Giants 11, Reds 2 - Regression hits Mike Leake

Game the of Star Honorary Memorial Nuxhall Joe The

Jay Bruce has been stuck in a slump the likes of which would be laughed at by the other numerous slumps in Jay Bruce's notoriously streaky career.  He's had what sounded like a grand slam off the bat fall just shy of the wall, as well as two other hard-hit cracks caught on warning tracks - one of which came Saturday night against the San Francisco Giants.  He has, at least, been hitting the ball hard, and that finally paid off for him when he dingered off Ryan Vogelsong in the midst of the blowout.  He also got some BABIP luck, finally, when he cue-balled a single down the LF line thanks to an awkward swing and the Giants' shift.

Bruce finished 2 for 4 on the night.  That's pretty much the end of the Cincinnati Reds' positives.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  JJ Hoover and Jumbo Diaz, who both tossed scoreless innings and each K'd two; Zack Cozart, who scared the leadoff position by walking twice; Skip Schumaker, who went 1 for 2 with an RBI double; and Tucker Barnhart, who went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Key Plays

• Mike Leake got outs in the Top of the 1st.  Three of them, actually.  He got three outs in the Top of the 2nd, too, but before number three was recorded, the Giants had plated a pair of the goofiest runs you'll ever see.  Brandon Belt goofed a solo dinger to CF, and that was followed by an even goofier double by the newly re-minted Hunter Pence.  Pence then scored when Brandon Crawford and his beautiful hair singled up the middle.  Reds trailed, 2-0.
• Greg White continued his series-long assault on Reds pitching by launching a solo dinger of his own off of Leake in the Top of the 3rd.  It was his first of the season and just the 16th he's hit in 7 years and over 2300 PA.  His name is Gregor Blanco, too.  I'm bad at funnies.  Reds trailed, 3-0.
• The Pence/Crawford combo flipped their script in the Top of the 4th, as Pence singled and Crawford then doubled him in.  Casey McGehee then looped in a single, and that brought Crawford around to score.  Reds trailed, 5-0.
• Rite Aid.  Circuit City.  Sears, Old Yeller, G.D. Ritzy's, AOL.  Mike Leake in the Top of the 5th.  Crawford launched a grand slam, and at this point you really don't care about how the bases got loaded.  Reds trailed, 9-0.
• We keep hoping for Burke Goodenhop.  Unfortunately, the Top of the 6th featured Burke Badenhop.  Two more runs scored on single after single after single after single after single after single after single after single after single after single after single.  Reds trailed, 11-0.
• But enough about the Giants.  Jay Bruce entered the evening having gone 7 for 19 with a dinger and a double off Ryan Vogelsong in his career, and in the Bottom of the 6th, he whacked a meaty solo dinger to get the Reds on the board.  I'm willing to ignore the hell out of the rest of this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad game and focus on the fact that Bruce hopefully is turning things around.  Brandon Phillips and Tucker Barnhart reached on a pair of singles later that inning, and Beep Beep'd around to score when Skip Schumaker laced a double to the corner in LF.  Reds trailed, 11-2.
• Yeah.  Reds lose, 11-2.