to the corner in LF in the Bottom of the 10th that scored Chris Heisey and won the game, and that's the kind of flying to the moon that wins trophies, so today's JNMHSotG gets handed to Frazier so he can put it in his cabinet. Thanks for that, Todd; it turned a lazy Sunday afternoon into a cheery one.
Honorable Mentions are due to: Brandon Phillips, who mashed a huge solo dinger in the Bottom of the 8th that tied the game as as some sweet icing on top of his tasty series cake; Brayan Pena, who went 2 for 3 with a dinger of his own and sports the best double ear flap helmet the Reds have seen in at least a few months; Zack Cozart, who went 2 for 3 with a walk; Sam LeCure, who tossed another scoreless inning on his 30th birthday (Happy Birthday, Sam!); and Joey Votto, who went 2 for 5 with a ground rule double and several other loud outs.
Key Plays
- Scooter Gennett started the scoring today with a solo scoot over the wall in RF with 1-out in the Top of the 1st. Reds trailed, 1-0.
- The Brewers played add-on in the Top of the 3rd thanks to - who else - Carlos Gomez. Gomez hit a 1-out double off the wall in left-center, moved to 3B following a productive ground out from Gennett, and scored on a single up the middle from Jonathan Lucroy. Reds trailed, 2-0.
- NERTS nert'd his 3rd NERT of the season to lead off the Bottom of the 3rd, a long solo shot into the RF stands that got the Reds on the board. Unfortunately, Khris Davis khrushed a Simon pitch for an opposite field solo shot of his own in the Top of the 4th to once again give Kyle Lohse and the Brewers a two run lead. Reds trailed, 3-1.
- Phillips led off the Bottom of the 4th with a leadoff double to the wall in LF, moved to 3B on a productive ground out from Chris Heisey, and scored on a deep sac fly to RF from Todd Frazier. Reds trailed, 3-2.
- The Reds strung together some solid PAs in the Bottom of the 6th beginning with a smoked ground-rule double from Votto that cleared the wall in left-center with one out. Phillips walked behind him, Heisey followed with a single that was hit too hard for Votto to score, but with the bases loaded, Frazier hit a liner right to Gennett at 2B that was flipped to second to force a double play and end the threat. In the Bottom of the 7th, Pena and Cozart had back to back 1-out singles that left runners on 1st and 3rd, but Pena was pulled with what appeared to be a slight hamstring tweak. Billy Hamilton was brought on to pinch-run, and Jay Bruce was brought on to pinch hit for Simon, but Bruce struck out against reliever Will Smith, and Smith then got Skip Schumaker to fly out to end the threat.
- Phillips took matters into his own hands in the Bottom of the 8th, launching a game-tying uni-dinger off the batter's eye in CF. Game tied, 3-3.
- After LeCure escaped trouble in the Top of the 10th with a big strikeout of Carlos Gomez with runners on 2B and 3B, the heart of the Reds order came to the plate in the Bottom of the 10th with a win on their mind. Votto struck out looking, however, and when Phillips popped out in foul ground to Lyle Overbay at 1B, it seemed as if the Reds were set for an 11th inning of play. ALL OF A SUDDEN, Heisey walked, and Frazier smacked his second double off Tyler Thornburg in as many days, propelling Heisey around to score from 1B. Reds win, 4-3!
Source: FanGraphs
- Jay Bruce was a late scratch from today's lineup due to some knee soreness, and Heisey got the start in RF in his stead. Bruce, of course, pinch-hit late in the game, and will likely be back in the lineup again on Tuesday.
- Brandon Phillips went 7 for 16 in the series with 2 doubles, a dinger, a walk, and 2 RBI, and seemingly minutes following the collected death knell of his season was expected, Phillips now has a higher batting average than Joey Votto and is out-slugging Jay Bruce.
- NERTS NERTS NERTS NERTS NERTS NERTS NERTS NERTS! NERTS stole our hearts again today with another nerty performance, but he was lifted in the Bottom of the 7th following what appeared to be a hamstring tweak. Dang.
- The Reds have tomorrow off before starting a Bud Selig Totally Awesome Two Game Series Sandwiched Between Two Off Days in Boston against the Red Sox. Yep, the Reds play a total of two baseball games between Sunday afternoon and Friday night at 7:10 EST. Thanks, Bud!
- The Reds, at 15-16, now have the best run differential in the NL Central at +17, and are tied for 2nd place behind the Brewers.
- Tunes.