Samardzjia pitched a Notre Dame University while Frazier was the leading hitter on the Rutgers University baseball team. They met in Big East play a lot.
On Saturday the pair were trying to establish themselves and bonafide Major League stars.
Frazier got the best of this rematch.
The red hot Frazier has torn up Samardzjia and his teammates this year.
Frazier, who also drove in Jay Bruce with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, improved to .600 (15-for-25) against the Cubs this season.
"I don't know what it is," the rookie said. "It's crazy. I'm comfortable against them and confident, like always. When I'm at the plate, I feel like I can some damage."
"I played against Frazier in college," said Samardzjia of the hot Reds' rookie. "He's confident. He feeds off momentum and he's swinging a hot bat. Maybe he can put on a Rutgers jersey and I can put on the Irish(Notre Dame) jersey and we can go back to college. I'm sure I'll be facing him a lot in the future."
The Reds improved to a season-high 26 games over .500 with Johnny Cueto winning his 16th game of the season and improving to 11-0 in day time games.
Johnny Cueto prepares for night games the same way he gets ready for day games, so he can't explain why he's so much better under the sun.
Whatever the reason, the Reds will take it. Cueto was masterful again on Saturday afternoon and Todd Frazier hit the go-ahead drive for the second straight game, leading the Cincinnati Reds over the Chicago Cubs 5-3 Saturday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
"Don't get me wrong," Cueto said through an interpreter after improving to 11-0 with a 1.62 earned-run average in 13 day-game starts this season. "I like throwing at night, but I like pitching in the day, too. It's not really different. It's all in how I get prepared the night before day games."
Xavier Paul and Miguel Cairo added their first home runs of the season as the Reds roughed up another Chicago starting pitcher for three home runs. They hit three off Travis Wood in a 7-3 win on Friday night and three more off Samardzija.
Cueto (16-6) settled down after allowing Alfonso Soriano's two-run homer in the first. The right-hander gave up three hits and struck out eight in eight innings, earning a standing ovation when he walked off the mound for the last time. He also hit David DeJesus, the first batter of the game.
Cueto, who didn't allow a runner past first base after the first inning and retired 19 of the last 20 batters he faced, is the first Cincinnati pitcher since Danny Jackson in 1988 to win 16 of his first 25 starts. Cueto has won seven of his last eight appearances to move into a tie with Tampa Bay's David Price for the major league lead in wins. That's the kind of performance manager Dusty Baker has come to expect from the pitcher he believes is a legitimate candidate for the Cy Young Award.
"He was dealing," Baker said. "He has to be a serious candidate for the Cy Young Award. We don't talk about it, but that has to be in the back of his mind."
"I've got to keep working," Cueto said. "There's a lot of baseball to go before I can think about that."
Cubs manager Dale Sveum watched Cueto dominate Chicago for the second time in six days. Cueto pitched eight shutout innings in the Reds' 3-0 win at Wrigley Field last Sunday.
"He has a (2.44) ERA for a reason," Sveum said. "He limits the damage. He did everything. His off-speed stuff was good. He worked inside."
Aroldis Chapman allowed two hits, a walk and a run _ his first in 24 appearances _ but held on for his 29th save.
The first-place Reds (73-47) began the day with a six-game lead over Pittsburgh and an eight-game advantage over St. Louis in the NL Central.
No comments:
Post a Comment