Reds bounce back from Dongpocalypse, defeat Rockies 7-2

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

The Reds' pitching has been bad. Hoooooo boy, has it been bad. So bad. So, so bad.

John Lamb is a Reds pitcher who has been bad! In three starts since coming back from injury, he's given up a hundred runs on a thousand baserunners. That's what made Wednesday's start in front of the Coors Field crowd so wonderful. Lamb tossed seven innings of one-run baseball, scattering six hits and one walk across the longest start of his career. Lamb fanned only a pair of batters, but was able to keep the Rockies off-balance and minimize damage in some key spots. Tonight was an important start for Lamb in keeping his rotation spot for the foreseeable future (more on that later), so have a trophy John. You sure as hell deserve it.

Honorable mentions go to Billy Hamilton, who collected three hits, including two doubles, drove in two, stole two bases and scored once, Ramon Cabrera, who drove in his first two runs of the season, Zack Cozart, who doubled and scored twice, and Jay Bruce, who dingered.

Key Plays

• If you blinked, you missed the start of this one, as Zack Cozart and Billy Hamilton churned out a respective single and double on just the first three pitches of the game from Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood. Votto pulled a ball to the right side of the infield to score Cozart and, initially, beat a throw to first base when Chatwood missed the bag with his first stab of his foot. Replay showed his second effort did in fact beat Votto, however, and the next two batters were retired without issue. Reds led early 1-0.
• The Rockies, predictably, wasted absolutely no time knotting this thing up against John Lamb, who also surrendered a single and double to the first two hitters of the game, with D.J. LeMahieu driving in Charlie Blackmon for Colorado's first run. Game was tied at one.
• The Redlegs kept it going in the second inning, which began with a walk to Eugenio Suarez and subsequent single by Ivan De Jesus Jr. Suarez scored on a fielder's choice by Ramon Cabrera, who, after the obligatory three straight botched bunt attempts by a Reds pitcher, advanced to third on a double by Cozart. Hamlton followed with a two-run single double on a grounder through the middle of the infield that scored two, and the Reds had a 4-1 lead.
• Things calmed considerably after that, with Lamb settling in nicely to keep the Rox off the boards. It wasn't until the sixth inning that we saw more scoring, which got started with Eugenio Suarez singling to right field and then advancing to second on an error by Carlos Gonzalez. Two batters later, Cabrera drove in Suarez with a single to center for his second RBI of the game. Reds led 5-1.
• It kept coming in the top of the eighth inning, when Jay Bruce continued his recent offensive tear with a solo shot against left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, his 11th of the year. Reds up 6-1.
• The Rockies got that run back in the bottom of the eighth, with a substantial amount of help from Tony Cingrani. Cingrani walked LeMahieu to begin the frame, then airmailed a throw to second after fielding a come-backer from the next batter. LeMahieu scored on a fielder's choice, and the Reds' lead was 6-2.
• The Reds added another insurance run in the top of the ninth, thanks to a throwing error by Rockies catcher Dustin Garneau. After Hamilton had already stolen second base and Votto intentionally walked behind him, the two took off in a double steal attempt, and the throw to nab the tail-runner got away from the shortstop Trevor Story. Hamilton took advantage of the errant throw to make it home, and the Reds led 7-2.
• Ohlendorf closendorfed it. Reds win 7-2.

Tony Graphanino

Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes

• Lamb pulled off this career start despite catching a line drive to the thigh in the bottom of the fourth inning, pretty much smack in the middle of his outing. According to Mark Sheldon, statcast had the ball coming off the bat at 105mph. After some attention from the trainer, Lamb stayed in the game, and held Colorado to a 1-11 showing with an HBP the rest of the way.
• The Cincinnati beat guys also shared some words from Bryan Price tonight regarding the next month, and Price hinted at some big changes to come within the rotation. This shouldn't come as a huge surprise to Reds fans, for whom the permanent arrival of Robert Stephenson and Cody Reed has been much less a matter of "if" and much more a matter of "when", That "when" could be by the end of the month, should the front office decide they are in the clear of Super Two jeopardy regarding their two top pitching prospects. With Anthony Desclafani set to make his final AAA rehab start on Saturday, and Raisel Iglesias a decent bet to return by the end of the month, there could be something eminent to look forward to after all.
• Michael Lorenzen is on his way to the bullpen upon his pending return, according to the same guys.
• Tunes.