Reds 5, Nationals 2 - Welcome to the Friday Night Disco Party

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

I'm going to give it to Zack Cozart. Cozy came into tonight's game on a 2-for-33 streak, and broke out in a big way, going 3-for-5 with a RBI.

Key Plays

• The Reds actually got off to a good start, surprisingly enough. Stephen Strasburg grooved a 2-2 pitch, and Joey Votto barey hit it over the wall in left field. The Reds had a... lead? Is that how you spell it?
  
• Strasburg actually hurt himself in the 2nd inning, and Taylor Jordan came in to replace him... which could have been an upgrade? Jordan did a stellar job to start.
  
• Luckily for the Reds, Disco had an inferno, tossing rocks for the first 4 innings.
• That came to a head in the 5th, though. After Wilson Ramos led off the inning with a double, Disco got into a jam after he walked Michael Taylor and the pitcher reached on a bunt where the Reds couldn't get any outs. It looked like there was a chance he could get out of it after they nabbed Ramos on a force at home, but Ian Desmond singled to drive in the tying run. 1-1 game.
• The Nats struck again in the 6th, with Ramos driving in Ryan Zimmerman, who had doubled. Rats.
• Jordan's luck would run out in the bottom of the inning, though, as his walk of Marlon Byrd ended up haunting the Nats. Skipper doubled him from #1stTo3rd, and then pinch hitter Brandon Phillips hit a sac fly to drive in the tying run. The "Billy hitting 9th" experiment actually started to pay dividends, as he drove in Skip, and then stole second and scored on a Zack Cozart single off of new pitcher Aaron Barrett. 4-2 Reds.
• Natinals started a rally in the 7th off of Jumbito, but Tony Cingrani came and put out the fire. It wasn't without controversy, though, as Tony's first pitch drilled Bryce Harper between the numbers, leading to a semi-heated exchange between Harper and Joey Votto. Clown.
  
• With the second pitch of the bottom of the inning, Todd Frazier tattooed a baseball into the bleachers. 5-2 Reds.
• The Nats rallied again in the 8th. Tony Cingrani loaded the bases, but J.J. Hoover got out of the jam.
  
• Chapman shut the door in the 9th. Ball game. Reds win.