Reds lose to Indians 7-2 after Tim Adleman leaves early with injury

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Zack Cozart cracked a pair of hits on Thursday against the Cleveland Indians, singling once and doubling once to go along with a rare walk.  It was the kind of outing that not only serves as a manager's dream for a leadoff hitter, but also is somewhat indicative of the evolution of his offensive game over the last two seasons (massive knee injury included).

Cozy's now hitting a cool .328 on the season, and while I don't think anything near that is where he'll eventually end up, it's clear that he's seeing the ball out of pitchers hands' better now than at any point in his career.  So, on an otherwise forgettable evening, have a trophy, Zack.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Joey Votto, who cracked a 2-run homer; Keyvius Sampson, who scrambled to allow just a lone run in 3 IP; and Blake Wood, who cruised through an impressive 1-2-3 9th inning.

Key Plays

• Tim Adleman breezed through the first third of the game, but he ran into trouble in the Top of the 4th.  Francisco Lindor reached on an infield single, Carlos Santana followed with a 2-run homer over the wall in left-center.  Adleman then walked Jose Ramirez, who moved to 3B two batters later when Juan Uribe's grounder up the middle was booted by Brandon Phillips.  Chris Gimenez stepped into the batter's box for Cleveland, but after the first pitch of the at bat Adleman was in visible pain, and he was eventually removed in favor of Caleb Cotham, who induced a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play to get out of further damage.  Still, Reds trailed, 2-0.
• Cincinnati equalized immediately, though, as Billy Hamilton led off the Bottom of the 4th with a double to the corner in RF, and Votto followed with a 2-run dinger of his own, a vintage Votto blast to left-center.  Game tied, 2-2.
• Cotham returned for the Top of the 5th, and that's when his inner Reds bullpenner shined through.  He allowed a double down the LF line to pitcher Josh Tomlin, who scored a batter later when Rajai Davis doubled off Hamilton's glove at the wall in CF.  Davis then stole 3B and scored when Francisco Lindor blooped a single down the LF line.  Santana then bopped his second 2-run dinger of the evening, slugging a meatball on the inside of the plate well over the wall in LF.  Reds trailed, 6-2.
• Sampson took over for the Top of the 6th, and a bit of his inner bullpen showed as well.  He allowed a run (thanks to another Davis double, since Rajai seems intent on making an entire career out of this series).  Reds trailed, 7-2.
• From that point on, both bullpens flexed their respective muscles, and the scoring dried up.  Reds lost, 7-2.

Tony Graphanino

Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes

• Homer Bailey, Devin Mesoraco, Anthony DeSclafani, John Lamb, Jon Moscot, Michael Lorenzen, Raisel Iglesias, Jon Moscot (again), John Lamb (again)...Tim Adleman.  Dang.
• It was later announced that Adleman left the game with a strained oblique, the same injury that has kept DeSclafani on the sidelines through the season's first 40+ games.  Double dang.
• The Seattle Mariners will roll into GABP for a weekend set against the Reds, with first pitch on Friday set for 7:10 PM ET.  Hisashi Iwakuma will toe the rubber for the Mike Camerons, while Dan Straily will look to keep his solid start to the season going for the Ken Griffeys.
• Tunes.