Here's a summary about tonight's game: summary.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014 Mike Leake! v. Jake Peavy |
If you can remove yourself from the disappointing finish to last night's game between the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox, there's actually a decent bit to be happy about. Homer Bailey struggled early, but he still limited a team that scored 57 more runs than any other in baseball last year to just 3 in 6 innings; the Reds rallied late, on the road, against an elite reliever in Junichi Tazawa; both Brandon Phillips and Zack Cozart continued their recent strings of hot-hitting; and Tucker Barnhart looked plenty capable of controlling the rigors of being a Major League catcher.
Hell, Skip Schumaker even looked pretty good.
A loss is still a loss, however, and the Reds will take the field behind Mike Leake tonight in an effort to salvage a series split, and since the good guys have another off-day scheduled for tomorrow, this will be your last chance to watch the Reds play for longer than a Hideo Nomo windup. Leake has gone at least 7 innings in each of his last three starts, the most recent of which was an 8 inning, 2 run performance in a loss against the Milwaukee Brewers five days ago. More of that would be nice, Michael.
The Red Sox will counter with Jake Peavy, who has managed a 2.87 ERA through his first six starts despite a WHIP of 1.35, which suggests the Split-Squad Reds may have a puncher's chance against the former NL Cy Young Award winner. Peavy is 6-0 with a 2.14 ERA in 10 career starts against the Reds (mostly from his time with the San Diego Padres years ago), but aside from Brandon Phillips, nobody in tonight's lineup has ever really faced him enough for it to matter (except for NERTS, who nipped a Peavy pitch for a dinger once upon a time).
I hate clam chowder.
Go Reds.