The West Coast swing finished with a resounding dud.
All it took was three days in San Diego.
The Reds wrapped up their 10 game, 3 city road trip with a 6-4 record that fails to accurately describe the highs and lows of the excursion. After wiping the floor with the then 1st place Giants, the Reds were promptly skunked (twice) and punked (thrice) by the Padres, the most underwhelming team in baseball.
The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
The offense, aside from Todd Frazier's 2 singles and Brayan Pena's NERTY double, did absolutely nothing. No walks, no nothing. Therefore, Johnny Cueto gets the nod by near default, as the ace of the Cincinnati Reds pitched well despite not being his absolutely dominant self, and the 3 runs he allowed over 7 IP did nothing to discredit the fact that he was the most imposing player on the field yesterday.
Congrats on your trophy, Johnny. Congrats on your Honorable Mentions, Todd & Brayan.
Key Plays
- I listened to the Bottom of the 1st on the radio, and if Marty's call of it was any indication, the damage done was nothing more than the steady gnawing of regression eating away at Cueto's stellar season stats. Remember when Cueto's strand rate was at a comical 99% some 6 starts into the 2014 season? Remember his absurd ability to escape jams with the bases loaded? Neither happened in the 1st, unfortunately, and the Padres capitalized. Both Chris Denorfia and Chase Headley singled with one out, and after Cueto walked Tommy Medica to load the bases, Rene Rivera singled softly to right center on a ball that was nearly reeled in by Billy Hamilton's speed in CF. Billy barely got to it, but couldn't hang on as he hit the ground, and being that this happened with two outs in the inning, the runners were moving on contact and the bases cleared.
- The Reds took the field, recorded a few outs, went back to the dugout, recorded a few outs, and retook the field a bunch, but didn't do anything else for two hours. Reds lose, 3-0.
Source: FanGraphs
**that doesn't work, either. This was a terrible idea.
- Joey Votto pinch-hit late in this one, but largely got the day off. Thursday being an off day means he'll get the better part of two days of rest prior to the weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers, and hopefully that'll give his leg some added strength.
- It's impossible to look at the Padres' team stats to this point and think that they're real. They just completed one of the three worst offensive months in modern baseball history in June, their pitching staff has been decimated by injuries, they recently fired their GM, and they just swept the Reds while shutting them out twice in three games. Baseball is life is pain is baseball is life is pain.
- I sincerely hope each and every one of you enjoys the long Holiday weekend. Having the 4th of July on a Friday is some sort otherworldly awesomeness that Julius Randle must have scheduled on purpose when he saw this would be the year he'd get drafted. Thanks, Julius. As a word of advice, please don't try to eat more hot dogs than jch24 this weekend, either.
- Tunes.