Jose Peraza goes 4 for 4, Reds still fall to Angels, 4-2

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Y'know what feels good the day after getting donked in the head with a baseball?  Nothing.  Not a gawdang thing.

Jose Peraza exited Monday evening's game against the Angels early when an errant throw-over hit him in the back of the jaw while he dove back into 1B, but he responded Tuesday with yet another damn fine offensive performance - something we've come to count on from him over the last few weeks.  The SS for the Cincinnati Reds on the evening went 4 for 4 with a double and a stolen base, and his season line now sits at a tidy .325/.351/.405 in limited action at the big league level.  That's a trophy-winning night.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Tim Adleman, who was knocked around early but still managed an effective 6 IP, 3 ER outing; Eugenio Suarez, who donked a 2-run dinger, his 20th of the season; Scott Schebler, who doubled and scored as part of a 2 for 4 evening; and Joey Votto, who went 2 for 4 with a pair of singles.

Key Plays

• The Angels of the Los Angeles and/or Anaheim, California area jumped on Tim Adleman early in this one, with C.J. Cron blasting a 2-run dinger over the CF wall in the Bottom of the 1st to put the Reds in an early hole, 2-0.
• Cron then blasted another homer in the Bottom of the 3rd, a solo shot with 2-out that cleared the tall wall in right-center to put the Angels ahead, 3-0.
• Jered Weaver was methodically effective from the start in this one, and his tortoise-like efficiency kept the Reds off the board until the Top of the 7th.  At that point, Schebler poked a double into the LF corner, and Suarez then followed with a mammoth 2-run homer well over the LF wall to bring the Reds within spitting distance at 3-2.
• Michael Lorenzen blew through the Angels he faced in the Bottom of the 7th, but he ran into Mike Trout and Albert Pujols in the Bottom of the 8th, and it cost the Reds a run.  Trout led off with a double, moved to 3B when Pujols followed with a single, and scored on a lazy single into RF by Andrelton Simmons a pair of batters later.  That left the Reds behind, 4-2.
• After that, a 1-out Peraza double threatened for the Reds in the Top of the 9th, but ultimately Fernandon Salas closed things out, and the Reds lost, 4-2.

Tony Graphanino

Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes

• Suarez's dinger - his 20th of the season - made him the 10th such 3B in modern Reds history to reach that mark in a single season, as Jamie Ramsey noted.
• Zack Cozart went 0 for 4 as the team's DH tonight, and unfortunately his offense has looked rather Cozartian again over the last few months of the season.  Here's to hoping his knee and achilles quit barking enough for him to finish the season on a hot streak.
• No late-night Reds tomorrow, as first pitch in the series finale with the Angels is set for 7:05 PM ET tomorrow. Brandon Finnegan will take the mound for the Reds, and he'll be opposed by Ricky Nolasco.
• Tunes.