Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (97-65)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Cardinals (88-74)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	-	1	9	1

Boxscore

It took until the final game of the year for the Cincinnati Reds to play a meaningless game in the 2012 season. Thanks to the Los Angeles Dodgers losing and giving the St. Louis Cardinals the second wild card and the Washington Nationals winning and clinching the best record in the National League, the outcome of last night’s game had no meaning whatsoever.

And it felt like almost every Spring Training game I’ve ever attended. It was so much like Spring Training, that I expected the game to be called off early should the game finish in a tie.

There was the starter, Homer Bailey, pitching for only 4 innings. He did well, allowing no runs on 4 hits while striking out 6. But he left early to give the bullpen some work. Then there were all the later inning substitutions, providing a parade of minor league prospects onto the field. Tony Cingrani and Henry Rodriguez were chief among them. But the game was managed loosely, in a manner completely unlike the post-season will be managed.

There were no offensive heroes since the Reds were shut out. Bailey and the bullpen were very effective, with only the Jonathan Broxton being charged with a run.

The Reds will travel to San Francisco to rest up and get adjusted to the time zone change in advance of the first round of the National League Championship series on Saturday. Johnny Cueto will be the starter for the Reds with the first pitch scheduled for 9:37pm.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (97-64)	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	3	8	9
Cardinals (87-74)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	0

Boxscore

With the Washington Nationals winning, the Cincinnati Reds had to win to still have a chance at home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Things didn’t start well.

With the exception of a Joey Votto walk–naturally–the Reds went through the first inning weakly. Then Mat Latos took the mound and allowed a double to the first batter he faced, Jon Jay. An out later, Jay scored thanks to a sacrifice fly by Carlos Beltran. Just like that, the Reds were down 1-0.

But Latos settled down. And the offense woke up. A little.

Scott Rolen homered in the 4th inning to tie the game. Then in the 6th inning, Votto lead off with another walk. Ryan Ludwick doubled to center field. Then Jay Bruce drove in Votto with a single for the lead. An out later, Dioner Navarro hit another single to give the Reds an insurance run.

Latos was pulled after pitching 5 innings. He allowed 1 run, 4 hits, 1 walk, and struck out 4 in picking up his 14th win. The early exit was due to not wearing him out before the playoffs.

The bullpen was more than up to the task of keeping the Cardinals off the board. Sam LeCure fulfilled the long-relief role before handing it over to the Reds’ three closers. Sean Marshall, Jonathan Broxton, and Aroldis Chapman closed it out. That is one fine trio to have heading into the playoffs.

For home-field advantage, the Nationals have to lose today, and the Reds have to win. Homer Bailey will be hoping to do that when he starts the last game of the regular season at 8:15pm.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (96-63)	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	10	3
Pirates (77-82)	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	7	0

Boxscore

A day after losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 9th, the Cincinnati Reds returned them the favor.

Of course, having the offense show up early enough in the game to provide Johnny Cueto with his 20th win of the season would have been too easy. No, the Reds had to keep all of that scoring until the end.

Still, Cueto finished the year strong. In his final start, he went 7 innings, allowing 3 runs (1 earned), 6 hits, and 1 walk. He struck out 6. If he’d pitched a scoreless 8th or the offense had woken up before the 9th, he would’ve had the win. Heck, if the defense hadn’t screwed the pooch and allowed so many unearned runs, he would’ve gotten the win. I guess that just shows you how meaningless of a statistic wins can be.

As for that offense, they started the game off by getting on base, but not being able to knock in any runs. Both of the first two innings ended with runners in scoring position. But in the third, Joey Votto was given a pitch he could hit, and hit a double that scored Brandon Phillips. The next batter, Todd Frazier, hit a ground-out to the shortstop that scored Wilson Valdez.

After that, the Reds’ bats were silent until the 9th. Then, Xavier Paul, the very first batter against the Pirates’ closer Joel Hanrahan, hit a pinch-hit home run to right field to tie the game. And instead of being a rally killer, this got the offense going. Eventually.

The next two batters recorded out, but when Ryan Ludwick hit a pinch-hit double, I started feeling that this would turn into a win. With two outs, Zack Cozart was the hero, driving in the go-ahead run with his own double.

Aroldis Chapman pitched the bottom of the 9th for the save. He was a little shaky, but he got the job done. Hopefully, he can get an appearance or two before the playoffs start. I don’t want him rusty.

The Reds next travel to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. If Cincinnati can sweep, there’s a chance they’d knock the Cardinals out of the playoffs. I’m hoping for that. Bronson Arroyo will go against Jaime Garcia at 8:15pm.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (95-62)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	1
Pirates (76-81)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Boxscore

In case you missed it yesterday, Homer Bailey pitched a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates last night.

It’s the first no-hitter in PNC Park history, and it’s the first that a Cincinnati Reds pitcher has thrown since Tom Browning threw his perfect game back on September 16, 1988. Bailey accomplished his feat with 115 pitches. Over the 9 innings, he allowed no runs, no hits, walked one, and struck out 10.

The offense was again not really present. The Reds scored early, in the top of the first, but their bats fell silent after that. Thanks to Bailey’s flirt with flirtation, the 1 run was all they needed.

Phillips started the game off by singling to left. Zack Cozart followed with a single, providing Joey Votto with a rare opportunity to bat with runners on base. So of course, the Pirates walked him. But clean-up hitter Todd Frazier kept the bases-loaded, no-out situation from being a total loss by hitting a sacrifice fly to drive in Phillips.

It was all pitching after that, for both teams. In the end, the Pirates couldn’t score, and the Reds doomed them to their 20th season in a row without a winning record.

The Pirates still have a shot at a .500 record, but they’ll have to win all their remaining games. They’ll send out Kyle McPherson to attempt that, while the Reds will counter with Mike Leake, a man on the bubble of being included on the playoff roster. The game starts at 7:05pm.

In the first of a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds starter Homer Bailey threw a no-hitter.

He faced one more than the minimum number of batters and was one error and one walk away from a perfect game. Scott Rolen had an error that allowed Clint Barmes to reach base. Later, Bailey walked Andrew McCutchen. After stealing 2nd base, McCutchen attempted to take 3rd, but was thrown out by catcher Ryan Hanigan.

Bailey threw 115 pitches, struck out 10, walked 1, and allowed no hits and no runs. He picked up his 13th win and the Reds’ first no-hitter since Tom Browning’s perfect game back in September 1988.