Diamondbacks 6, Reds 3 - Holmberg rocked early as Cincinnati drops 7th straight

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Joey Votto continued his torrid 2nd half on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, as the Cincinnati Reds 1B blasted his 23rd dinger of the season, doubled, and walked.  Unfortunately, the rest of the team couldn't quite overcome a tough outing from their rookie starter, but in a season that's otherwise wasted, at least Votto's proving to be worth the price of admission on a nightly basis.

Have yet another trophy, Joe Dan.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Brayan Pena, who went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a run scored; Sam LeCure, who chewed up & spit out a pair of scoreless innings out of the bullpen (with just a single walk and 2 Ks); and Todd Frazier, who went 2 for 4 with a double and a bunt single.

Key Plays

• David Holmberg got knocked around for the majority of his start, and the Diamondbacks wasted no time in getting that started.  A.J. Pollock blasted a solo dinger over the wall in LF in the Top of the 1st, and after Holmy danced around a handful of hits over the next few innings, Yasmany Tomas launched a solo blast of his own in the Top of the 4th to make it a 2-0 game.  The Diamondbacks weren't done in that frame, however, as a single from Nick Ahmed started a flurry that included a single from pitcher Rubby De La Rosa, a sac fly from Ender Inciarte, a double from Pollock, a HBP, and a single from Welington Castillo that glanced off the outstretched glove of Eugenio Suarez at SS that would'be been the 3rd out yet instead resulted in a 2-run single.  When the smoke settled, the Reds were down, 5-0.
• The Reds finally got their offense going in the Bottom of the 6th, and it once again began with a Votto walk.  He moved to 3B on a double from Frazier that skipped off Inciarte's glove in LF, and later scored on a productive grounder off the bat of Jay Bruce.  Reds trailed, 5-1.
• NERTS got another run for the good guys in the Bottom of the 7th, as his leadoff single preceded a productive grounder from pinch-hitter Brandon Phillips and a single to RF by Jason Bourgeois, the latter of which brought Pena home courtesy of a slide that was more of a dance than anything else.  Reds trailed, 5-2.
• Votto blasted a solo dinger over the wall in LF in the Bottom of the 8th, but the DBacks countered with a run of their own in the Top of the 9th thanks again to Pollock, who singled, stole 2B, and later scored on a sac-fly.  That proved to be the end of the scoring, and the Reds lost again, 6-3.

Tony Graphanino

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-08-21&team=Reds&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/livewins.aspx?date=2015-08-21&team=Reds&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span>

Other Notes

• Tonight's game marked the first of the two game celebration that is Tony Perez Weekend at GABP, and that meant much of the Big Red Machine was in attendance.  Jim Day caught up with the likes of Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, and George Foster, all of whom showed up to celebrate their former teammate.
• The recently traded Marlon Byrd made his San Francisco Giants debut on Friday, and he promptly hit a 2-run dinger as part of a 3 hit night (that also included a double) against another one of his former teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• The Reds have now lost 7 consecutive games.  It really didn't even register, since wins and losses mean absolutely nothing at this point.
• Tunes!