The Reds came away with a much needed win today. Alfredo Simon was spectacular in his first start as a Red, and first start in two years. With this win the Reds go into St. Louis with some momentum at 2-4 and avoided a 4 game losing streak. Cincinnati is 2 games behind Milwaukee and Pittsburgh and one behind St. Louis. This upcoming series in St. Louis is a big one, and can set the tone for the rest of the season. 6 games in, the Reds should be getting rolling and they started with that today in the final game against the Mets to avoid the sweep.
Heisey got another hit, Phillips got 2 hits, while Votto struck out twice and didn’t have a hit, but did bring in a run with a sac fly. Although when the bases are loaded, 0 outs and your 3rd batter is in the box you hope to come away with more than one run and an out. But, that’s all the Reds needed luckily. Ludwick got 2 hits, Bruce was hitless but had 2 walks. Frazier continued his hitting streak alive with a hit, Cozart is still hitless and left 5 men on base. Simon got a hit as well, while the Reds struck out 9 times and left 13 on base. Team RISP was 2-for-8.
Simon was brilliant in his start today. 7 innings pitched, allowed 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and struck out 6. The reliever came through big for the Reds, filling in for the injured Mat Latos. Another reliever who came in big was Manny Parra. 2 innings pitched, 0 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Parra faced the minimum 6 batters and had a dominating slider today. It was nice to see Bryan Price kept Parra out for more than an inning, something Baker would rarely do. The pitching was great again for the Reds, just lack of run support.
Overall, this was a much needed win, The Reds edging the Mets with a 2-1 victory. The Reds head to St. Louis, who just lost today, so the momentum is in the Red’s favor and hopefully will carry on to the rival city. Tomorrow we see Tony Cingrani match up again against the young right hander Michael Wacha. Cingrani with 9 strikeouts versus Wacha’s 7. Neither have any earned runs, so it should be a good pitchers duel. Until then, go Reds.
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