The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Homer Bailey did his best to keep the Cincinnati Reds close in this one, and with a bit of help from his Gold Glove caliber defenders he managed to shut down one of the better offenses in the National League. Bailey threw 8 innings of 1 run ball, struck out 8, yielded 7 hits, and just f*%king walked 4 guys. Bailey flashed his good stuff in the process, routinely hitting the upper 90's with his fastball and commanding corners with his curve, and continued the good run of form he's displayed over the last month plus.
Unfortunately, the offense.
Honorable Mentions are due to: Jumbo Diaz, who K'd the first two batters he faced in the 9th on 99 mph fastballs as part of his perfect inning pitched; Zack Cozart, who doubled to keep his season slugging percentage over .300 (at .304, eesh); and Brandon Phillips, for being the only other Red to get a hit on the day (he went 1 for 2 with a walk).
Key Plays
- The Milwaukee Brewers jumped on Bailey early in this one. Jonathan Lucroy hit a 2-out double to LF in the Top of the 1st, and after Carlos Gomez drew a walk, Aramis Ramirez singled to LF to drive in the Brewers catcher. Reds trailed, 1-0.
- The Reds saved a pair of runs with their typical stellar defense, one in the 6th and another in the 7th. Ramirez was thrown out at the plate by a great relay throw to save the first of those runs, and Mark Reynolds was nailed at home by Devin Mesoraco thanks to a great pair of throws from Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips.
- Unfortunately, the offense sputtered throughout, clearly intimidated by that awful thing growing off Matt Garza's chin, and though both Billy Hamilton and Todd Frazier launched deep fly balls to the warning track in the Bottom of the 9th, the Reds failed to get much of anything off the Brewers starter. That was that. Reds lose, 1-0.
Source: FanGraphs
- Today's complete game shutout was the first thrown by a Reds opponent in GABP since Pittsburgh's Charlie Morton did so in May of 2011.
- Remember when everyone was worried about Homer Bailey? Well, he's got an ERA under 3 over his last 8 starts. In just this week, he threw 17 innings and allowed just 10 hits and a single run while striking out 15...and he did that against the Brewers and the San Francisco Giants, owners of two of the best records in baseball.
- Jay Bruce is 0 for his last 23 at the plate. He didn't have a hit this week.
- I feel terrible for Joey Votto. I have no idea what to do about his current predicament.
- The rubber game of this important series begins at 1:10 PM EST tomorrow, with Mat Latos taking the mound opposite Yovani Gallardo. The last time Latos took the mound, the Reds got beat 1-0, too, and that's entirely too many 1-0 losses for my delicate recent memory to take. BREAK OUT THE BATS, REDS, Y'HEAR?
- Tunes.