One of the better starts of Mike Leake's career falls victim to an effective Andrew Cashner and a late Chase Headley HR.
The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Mike Leake pitched tremendously this evening, and despite the fact he was facing the worst offense in baseball, he made no bones about slicing up the San Diego Padres' offense. Leake threw 8 innings of 1 run, 2 hit baseball, striking out 5 and walking just 1, and it's a crying shame that the Reds couldn't manage to put another run or two on the board for him. Leake lowered his season ERA to a minuscule 3.09, and he has continued to flash the kind of stuff that make him a starter any franchise would envy. That's JNMHSotG worthy, Michael.
Honorable Mentions are due to: Brandon Phillips, who went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI; Joey Votto, who went 1 for 2 with a pair of walks; and Billy Hamilton, who tripled and scored.
Key Plays
- I'm not sure there's a finite definition of frustrating, but the next sentence may well take that honor. The Reds had as many hits in the Bottom of the 1st than the San Diego Padres had in the entire game, yet the Reds lost. Hamilton led things off with a triple, he scored two batters later on a Phillips single, and after Votto smashed one off the RF wall that moved Phillips to 3B (and saw Votto thrown out at 2B), a Frazier ground-out ended the rally. Reds led, 1-0.
- Seth Smith led off with a double to begin the Top of the 4th, and he moved to 3B on a ground-out from Carlos Quentin a batter later. After Chase Headley was hit by a pitch, Jedd Gyorko lofted a fly ball deep enough to be a sac fly that scored Smith. Game tied, 1-1.
- The game remained the same until the Top of the 9th, when Aroldis Chapman was brought on to face the heart of the order. After Chapman struck out both Smith and Quentin, Headley homered to LF on a super-pop-up. The funny thing is, when Todd Frazier hit a fly-out to the wall in RF with 2-on in the Bottom of the 6th, 'tHom waxed poetic on how that ball wouldn't have been within "20 yards" of the wall at the Padres home ball park, but when Headley's pop-up HR cleared the wall, there was no sarcasm. It's to the point where you have to stand on a bed of nails to kiss the girl you love each time the game is televised on FS-Ohio, and that's a damn hard pill to swallow. Ugh. Now 'tHom is making me sound as bitter and frustrated as 'tHom himself sounds. Reds lose, 2-1.
Source: FanGraphs
- The Reds are now 6-12 in 1-run games this season. That's not going to sustain itself.
- It's still amazing to me how many people expect offense in this era to be the same as it was in the 1990's. Slash lines pale in comparison for the same reason pitching lines are infinitely more amazing. I'd recommend you stop yelling at Joey Votto's slugging percentage and start singing the praises of Johnny Cueto's WHIP and Mike Leake's ERA; those two dots are way more connected than many seem to want to acknowledge.
- I'd love to see what the "Mike Leake should DH" folks have to say after Leake's 0 for 3, 3 K evening at the plate. Let Bryan Price do his thing.
- Tunes.
