Reds win game that lasts approximately forever, 4-2

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

RJ Alaniz pitched two scoreless frames in extras tonight. That’s not really all that notable, of course. The more interesting part of this is that he received his first career at bat in the top of the 12th (given a one run lead by Jose Iglesias), and knocked in his own insurance run with a single, his first hit and RBI as a Major Leaguer.

It didn’t necessarily make the difference, but hey, it’s the second to last game of the season that ended five full hours after it was scheduled to start. So, yeah, let’s get weird. Congrats, RJ.

Honorable mention to Jose Iglesias, who batted in the aforementioned game winning RBI, as well as another one on the night (he’s the most important batter for the Reds tonight). Tucker Barnhart, who hit a dinger, and the Reds bullpen, who pitched like 19 scoreless innings of baseball tonight.

Key Plays

• Tucker Barnhart got the Reds on the board first with a solo home run in the top of the second inning. Reds, 1-0.
• The Pirates came back, though, in the bottom half of the frame. Jose Osuna singled followed by a Kevin Kramer walk. Jake Elmore moved Osuna to third on a fly out, and Osuna came around to score on a passed ball by Barnhart. Erik Gonzalez grounded out before a double by Steven Baron scored Kramer. Pirates lead, 2-1.
• Phil Ervin doubled to begin the fourth and moved to third on a Barnhart ground out. He’d score on a Jose Iglesias single. Brian O’Grady ended the threat with a double play. Tied at 2 after 3.5.
• The game went to extras, where nothing happened until the 12th. Kyle Farmer started that frame with a single before Ervin was hit by a pitch. Barnhart grounded into a double play, second to first (which Ervin interfered on in a big way, sending Farmer back to 2B). Farmer would then advance to third on a passed ball. Jose Iglesias doubled Farmer in for a run, before Iglesias himself scored on a single by RJ Alaniz. Reds lead, 4-2.
• And that was that, Alaniz shut down the bottom of the 12th. Reds win, 4-2.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Rain delayed this one for more than an hour to start. Fun stuff, this last weekend of Reds baseball.
• Tyler Mahle will make the start for Trevor Bauer tomorrow, as Trevor Bauer is still plagued by whatever the hell is infesting the Reds clubhouse. So, Trevor Bauer’s first season as a Red is officially over.
• Speaking of which, the Reds season will be officially over tomorrow after one last faceoff with the Pirates in Pittsburgh. First pitch for the entire league is set for the 3:00 PM window, specifically 3:05 PM in this case.
• The games are all scheduled for the same time so that no one knows the outcome of a particular playoff race and rests players. There’s very little left to be decided, really, as all 10 teams are in at this point. The drama resides in the NL Central, where the Cardinals lead the Brewers by a game. If the Cards were to lose to the Cubs tomorrow while the Brewers beat the Rockies, then the two teams would have to play a tiebreaker game on Monday before going their respective ways to the actual playoffs. The AL’s remaining question mark was decided tonight, as Oakland won and will be hosting Tampa Bay in the Wild Card game.
• Tunes.