Padres 6, Reds 3: Disco Demolition Day

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Todd Frazier got off to a moderately slow start to his spring, tweaked his bat, missed some time, and promptly got back to busting heads like he did for much of the 2014 season.  Today, the Cincinnati Reds 3B smacked a pair of hits - one a double - and also stole his second base of spring training against the San Diego Padres.  On a day when the offense lacked a lot of punch despite starting most every expected regular season regular, that was the bulk of the production, and for that Toddy Boop gets the JNMHSotG.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Joey Votto, who went just 1 for 4 with 2 K's, but drove in a run and reportedly hit a pair of frozen ropes that just happened to be hit right at Padres OFs; Kris Negron, who went 1 for 2 with a double and a run scored; J.J. Hoover, who K'd the only batter he faced as he continues to improve upon his rough start to the spring; and Evan Mitchell, who tossed 0.2 perfect innings of relief and may or may not be Batman.

Key Plays

• Anthony DeSclafani cruised through the Padres lineup the first time through, facing just the minimum 9 batters through 3 IP.  Unfortunately, the second time through wasn't so kind.  In the Top of the 4th, Matt Kemp tagged him for a dinger with Cameron Maybin on base, though that was just the start of the damage.  Reds trailed, 2-0.
• In the Top of the 5th, Clint Barmes doinked a 1-out solo dinger, and Disco was then victimized by a single from opposing pitcher Ian Kennedy that began a 2-out bruising.  Will Venable pinch-hit with a double to put runners on 2B & 3B, and Yangervis Solarte followed with a 3-run blast over the wall in RF.  Reds trailed, 6-0.
• The back-up Reds went to work in the Bottom of the 8th to add some respectability to the final score, as Luis Gonzalez led off with a single, Ray Chang followed with one of his own, and after a strikeout and a Jeff Gelalich force-out left runners on 1B & 3B, Gonzalez scored on a single from the white-hot Chris Dominguez.  Skip Schumaker followed with a single, too, and that plated Gelalich.  Reds trailed, 6-2.
• Never-say-die Negron doubled in the Bottom of the 9th, and he scored two batters later after Brennan Boesch's single moved him to 3B and one of Votto's smashed liners got him in via sacrifice, but that was all the Reds could muster today.  Reds lose, 6-2.

Retro-ny Graphanino

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=wins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=1999-09-04&team=Phillies&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/wins.aspx?date=1999-09-04&team=Phillies&dh=0&season=1999">FanGraphs</a></span>

Other Notes

• In somewhat of a scheduling oddity, this was the one and only contest between the Padres and Reds this spring despite both having their spring homes just miles from each other.  That's a bummer, too, since Peoria trips have been hilariously entertaining on RRSB's of yore.
• Despite Disco's rough outing, his spring ERA still sits at a pert 3.51.  He's scheduled for one more start before the season, this one in Montreal over the weekend.
• Ol' Kevin Gregg tossed a scoreless inning with a K and a hit allowed, and is still totally going to make the team.  Still not sure how I feel about that, but there aren't a bevy of better options than him at this point.
• I'm massively disappointed in myself for not being aware of Mitchell sooner.  He was the Reds 13th round pick in 2013 out of Jeff Brantley State University and tossed 32 lukewarm innings for Dayton last year.
• Tunes.