The Reds and Cardinals really didn't need a perfect night of weather or fireworks to add incentive to attend the first game of this heated rivalry.
Todd Frazier, batting second in the order, broke a scoreless tie with a two-out three run home run, his ninth with Brayan Pena and Billy Hamilton on base. The 419 foot blast off Shelby Miller, set the tone for the 5-3 Reds' win.
"Two out RBI's are pretty huge. Bryan (manager Price) is a genius. I've hit second a couple times before. The first inning I didn't see the ball. The second inning is when I usually bat. The old saying is early and often. I like early and I certainly like often," said Frazier.
"It is weird with me and them (Cardinals). It is either really good or really bad. We play each other so often there are no secrets between us. An in-between game like this is weird. There were a couple walks that I'm not happy about but I'll take eight singles against them any day."
After facing the minimun nine batters through three innings, Matt Carpenter singled and Kolten Wong walked. Bailey got Matt Holiday to roll over a splitter, grounding slowly to shortstop to advance the runners. Allen Craig cut the lead to one with a single to left.
Jay Bruce, back in the lineup two weeks after knee surgery, doubled to lead off the Reds' fourth. Ryan Ludwick singled too hard to allow Bruce to score but Pena delivered a sacrifice fly.
The Cardinals clustered three hits to tighten the game in the sixth. Bailey was able to limit the damage by picking Jhonny Peralta off secondbase with two outs and runners on first and second.
"I saw daylight when Zack (Cozart) broke for second. I knew if I made a good throw we would get him. With the Cardinals you have to limit the damage," Bailey said.
Devin Mesoraco's fifth home run off Seth Maness rebuilt the lead.
Jonathan Broxton had to navigate through the heart of the St. Louis lineup in the eighth and did so by helping turn in a defensive gem, that made portly men all over the sports planet proud.
"It was one of those plays that just happen," Pena said. "It was like the defensive line was coming after me. Jonathan is a pretty good athlete, I just decided to make the flip."
The Cardinals have come from behind so many times in this rivalry that the play was bigger than a mere first out of the inning.
"That was big out," Price said. "Aside from the home run there were a lot of things that had a huge affect on the game. Homer picking off Peralta and Brayan's play were as big as the home run."
The play ended the inning with pinch hitter Jon Jay in the batter's box. Not only did it end the threat, it forced Cardinal manage Mike Matheny to take centerfielder Peter Bourjos out of the game so that he didn't waste another pinch hitter or pitcher.
Price took Pena out for a defensive replacement in rookie Donald Lutz.
Pena took it with a smile.
"Bryan's a genius. He knew the odds of me making more plays like that were pretty small," Pena said.
Pena, subbing for the injured Joey Votto made a diving stop down the line. From his belly he back handed a flip to the plus-sized Broxton covering to retire Holliday. Pena made a stop on a hot smash by Craig for the second out. Yadier Molina topped a weak ground ball in front of the plate that Mesoroco scooped and threw to Pena to end the inning.
Aroldis Chapman allowed a two-out single before closing out the Cardinals for his fourth save in five chances.
The Reds expect over 100,000 fans to attend games this weekend with the Taste of Cincinnati drawing people downtown.
"Coming home to a packed house got me excited," said Frazier, who cheers the sunrise every morning as if it is the dawn of Christmas Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment