Anthony DeSclafani fires another gem as Reds blank Diamondbacks, 3-0

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Anthony DeSclafani was absolutely nails tonight, which is the second straight very, very solid start put up by Disco. It appears as if he’s starting to round into form after all those many months off with arm injuries.

That’s a really big deal for the Reds, of course. It was always a part of the plan that Disco would hopefully be, at worst, a 3-ish type rotational piece that you could count on every five days to keep the team in ball games. His ceiling, when he’s been on and healthy, has been even higher than that. If this is the sort of DeSclafani we can expect going forward and he can truly turn into a top of the rotation type of pitcher (along with finally keeping his arm in tact), it’s huge for the Reds both in 2018 and, especially, 2019.

Tonight: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 9 K on 94 pitches. It doesn’t get a lot better than that. He added a hit and run scored of his own, too!

Honorable mention to Jose Peraza had a 2 hit night, with a run scored. Eugenio Suarez batted in a run and hit, Tucker Barnhart doubled and scored a run, while Jared Hughes and Raisel Iglesias each pitched scoreless innnings.

Key Plays

• Nothing happened for quite some time.
• It wasn’t until the bottom of the 6th that some scoring happened, and luckily it was the Redlegs. Jose Peraza led things off with a single and moved on over to 3B on a Joey Votto single to center field. Eugenio Suarez lifted a fly ball into deep left, plenty deep enough to score Peraza. That would be all they got, though. Reds up 1-0.
• The home team added on in the 7th. Tucker Barnhart smoked and double to the wall in deep center field, before Anthony DeSclafani decided to help his own cause with a base hit. Billy Hamilton worked Clay Buchholz to a 3-1 count, and then laid the most perfect bunt down the 1B line. The suicide squeeze scored Barnhart from 3B, easily, but Buchholz field and throw attempt to get Billy at 1B sailed hilariously past, well, everyone. Disco scored and Billy ended up at second. They would get nothing else, but they added two late. 3-0.
• That was that. Reds pitching dominated this one, and thus, the Reds won, 3-0.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Seriously, the squeeze bunt that Billy laid down in the 7th was really a sight to behold. Buchholz’s throw, too, but in a, uh, different way. Seriously, check this shit out.
• The Diamondbacks are owners of what is, probably, one of the worst uniforms in professional sports. I mean, these road grays are horrendous. I guess with them in town, the Reds did their best to out-ugly them by wearing their stupid camo jerseys. You can’t out-ugly the D-Backs, though, so it was a futile attempt.
• The Reds and D-Backs will square off again tomorrow, with a win guaranteeing the Reds the series. First pitch is a little earlier than a normal night start at 6:40 PM EDT. Jake Owen will play a “free” concert after the game, I’m told. Other than the snippets of songs I’ve heard on the commercials for this concert, I can’t name a song that Jake Owen sings. I bet Scooter and Tucker will be in attendance though.
• Anyway, I got off track. Robbie Ray will pitch for the Diamondbacks, while Matt Harvey (still a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds) will go for the home team.
• Tunes.