The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Jay Bruce hadn't homered since the Reagan administration, but he changed that today. Bruiser honked a dinger, took a walk, drove in 3 runs, stole a base, and in the process reminded us all that despite his early season struggles, he's still capable of carrying an offense when he gets his motor cranking.
That motor's going to start cranking. I FEEL IT IN MY BONES.
That's your JNMHSotG.
Honorable Mentions are due to: Todd Frazier, who smoked a brisket of his own & added a stolen base as part of a fine Saturday afternoon as part of his 3-hit afternoon; Ramon Santiago (!!), who had a hit and a walk; Alfredo Simon, who pitched pretty OK; and Jonathan Broxton, whose scoreless inning lowered his season ERA to 0.47, which will undoubtedly go way up now that we all are paying attention to it.
Key Plays
- Billy Hamilton havoc'd his way to the first run of the game in the Bottom of the 1st thanks to a walk, a steal of 2B, a move to 3B on a a tight grounder to SS Jimmy Rollins, and a boot-scoot home on a sac fly from Bruce. Reds led, 1-0.
- The Top of the 2nd saw Ryan Howard's body type lead off with a single, and he rumbled home as slow as he wanted on a line-shot dinger from Marlon Byrd, who continues to haunt the Cincinnati Reds like he was Hitchcock himself. Reds trailed, 2-1.
- Frazier saw Byrd's dinger and opted to show that his was longer, smashing a 412 ft blast over the CF wall in the Bottom of the 2nd. Game tied, 2-2.
- The Reds added a pair of runs next in the Bottom of the 4th. Frazier singled & stole 2B, and he scored on a double from Zack Cozart. Cozy moved to 3B thanks to some small-bawlin', and he scored on a sac fly from noted RBI man Billy Hamilton. Reds led, 4-2.
- Bruce Bruced a 404 ft Big Baby Bruce in the Bottom of the 5th immediately after Brandon Phillips walked, which means Bruce is the RBI guy and Brandon Phillips is now Joey Votto meaning Brandon Phillips will now be vilified by Paul Daugherty and Jay Bruce is now Brandon Phillips meaning Jay Bruce will be praised by Paul Daugherty. I don't know who is now Jay Bruce, however, but I can guarantee that Paul Daugherty will find some vitriol to spew at new Jay Bruce in the next completely unaccountable, fabricated scenario he draws up as a strawman. Reds led, 6-2.
- Carlos Ruiz dingered off Alfredo Simon in the Top of the 6th, and Jimmy Rollins launched a facepalm of a dinger off J.J. Hoover in the Top of the 7th, but Broxton & Aroldis Chapman brought the goods for a victory-clinching 8th & 9th. Reds win, 6-5!
Source: FanGraphs
- Remember when Devin Mesoraco was hitting over .500 on the season? Well, since the last game he entered with a .500 average to his name (on May 19th), he's hit just 8 for 58 with a sub-.200 OBP. Regression can be as angry as Steve Colburn sometimes.
- It's a super duper small sample size special, but Ramon Santiago's .304 OBP is higher than Billy Hamilton's, Brandon Phillips', Zack Cozart's, Brayan Pena's, Skip Schumaker's, Donald Lutz's, Chris Heisey's, Tucker Barnhart's, Neftali Soto's, and is within .010 of both Ryan Ludwick's & Jay Bruce's. Unless you're the most die-hard of die-hard Ramon Santiago fans, this Other Note is meant to make you depressed.
- Tunejam sent out to my man Killer B.