Latos at one point threw 26 pitches in a row for strikes and was so dominating with his career-high 13 strike outs that manager Dusty Baker had no thoughts of going to the bullpen.
Latos finished the eighth inning with 98 pitches and a whopping 74 strikes. In a similar situation on Sunday, Baker removed his starter, Mike Leake, in favor of Aroldis Chapman. That move had unwanted consequences but Latos is more of a power pitcher with a larger margin for error.
"He threw strike after strike after strike," Baker said. "Hopefully, he can get on a roll and stay on it for awhile. He's a big old strong boy, man. He had 98 pitches. There have been games when he had that many in the fifth inning."
The coltish Latos was beaming by his cubicle, excited that he could justify the Reds' trade that sent three first round draft picks and former ace Edinson Volquez to San Diego to obtain Latos services.
The Reds got on the board first in the fourth inning against Yovani Gallardo.
Drew Stubbs, back from a injury that cost him two weeks, doubled to start the fourth. Joey Votto walked. Brandon Phillips as cleanup hitter bunted on his own.
"We've been struggling to score lately. I wanted to try some small ball so Jay (Bruce) could hit a fly ball or something and we could get on the board ASAP," Phillips said.
Bruce obliged sending a line drive over Ryan Braun's head in left field to plate two runs.
Latos walked Norichika Aoki to start the game and Nyjer Morgan bunted for a hit. Latos bowed his back and went to work. He retired 15 of the next 16 batters, whiffing six of them.
"My fastball was good. I was keeping it down," Latos said. "I talked to (pitching coach Bryan) Price after the Cleveland game and we worked on some mechanics. My slider was good. I could throw it for strikes or bounce it when I wanted to. I just kept pounding the strike zone."
His one glitch was a pitch he failed to get down to Aoki, who put the ball in the Milwaukee bullpen.
Latos nursed the lead into the ninth, escaping a one out double by Rickie Weeks in the seventh and a walk to pinch hitter George Kottaras. He got out of the mini jam by getting Travis Ishikawa to bounce out.
"I was excited to get out of that inning," Latos said. "Weeks had that double that caught chalk down the line. Those can be back breakers sometimes."
The Reds put up a big run in the ninth. Stubbs singled and stole second. Votto struck out. Phillips went the "big ball" route this time, hitting a double over Morgan's head to add cushion.
"That was the epitome of an insurance run right there," Baker said.
The Reds gained a game in the standings when Philadelphia downed Pittsburgh 8-3.
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| Professionally edited by ML Schirmer For Proofreading services Call 513-240-3120 |
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