Reds 3, Cardinals 2 - Anthony DeSclafani shuts down St. Louis

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Gme

With the injury to Homer Bailey and the trades of Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake - not to mention Mat Latos - Anthony DeSclafani has become the de facto veteran of the all-rookie Cincinnati Reds pitching staff since he managed to crack the big leagues in 2014 with the Miami Marlins.  Even on a team that's going nowhere, that's a position that's not pressure-free, and on Tuesday Disco responded by tossing a second consecutive solid outing against the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals.  He tossed 6 innings of 2 ER ball, walked none, and struck out a career high 9 in the process, and continued to show the kind of upside that made him a target by Walt Jocketty last winter.

Disco lowered his ERA to a respectable 3.71 with the outing, and for all you traditionalists out there, he evened his season record at 7-7, too.  Have a trophy, rook.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Brandon Phillips, who singled twice and scored once; Joey Votto, who singled and walked; both Jay Bruce & Marlon Byrd, who each scored once and chipped in with RBI doubles; and J.J. Hoover, who tossed a scoreless inning in relief.

Key Plays

• The Reds jumped on John Lackey in the Bottom of the 1st, and that provided the bulk of their offense on the evening.  Both Phillips and Votto singled to begin things, and after Todd Frazier grounded into a double play behind them that threatened to derail a promising start, both Bruce and Byrd doubled back to back to drive in the game's first two runs.  Eugenio Suarez followed with a single that drove in Byrd, and that put the Reds up, 3-0.
• Disco managed to keep the Cardinal bats quiet through the first two innings, but Matt Carpenter busted that part in the Top of the 3rd when he mauled a meatball well over the wall in right-center for a 2-run dinger.  Reds led, 3-2.
• From that point on, Reds pitching took control, as Disco kept St. Louis off the board and a combination of Burke Badenhop, Hoover, and Aroldis Chapman shut things down from the 'pen.  Reds won, 3-2!

Tony Graphanino

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-08-04&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=2015-08-04&team=Reds&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span>

Other Notes

• According to former RR fearless leader Joel Luckhaupt, when Votto reached base on his 1st inning single, that marked his 60th time on base in his most recent 100 trips to the plate.  It was the first time that'd happened in the big leagues since Ryan Howard did so in 2006.
• Joel also said Votot.  This is his Twitter machine where you can tweet him incessantly about how to spell and be a real fan and whatnot.
• David Holmberg will take the mound opposite Carlos Martinez in Wednesday's contest between these two NL Central rivals, with first pitch again scheduled for 7:10 PM ET.
• Howie tunes.