Reds Win Civil Rights Game 4-3

Willie Mays, Harry Belafonte and Billy Jean Moffet King were honored before the Reds defeated Arch-rival St. Louis 4-3.

Rookie Drew Stubbs burned a St. Louis outfield that played him shallow all game, hitting a two-run triple to give the Reds the winning cushion.

Fellow rookie, Mike Leake, pitched six solid innings to pick up his fourth win.  He has yet to lose.  Who needs the stinkin minor leagues anyway?

It was not without late drama.

Stubbs triple put the Reds up 4-2. “He actually made a good pitch. It was a slider away. I was able to get a good part of the bat on it," Stubb said.  The Cardinals walked hot hitting Jonny Gomes to pitch to Stubbs.  “It was huge. That gives me extra motivation, and coming through that way gets you going.”
 
Francisco "Coco" Cordero began the ninth inning to attempt his 12th save of the season.  He has blown just one but has driven Reds fans and probably Dusty Baker, coo-coo.  Rookie Chris Heisey replaced Jonny Gomes for defensive purposes.

David Freese opened the ninth inning with a single.  He advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Freese went to third on a ground out to short which would have likely been a double play, absent the wild pitch.  Skip Schumaker singled to make the score 4-3.  Pinch-hitter Jon Jay struck out.  Shortstop Brendan Ryan hitting .167 was pulled for .194 hitting Joe Mather.  Mather hit a line drive to the leftfield wall, that stuck between the turf and padding.  Cardinal thirdbase coach Jose Oquendo sent Schumaker.

Heisey and Orlando Cabrera fired to Ramon Hernandez, who applied the tag to end the game.

"I've never had a save like that," Cordero said.  "For me it was a little disappointing to get a save like that but a "W" is a "W".  Everyone went home happy.  Tonight, they saved me.  That's what I like about this team everybody says, 'I got your back, I got your back'."

“I was waiting for it to kick, and it never did," Heisey said. "I had my feet set for it coming off the wall, but it never did, so I had to get moving again. I just picked it up and let it go, and then I stood there and watched until the play was over. That was great to get that win after last night.”

The Cardinals manager Tony La Russa thought the gamble was worth it in spite of the results.  "With two outs 7 out of 10 times the thirdbase coach will send them," La Russa said. "They have to make two good throws and a catch and tag. I have no problems being aggrssive. If one of the throws is off-line we get a run and tie the game."

Oquendo explained, "The ball got stuck in the wall. It didn't come back to him, so he (Heisey) had to go get it. With two outs he (Schumaker) was going on contact.".

Dusty Baker was thrilled that a sell out crowd was here to see it.

“Like I’ve been saying, this team likes electricity. The last couple of years, it seems like we play better the more people we have. That was some game. Leake pitched great, Arthur (Rhodes) did his thing (a scoreless inning for 13 in a row), Stubbs came up with the big hit, and the execution at the end – that’s why you practice cutoffs and relays, especially when that ball didn’t bounce back. Ramon had to bend down and pick that ball up before making the tag,” Baker said.

Leake beat one of the hottest pitchers in the league in Adam Wainwright, who started the game with a 5-1 record and a 2.08 ERA.

“He was throwing strikes," Baker said. "You could tell what their game plan was, because they were swinging early. They know he throws strikes. He adjusted to that and started throwing breaking balls.”

Leake has gained a reputation for not getting excited which hides his competitive nature.

“That last play got me excited," Leake said.

Hernandez hit an RBI single and Gomes homered to account for the other two Reds runs.

Schumaker's sacrifice fly scored Freese and Colby Rasmus hit a home run for the Cardinals other scores.