Another Series Win, Reds 7 Cubs 2

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Zack Cozart had a 3-hit day including a double, scored 3 runs and drove in 1.  That makes Zack 8 for his last 15 (and only one strikeout!) with a double and a triple, and if he could get on a hot streak it would do wonders for the offense.  He also stole two bases.  Billy Hamilton gets an honorable mention for being on base four times and stealing a base.  Todd Frazier gets an honorable mention for a multi-hit game with a stolen base.  Billy Todd, and Zack basically put the offense on their shoulders today and got the job done.  Dylan Axelrod also gets an honorable mention for gutting out 5 scoreless innings after running a pitch count up to 50 through the first two of them.  He allowed 2 hits, 3 walks, and had 8 Ks.  His bunting gets an extremely dishonorable mention, however.

Key Plays

• The offenses were making the pitchers work early and often in this one.  Axelrod and Arrieta got throught the first unscathed despite allowing baserunners and stolen bases.
• The Reds struck first in the 2nd: Negron walked and stole a base, and Cozart singled him home.  Cozart stole second, and Billy doubled him home.  Then Todd Frazier singled Billy home and stole second base, but was stranded there.  Reds led 3-0.
• The Reds struck again in the 4th: Cozart singled and stole second, and Todd singled him home after a Billy walk.  The Brandon Phillips doubled to score both runners.  Reds led 6-0.
• In the 6th, the Reds piled on some more: Cozart doubled and moved to third on an error by Alcantara.  Then Billy singled him home.  Todd then reached on an error, and Devin Mesoraco walked, but were stranded.  Reds 7-0 at that point.
• The Reds cruised along with that lead until a bit of drama in the 9th inning.  Jumbo Diaz allowed a leadoff single to Starlin Castro, followed by a single from Luis Valbuena, then a single to Jorge Soler scored Castro.  The first out came when Alcantara hit a sac fly to make the score 7-2.  But then Jumbo coaxed a double play ball to wrap up the game.

A FanGraph

Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes

• Axelrod got his first win of the season and his first in the NL.
• Jay Bruce struck out all five times he came to the plate, on a day when pretty much everyone else was contributing on offense.  Lost season.
• The Reds have put together a very modest stretch of 4 wins in the last 5 games.  They've done this one other time post-ASB, August 3-7.
• The Cubs committed two errors in this game, giving them five for the series.  But that count hardly tells the story of their actual defensive performance; they easily could have been charged with double that number.