The team survived its longest and perhaps toughest stretch on its schedule. The Reds finish the stint with a 12-8 mark, then took two out of three from the Houston Astros.
The Reds surrendered a big lead on Saturday but survived the haymaker with a win, using three hits by Drew Stubbs and some late clutch hitting by Brandon Phillips. Oh yes-almost as an afterthought a well rested Joey Votto responded with a 4-for-4 and a walk. The Reds pulled a full reversal on the Astros to win 12-9.
On Sunday the young 'Stros threw out a stitched up lineup of youthful players, including its starting pitcher, Jordan Lyles. Houston has yo-yoed Lyles between Houston and Oklahoma City, like he was a "wildcatter" for an oil company. Lyles, all of 21 years of age, was first called up when Houston was in Cincinnati on April 29. The Astros lost all four of Lyles' starts until today.
With a lineup in which the oldest Astro was all of 27, the collective youth solved veteran Bronson Arroyo, who has sandals older than that.
The young Astros scratched and clawed for three runs until pinch hitter Justin Maxwell hit a hanging curve for a two-run home run.
The Reds took a brief lead on a home run by their own rookie, Zack Cozart, his sixth of the season. That is one more than the Reds' shortstops hit in the entire 2011 season. Edgar Renteria hit his first home run on July 03 last season.
The Reds had a chance to come back in the eighth inning.
Dusty Baker tried to get Arroyo through the seventh inning, since his spot was scheduled to lead off the Reds' eighth. Maxwell's home run that stretched the Houston lead to 5-2 changed the plan. Baker double switched Todd Frazier for Miguel Cairo and Sean Marshall for Arroyo. Marshall finished the inning and Frazier doubled to lead off the eighth. Cozart's second hit was an infield squib job, putting runners at the corner with two outs. Drew Stubbs, who had four hits in the last two games of the series, struck out and showed some frustration. Votto was next. He scalded a Wilton Lopez pitch to left center but the Astros' Jordan Schafer was playing Votto that way. What could have been a two-run double was merely a sacrifice fly.
Brett Myers earned a save for the Astros.
Meanwhile the St. Louis Cardinals have scored one run in three games against the New York Mets to surrender second place in the NL Central to the Pirates.
One wonders if fans in St. Louis are calling for the club to fire hitting coach Mark McGwire like some of the reactionary Reds' fans who have called for the Reds to fire Brook Jacoby in comments on this blog and those of the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Dayton Daily News. That of course makes zero sense. Johan Santana fired a no-hitter at the Cardinals. The proper etiquette is to congratulate the author of the gem, rather than blame a person, who is merely in a position to help.
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