Game 151: Reds 5, Astros 4
By
Amanda
Posted at 7:46 am
The Reds survived the bullpen performance to hang on to win over the Astros last night, 5-4. Thank you David Weathers! I was tending to my feverish son much of the evening, so I didn't get to see most of the game, which, if nothing else, gives me something in common with Brandon Phillips.
You see, I can laugh because the CT scan was normal.
Aaron Harang finally got win number 14. Narron pulled him after seven and two-thirds when he got himself into a jam. When it was all said and done, he allowed four runs (earned) on eight hits for the win.
I'd like to say that Harang should have been pulled after seven. He probably should have. But then you wonder, “who's going to do any better?” As it was, Scott Schoeneweis came in, promptly walked a guy, allowed an RBI double, and hit Aubrey Huff. That's right: he hit the guy who sang Letters from Home on Oh Say Can You Sing?
At least Narron didn't make the mistake of sending Ryan Franklin out there. It's a small victory, but that's what you play for these days, right?
Weathers is hardly the young guy you build your pitching staff around these days, but there are times that I worry about the day when he retires. He finished out the game for the save. He didn't allow any hits but walked one.
My boy Ryan Freel went 1-for-4 on the evening, but made that one count with a couple RBI in the fifth inning. Adam Dunn knocked one in (and it wasn't even himself) in the fifth as well. Is it a coincidence that Dunn starts to come out of his slump and the team wins? Yeah, probably, but it's still tempting to ask him to carry the offense.
But before that, the Reds' score was all Chris Denorfia. With his second career home run in the second inning, he allowed the Reds to take the lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the night.
The win brings the Reds' record to 74-77. They're seven games behind the Cards and five games back on the wild card. They finish up the series this afternoon at 2 p.m. They actually have a chance to win a series for a change: Arroyo's going today.
Oh, don't act so surprised.