For 45th or 85th time this year, Reds play OK, not well enough to win

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

There may not be many more chances to celebrate both the incredible season (and damn solid Cincinnati Reds career) of Zack Cozart. So, since he homered yet again on Monday against Cleveland, it’s our prerogative to dole out one more JNMHSotG to the Reds’ stalwart SS, especially given that the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline is just one week from today.

Zack’s homer was his 12th of the season, and he finished the night with an absurd .318 average and .974 OPS. Those are both Joey Votto-esque numbers, and lord knows we love Joey Votto around here; therefore, love the heck out of Cozart while he’s still a member of the Reds.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Tim Adleman, who pitched into the 7th inning having allowed just 3 ER before allowing a solo dinger and a walk, but was rather cromulent prior to that point (an inherited run scored to run his ER total to 5 in those 6+ IP); Scooter Gennett, who honked another homer; and Joey Votto, who singled (breaking an 0 for 14 skid), was hit by a pitch, and added a walk.

Key Plays

• Bradley Zimmer clocked an Adleman fastball of the wall in CF for a double in the Bottom of the 1st, one that was hit so hard that it caused the Cleveland fireworks promo guru to shoot them off as if he’d homered. Well, he eventually scored on a Michael Brantley sac-fly, so there was some vindication, I suppose. Reds trailed, 1-0.
• Scooter leveled the score in the Top of the 5th when he smoked a 412 foot homer into the left-center seats for a solo shot off Josh Tomlin. Game tied, 1-1.
• Cleveland tacked on a pair of runs in the Bottom of the 5th to re-seize control, however, as Roberto Perez doubled into CF to score Carlos Santana, and Zimmer later added a sac-fly to bring home Abraham Almonte. Reds trailed, 3-2.
• Cozart’s solo shot in the Top of the 6th - a laser over the tall LF wall - brought the Reds back within a run, but a Santana homer off Adleman in the Bottom of the 7th put that lead back to a pair of runs with the Reds behind, 4-2.
• After Adleman was chased in the Bottom of the 7th, Blake Wood took over. Things went poorly. Wood, the former Cleveland reliever, allowed a single and a walk to load the bases, and Zimmer later singled to bring in a 5th run. Reds trailed, 5-2.
• Tony Cingrani took over for the Bottom of the 8th, but he yielded the second dinger of the night Santana, which sucks unless you’ve got Carlos on your (cough, cough) fantasy team. Reds trailed, 6-2.
• After that, the Reds ran into the bullpen buzzsaw that Cleveland has to offer, and went quietly into the night. Reds lost, 6-2.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• The loss means Cleveland “holds” the Ohio Cup. Again. Yay.
• Reds’ minor leaguer Jose Siri extended his career-best hitting streak to 30 games for the Dayton Dragons earlier tonight. As Dragons’ twitter noted, it’s the third longest hitting streak in Midwest League history, which is pretty damn awesome.
• With this one-game makeup date in the books, the Reds will head to New York to face off against the Yankees the next two days. Luis Castillo will take the mound for the Reds in Tuesday’s outing, where he’ll be opposed by Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery. First pitch is set for 7:05 PM ET.
• Tunes.