Cincinnati Reds punch out Milwaukee Brewers in slugfest, 9-7

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Brandon Phillips continues to just #RiseAndGrind and/or be #blessed or whatever random hashtag Brandon Phillips might use on his critically acclaimed Twitter account.

In all seriousness, Phillips's relevance/resurrection has been one of only a few treats for Reds fans this year, and tonight his average creeps near .300 and his OBP stands at .330+ (I think C. Trent would be allowed to comment on it now), while still bringing All-World defense at the keystone.

I'm sure less and less Reds fans are tuning into these ball games at this point, but Phillips is running out everyday and, at 34 years old, giving the ones who do something to watch. And you know we're #AllReady for that.

Tonight, BP was 3-5 with 2 very crucial RBI in the top of the 8th. Have a trophy, BeeP, you've earned it.

Honorable mention: Joey Votto went 2-4 with a double, a home run, 2 RBI and a walk which is basically just another night at the ball park for him at this point. Gosh I love Joey Votto. Skip Schumaker went 2-4 with a walk, a crucial RBI to tie the game in the 8th, and 2 runs scored. Basically, everything Skip did tonight came in the most gritty way possible. Todd Frazier donked his 35th dinger of the season on a 1-5 2 RBI night. And ALL of the pitchers for going out and being all pitchery. Lord knows the Reds used basically all of them tonight.

Key Plays

• Elian Herrera got the hitting started for the Brewers in the bottom of the 1st, singling into center field. He then stole 2nd while Adam Lind whiffed on strike 3. Khris Davis walked, followed by a Domingo Santana double to left field that scored both Herrera and Davis. Jean Segura flied out ending the inning with the Brewers quickly on top, 2-0.
• In the top of the 3rd, pitcher man Josh Smith swung the bat meat and cranked a triple off the wall in right field. Smith then scored on a Jason Bourgeois ground out. Skip Schumaker then singled into right field, setting the table for Joey Votto, who obliterated a Taylor Jungmann fastball, depositing it deep into the center field seats. Reds take the lead, 3-2.
• Scooter Gennett led off the Brewers portion of the 3rd with a double into the gap. Herrera flew out before Smith gave up a walk to Lind, then Davis smacked a sharp grounder to left field, scoring Gennett. Smith finished with 2 consecutive outs thereafter, but the Brewers evened this one up, 3 all after 3.
• In the bottom of the 4th, Logan Schafer deposited a Josh Smith offering into the seats to lead off the inning. Smith limited the damaged to the dinger, but the Brewers led again nonetheless, 4-3.
• Tony Cingrani relieved Josh Smith in the bottom of the 5th and promptly induced a ground out to Herrera. Lind walked, though, and after striking out Davis, Tony Spaghetti served up a spicy meatball to Santana that resulted in 2 more runs. Brewers lead, 6-3.
• Brandon Phillips led off the 6th with a single, and Todd Frazier decided that there's no party like a dinger party, and promptly muscled a jam shot all the way over the wall in left center field. Jay Bruce then singled, which prompted Milwaukee to hook Jungmann. Eugenio Suarez reached on a fielding error by Segura, then Tucker Barnhart laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Bruce and Suarez to 2nd and 3rd. Brayan Pena, pinching hitting for Cingrani, grounded out while allowing the tying run in the form of Jay Bruce to score from 3rd. All that resulted in the game being knotted again, all 6s in the 6th.
• Adam Lind singled sharply to center with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, followed shortly by Davis's single that sent Lind to third, challenging the noodle armed Reds outfield. Santana singled to right to score Lind and take the lead into the 8th, 7-6.
• Suarez led of the inning with a single which was followed quickly by 2 Reds outs before Bourgeois singled to send Suarez to third. Skip Schumaker doubled on a very soft pop up to left that resulted in 3 Brewers crashing into each other (more on that below), scoring Suarez. Votto was intentionally walked to load the bases for Phillips, who singled to right to score Bourgeois and Schumaker. Frazier popped out to end the inning, but the Reds stormed to a two run lead, 9-7.
• Aroldis Chapman came into the game in the bottom of the 9th and did was Aroldis Chapman does. Reds win, 9-7.

Tony Graphanino

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=1138097&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-09-19&team=Brewers&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=2015-09-19&team=Brewers&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span>

Other Notes

• Reds rookie pitching failed to go any sort of distance again tonight. Which, isn't so much frustrating as expected, but it's still annoying. It's not like the bullpen is particularly good, anyway. Josh Smith went only 4 innings today. Which led to...
• Tony Cingrani... boy, I just don't know. Is he like, good or nah?
• So, MLB.com and MLB Network have this thing called the MLB Awards (sponsored by Esurance, of course). I don't really understand how it's any different than, you know, the "real" awards, but I'm going to mention it here because Joey Votto is nominated for both "Best Major Leaguer" and "Best Everyday Player," of which we know he is both. So, go vote for him, Reds fans. We've gotta win something this year, right?
• Amir Garrett was named the Reds pitching prospect of the year, which is pretty gosh darned cool if you ask me. I surely hope they can figure out his development tract/he doesn't run into any setbacks before those options are all burnt out, because he did the damn thing in Daytona this year.
• Skip Schumaker lifted a floater into left field in the top of the 8th, and 3 Brewers fielders decided to converge on it all at the same time. The result deserves Michael Bay style special effects, but in the end Elian Herrera ended up being completely stabilized before being carted off the field. In replays, it appeared as if he took a knee to the side by Shane Peterson, who was also trying to make the play. It was an ugly play for the Brewers that resulted in a sickening sight, as no one wants to see anyone being carted off the field. All Reds fans and, specifically, all of Red Reporter's thoughts and prayers are with Herrera.
• The Miller Park organ played uppity baseball-like tunes the entire time Herrera was being loaded onto a stretcher, which seems ill-advised.
• This season (and this game) tunes.