Daily Archives: May 8, 2013

May 8, 2013

In brief: Reds walk off with back-to-back homers

By
Amanda
Posted at 11:20 am

Mexoraco's home run was just barely over the wall, which is just fine with these front-row fans. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Mexoraco’s home run was just barely over the wall, which is just fine with these front-row fans. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Last game
Reds win 5-4. It took back-to-back home runs from Devin Mesoraco and Shin-Soo Choo, but it was all awesomeness. Read the game wrap here.

Next game
It’s the rubber match this afternoon. The Reds have won all of their home series so far this year, so they need to win today to keep the streak alive. It’ll be a rough one, though. The Braves are sending out Mike Minor (LHP, 3-2, 3.26 ERA) who has retired his last 18 batters in a row. The Reds will counter with Mike Leake (RHP, 2-1, 4.15 ERA). First pitch at 12:35 p.m.

Reds on MLB Network Today
If you are the sort of person who finds themselves with access to a television in the middle of the day, then you’ll be glad to know that today’s afternoon game is being televised on MLB Network. Here’s the press release:

Secaucus, N.J., May 7, 2013 – The Atlanta Braves at Cincinnati Reds game tomorrow, May 8 at 12:30 PM ET will be available live on MLB Network in the Cincinnati television market. Mike Leake is scheduled to pitch against Mike Minor of the Braves.

MLB Network is available in Cincinnati on Cincinnati Bell, DirecTV, DISH Network, FAVE and Time Warner Cable, among other providers. Local channel listings are available here and MLB Network’s complete May game schedule is available here.

What to say to sound smart at the water cooler
Joel says the ending we got to last night’s game hasn’t been done since opening day, 1995 when Adam Dunn and Joe Randa teamed up to beat the Mets. Apparently Elias Sports Bureau is saying it hasn’t happened since 1977, but they’re only counting times when it was solo shots.

Posted in Daily Briefs.
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May 8, 2013

Game 34: Braves 4, Reds 5

By
Amanda
Posted at 10:51 am

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W: Broxton (1-1) L: Kimbrel (0-1)

Boxscore

Mesoraco returns to the dugout after tying the game.

His wasn’t the walk-off homer, but Mesoraco was clearly the hero of this game.

It was looking like it was going to be another loss at the hands of a quiet offense last night, but at literally the last minute, they pulled it out to win and even the series with the Braves.

After 5 innings, Homer Bailey left the game trailing 4-2. Despite a completely respectable 3.83 ERA, Bailey remains, even now, just 1-3. Sam LeCure came in to pitch 2 perfect innings, followed by Sean Marshall and Jonathan Broxton with a perfect inning apiece, but it really didn’t look like it was going to be enough.

Not that the Reds hadn’t done anything. Shin-Soo Choo had smacked his sixth home run of the year, a solo shot in the third. In the fifth, Jack Hannahan drew a walk and was moved over by a Corky Miller single, and then Donald Lutz brought him in with a line-drive. In the eighth, Brandon Phillips brought in Zack Cozart on a sacrifice fly.

Then came the bottom of the ninth. Hannahan was out on strikes, Corky was out swinging, and those 6 runners left on base over the course of the game were a painful reminder of what might have been.

Devin Mesoraco at the plate takes a ball. Swings and misses by a mile. Two more balls. Another strike. Then my husband, sitting next to me in bed as we wait out the end of the game before turning of the lights, turns to me and says, “did that really just happen?”

Mesoraco’s solo shot was just barely over the wall in center field, but WOOOOOOOO! What a wonderfully unlikely turn of events. Check out the FanGraph of the Reds likelihood of winning the game up to that point. They hadn’t been above 50% chance of winning the whole game, but Mesoraco took them from 4% to 53% with just that one swing.


Source: FanGraphs

We were braced for extra after that, but Choo gave us a pleasant surprise by contributing his second home run of the night and letting the Reds win in walk-off fashion.

The win brings the Reds’ record to 19-15. Today they try to keep their home-series winning streak alive when they play the rubber match against the Braves at 12:35.

Posted in Game Wrap.
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