The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Tim Adleman. Remember Tim Adleman? He was the Cincinnati Reds' 28 year old rookie who appeared from seemingly nowhere in May and surprised us all with 4 starts of 3.72 ERA ball, posting a solid 116 ERA+ in the wake of having worked at a grocery store to make ends meet.
Well, an oblique injury threatened to shovel that story to the back shelves of Reds history and end Adleman's front-page story altogether. However, Tim just wasn't going to let that be the entire story, and after a lengthy comeback that made most all of us overlook him yet again, he returned to the mound on Friday and picked right up where he'd left off.
Adleman tossed 5 scoreless innings against the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers, and just because that story's so damn Disney, he even chipped in with a 2-ribbie double to help his own cause - his first career hit in the big leagues. Considering he returned to the Reds' rotation fresh off 14 consecutive scoreless innings with AAA Louisville, he's been making quite a case to be much more than just filler for these rebuilding Reds, and it's hard at this point to argue with his performance. So, congrats, Tim, and welcome back to the fold.
Honorable Mentions are due to: Joey Votto, who blasted a 3-run dinger, walked, singled, and continued being the most dominant left-handed hitter in all of baseball; Michael Lorenzen, who tossed 1.2 scoreless innings and launched a 3-run dinger; Eugenio Suarez, who went 2 for 4 with a run scored; Brandon Phillips, who also went 2 for 4; Billy Hamilton, who went 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored; and Ivan De Jesus, Jr., who went 2 for 5 with a run scored, too.
Key Plays
- Dodgers starter Bud Norris seemed to have issues with the GABP mound early in the Bottom of the 1st, and the Reds sure as heck capitalized on it. Hamilton coaxed a leadoff walk, De Jesus, Jr. singled behind him to put runners at the corner, and Votto then bonked a 3-run dinger into the grass beyond the CF wall to put the Reds ahead early, 3-0.
- The Reds then put another trio of runs on Norris in the Bottom of the 4th. A leadoff single by Suarez, a subsequent wild pitch, and a productive grounder left Henny-O on 3B with just one out, and that's when the Dodgers' gameplan fell apart. They walked Tucker Barnhart to get to Adleman, and the Reds' starter then responded with a 2-ribbie double. A later Hamilton walk, single from De Jesus, Jr., and bases loaded walk by Votto drove in another run, chased Norris, and left the Reds ahead, 6-0.
- The Dodgers plated a run in the Top of the 7th off Ross Ohlendorf in his second inning of work, as Corey Seager singled into RF to drive in Rob Segedin, who had walked to leadoff the inning. That was quickly erased by Lorenzen, however, who both took over for the Dorf to get out of the Top of the 7th jam, but also bonked a 3-run dinger off Pedro Baez in the Bottom of the 7th put the Reds well out in front, 9-1.
- The Dodgers added a meaningless run in the Top of the 9th off Keyvius Sampson, but that wrapped the scoring. Reds won, 9-2!
Tony Graphanino
Source: FanGraphs
Other Notes
- Lorenzen, as you'll remember, was a star OF for Cal State Fullerton prior to being drafted 38th overall by the Reds in the 2013 MLB Draft. There was much discussion at the time about his future role, as many in the organization thought he'd have a chance to be a fast-moving OF, but he ultimately took the pitching route and has seemingly found a niche. Considering he returned to the team earlier in the day on Friday after a family emergency sent him to the team's bereavement list, I'm sure his performance was satisfying on numerous levels.
- Votto's dinger was his 20th of the season, the 7th such season in which he has hit at least that many. Two other Reds luminaries - George Foster and Adam Dunn - can make the same exact claim, though each of Tony Perez, Frank Robinson, Johnny Bench, and Jay Bruce can claim more than that.
- Brandon Finnegan will get will get the start on Saturday in the second game of the series against the Dodgers, and he'll be opposed by Brett Anderson and his 45.00 current big league ERA. First pitch is set for 7:10 PM ET.
- Tunes.