Reds thump Cardinals 8-2 in rain-infested six-hour marathon

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

There was nothing on StatCast that was truly impressive from Cincinnati Reds shortstop Jose Peraza on Saturday. As the club dodged multiple rain delays and nearly six hours of time between start and finish against the St. Louis Cardinals, Peraza dinked a pair of loopers into shallow RF, singled on a comebacker off a pitcher, rolled a single past the SS into LF, and hit a grounder juuuust slow enough up the middle for another infield single, all highlights of a 5 for 6 night that included him scoring a run and driving in a pair.

Five hit days are still five hit days, though, and as good as he’s been going of late, it’s hard not to begin to expect things like this to happen for him. The kid’s been on a tear for several weeks now, and it’s been a joy to watch.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Luis Castillo, who allowed 2 ER in 5 rain-shortened innings, on 5 H with 2 K against nary a walk; Joey Votto, who went 2 for 5 with a walk, run scored, and 2 ribbies; Scooter Gennett, who went 2 for 4 with a walk and a pair of ribbies; Amir Garrett, who fired a scoreless inning with 2 Ks; David Hernandez, who also fired a scoreless inning of relief; Alex Blandino, who singled and was hit by a pitch; and Billy Hamilton, who singled, walked, and scored twice.

Key Plays

• Matt Carpenter swung a bat in the Bottom of the 1st. On his swing, he made contact with a Luis Castillo meatball, and the ball went far. Really, really far. ‘Twas a solo dinger down the RF line to open the Cardinals day on offense, and the Reds were down early, 1-0.
• Kolten Wong led off the Bottom of the 4th with a double into the RF corner, and later scored from 3B on a 1-out nubber from Marcell Ozuna that went just far enough from home to allow the speedy St. Louis 2B to scoot home. Reds trailed, 2-0.
• After about a billion hour second rain delay, play resumed in the Top of the 6th with reliever Mike Mayers on the mound for St. Louis. He was greeted by a Votto double to the wall in CF, and Scooter then followed with an RBI double to get the Reds on the board, finally. Reds trailed, 2-1.
• Hard-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks took over for St. Louis in the Top of the 7th, and it went swell for the Redlegs. He doinked Dilson Herrera with a 101 mph heater to the ribs, walked Billy Hamilton, and then allowed a single to Adam Duvall to load the bases. Peraza then hit a comebacker up the middle that Hicks tried to knock down - and did - but Herrera scored from 3B and Peraza raced up the line for an infield single. Scooter later laced a 1-out rocket into RF for an RBI single to give Cincinnati the lead, and Suarez followed by smacking a breaking-ball into left-center for a 2-run single, and the Reds chased Hicks with a 5-2 lead.
• It was more of the same for the Cincinnati offense in the Top of the 8th. Alex Blandino chipped in with a leadoff, pinch-hit single, and Billy followed with a single of his own off Greg Holland. Peraza then singled to load the bases and chase Holland in favor of lefty Tyler Lyons, who immediately served up a 2-run single into CF to Votto. Reds led, 7-2.
• The Top of the 9th saw much of the same from the Cardinals bullpen, as Bud Norris hit a few guys, Peraza’s single up the middle scored one, and the Reds leapt to an 8-2 lead that they’d maintain ‘til the finish.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• This game endured a 52 minute rain delay that came immediately after the end of the 1st inning. Considering the radar looked pretty damn ominous all day, I’m rather surprised they even started the game on-time before rolling out the tarp. Both starting pitchers remained in the game after the delay, however.
• Well, they did for that delay, at least. After the 5th inning, the skies opened up and baseball hit the shelf for what seemed like another Mesozoic Era. Both starting pitchers were done when play finally resumed nearly two hours later.
• Scott Schebler made a great catch at the wall in RF on a Yadier Molina deep fly in the Bottom of the 6th, and exited with what appeared to be a shoulder injury after slamming into the padding. Dang.
• Anthony DeSclafani and Miles Mikolas will share the mound to start Sunday’s series finale, which just so happens to also be the final game of the first half of the season for both clubs. First pitch is set for 2:15 PM ET.
• Tunes.