It Doesn't Take Much. Cubs beat Cubs, 4-1

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Brandon Phillips went 2-3 with an RBI, which is good enough for me. His diving stop in the 8th apparently really gummed up his thumb, so it may be his last JNMHSotG for a while. He'll have this one to keep on his mantle until then.

Chapman struck out the side in the ninth, wonderfully. Billy Hamilton had a go-ahead triple, but also was caught stealing. Ramon Santiago hit a double and I'm glad he's hitting well because he's probably starting the next couple of games.

Key Plays

• The Reds went up early as Ramon Santiago doubled home Brayan Pena. Santiago was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple, but you can't blame him for being overenthusiastic the way he's been hitting recently. 1-0 Reds.
• Anthony Rizzo hit his 20th home run of the year in the third to tie the score. He'd be the last Cub on base until the seventh.
• The fifth was Cubbariffic. Cozart got on-board with a bloop single into no-man's land. An out and a bunt later, Hamilton his a screaming liner to bring him home. The centerfielder Ruggiano botched the play, allowing Billy to get to third easily as everyone was screaming for him to come home. While it's a bummer that he didn't, Third Base Coach Steve Smith made a good call as Skip Schumaker walked, BP singled, and Jay Bruce singled to tack on two more runs after the triple to make the score 4-1.
• In the eighth inning, Brandon Phillips dove over his wrist for a ball, bending it in an awkward way. He was taken out of the game immediately, and it certainly doesn't look good for him. The Reds have no middle infielders on the 40-man roster to take his place. That said, while writing this tHom said that BP has a strained right thumb and no breaks. So he may be okay after a bit of rest.
  

Streakgraphs

Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes

• This series ends tomorrow at 12:35 p.m. ET as Homer Bailey hosts this Hendricks fella, whoever he is.
• Billy Hamilton left the game after the seventh with a tight hamstring. "Precautionary" blah blah blah. But still, you can call me 7-11 for the big gulp I just took.
• "Tongue Tied" s a good summer song.
  
• You can think of a better summer song. Put it in the comments. Consider it a birthday present to me.