About Me

My photo
I am a freelance writer. I've covered the Cincinnati Reds, Bengals and others since 1992. I have a background in sales as well. I've sold consumer electronics, advertising and consumer package goods for companies ranging from the now defunct Circuit City to Procter&Gamble. I have worked as a stats operator for Xavier University, the University of Cincinnati, the College of Mount St. Joe and Colerain High School.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Joey Votto Leads Reds As They Outlast Padres To Win The Series






It was a frustrating day for both managers.

Dusty Baker slammed the game stats in the trash.

Bud Black slammed a Bud, as in Budweiser, in the trash following his postgame press conference which he handled very professionally.

Baker's disappointment originated in the anemic offense and sloppy second inning defense that allowed the Padres to hold a 2-0 lead until the eighth inning.

Black's frustration boiled over when the Padres went 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position while stranding a whopping 15 baserunners.

Xavier Paul and Jack Hannahan were looking for opportunities to redeem themselves after making mistakes that helped cost the Reds a game on Saturday.

They didn't have to wait long.
http://www.wiedemannbeer.com/

Paul came off the bench to hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and Hannahan scored the winning run on Joey Votto's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 13th to give Cincinnati a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

Paul committed one error and made a terrible baserunning blunder on Saturday. Hannahan was charged with a career-high three errors and grounded into a double play in that loss.

"Live to fight another day," Hannahan said. "One of the best things about baseball is you can put a bad day behind you and show up the next day ready to win."

Hannahan drew a one-out walk from Tim Stauffer (1-1) and Shin-Soo Choo snapped a 0-for-16 slump with a one-out double to right field. Ryan Hanigan, pinch-hitting against a drawn-in, five-man infield and shallow two-man outfield, was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

The Padres went back to three outfielders with everybody drawn in, and Votto hit a fly to left field to drive in Hannahan from third base.

Paul tied the score with a two-run, pinch-hit homer off Ian Kennedy in the eighth and the Reds overcame two more errors for their fourth win in five games. They finished their eight-game homestand with five wins after starting 1-2 against St. Louis.

"After last night and making a few mistakes that some people say cost us the game, to be able to come back today late in the game and help put the team in position to win makes me feel good," Paul said.

The Padres, who've lost four of their last five games, were 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position and left 15 men on base.

"We're just having a bad stretch," second baseman Logan Forsythe said. "We're still playing good, fundamental baseball. There's just a couple of things we need to get better at, and one of them is good situational hitting."

Sam LeCure (2-1), Cincinnati's seventh pitcher, pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win.

Kennedy was positioned to improve his career record against the Reds to 4-0 in four starts. Kennedy, in his second start for San Diego after being acquired from Arizona in a July 31 trade, allowed one hit _ pitcher Mike Leake's leadoff single in the third _ in 7 1-3 scoreless innings and retired 16 consecutive batters before pinch-hitter Zack Cozart reached with an infield single.

"Kennedy was dealing," manager Dusty Baker said. "I don't know if it was more him or us. We had to persevere. They threatened a bunch of times. It looked bleak for a while. Every time you turned around we were in trouble. It really taxed our bullpen heading to Chicago. We had to bear down to our last man today."

Paul tied the game with his seventh homer of the season, a 422-foot shot into the right-field seats on a 1-2 pitch. Paul has three pinch-hit homers this season and five in his career.

Leake allowed one earned run in seven innings, giving up six hits and two runs with three walks and four strikeouts. He also committed an error, the Reds' sixth in the last two games.

Manny Parra and J.J. Hoover pitched a scoreless eighth before Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth.

"We didn't get it done," San Diego manager Bud Black said. "It's a topic we talk about all the time. We got some good pitches to hit, but we didn't advance runners."

The Reds, who were charged with four errors in their 3-1 loss to San Diego on Saturday, committed another to help the Padres take a 2-0 lead on Rene Rivera's bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center field with one out in the second.

As Yonder Alonso scored from third, backup shortstop Cesar Izturis cut off Choo's throw, but Izturis' quick throw to second trying to get Forsythe going back sailed past Brandon Phillips into foul territory down the right-field line, allowing Forsythe to score.

Notes: Cedeno's second-inning single was his first hit in six at-bats since being called up by San Diego on Wednesday. Cedeno now has hits with each of the six major league teams for which he's played since breaking in in 2005. ... Votto went 0 for 4, ending his eight-game hitting streak. ... RHP Mat Latos (11-3) is scheduled to start Monday for the Reds at Chicago in the first game of a three-game series and seven-game road trip. ... San Diego's brief five-game road trip is scheduled to continue Monday at Colorado with RHP Edison Volquez (8-9) scheduled to start for the Padres.


No comments:

Post a Comment