Reds use late surge to hammer Cardinals

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Zack Cozart had been struggling as of late. Dealing with knee issues and Achilles pain, his performance seemed to have declined in recent weeks. Today against the Cardinals, he posted his second straight strong offensive performance, helping the Reds to a 9-1 victory over the Cardinals. Cozart’s line on the evening was 2-4 with 2 doubles, 1 RBI, 1 walk, and 1 run scored. Have a trophy, Cozy, and here’s to you finishing the season on a positive note.

Honorable mentions go to: Billy Hamilton, for going 2 for 4 with a walk, another stolen base, and 3 runs scored; Joey Votto, for reaching base 4 times in a 1-2, 3 walk performance, Ramon Cabrera for coming up with a clutch 2-run single and putting the game away for good, Jose Peraza for continuing to hit the dang ball in a 2-4, 1 walk, 1 RBI, 1 stolen base performance, and Dan Straily for limiting the damage in an uncharacteristically wild outing, going 5.2 innings and giving up only 1 earned run on 3 hits, 7 walks, and 5 strikeouts.

Key Plays

• The Cardinals got things started early, putting up an early run off of Straily. After Matt Carpenter lined out to begin the inning, Jedd Gyorko would hammer a ball into the left field seats to give them an early lead. Thankfully, Straily was able to limit the damage to just 1 run and got out of the inning. Cardinals lead, 1-0.
• The Reds were able to get that run back and tie things up in the third inning. Tyler Holt led off the inning with a ground-rule double to right. After Dan Straily struck out and Billy Hamilton lined out, Zack Cozart would come through with a clutch, 2-out double to bring in Holt to tie the game.
• The Reds would take the lead for good in the bottom of the 5th. After Dan Straily led off with a strikeout, Billy Hamilton would get on with a single to left. Zack Cozart would move him to third with his second double of the game. Joey Votto was then intentionally walked to load the bases, which ultimately didn’t matter because Billy would run home to score on a passed ball. The Reds were unable to get anything else out of the inning, but led 2-1 after the 5th.
• The bottom of the 7th was good to the Reds. It all started with another single by Billy Hamilton, his second of the night. After a pop-out by Zack Cozart, Joey Votto would come up and bloop a double to center to send Billy to third. Adam Duvall would follow that up by being intentionally walked. That would bring up Ramon Cabrera in the form of a pinch hitter, where he came through with a huge 2-RBI single to right field. Reds lead, 4-1.
• If the game wasn’t put away in the 7th, the Reds made sure it was in the 8th. Ivan De Jesus, Jr. got things started with a 1-out double to center. That would be followed by three straight walks to Billy Hamilton, Zack Cozart, and Joey Votto, the last of which would bring in De Jesus. Adam Duvall would then hit a sac-fly to left to score Hamilton. After a walk to Scott Schebler would load the bases again, Jose Peraza would come through with a RBI single that scored Cozart. Tony Cingrani would then come in and shut the door in the 9th. Reds win, 9-1.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• The Reds are undefeated in games against the Cardinals when two awesome Reds blogs get together to watch them play.
• Billy Hamilton collected his 58th steal today, which is now a career high for him. He also had another spectacular catch, as he tends to do when Dan Straily is on the hill.
• Going into today’s game, Jose Peraza was hitting .400/.429/.567 since his call-up. After a 2-4, 1 walk game that line went up. It’s good to finally see him getting regular at-bats.
• The Reds go for the sweep on Sunday at 1:10 PM. Tim Adleman (2-2, 3.82) will face off against Carlos Martinez (12-7, 3.07) in the series finale.
• Tunes.