Cincinnati Reds Take Series, Lay Lumber against Cubs

Bringing the lumber to the yard for an afternoon tilt against the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds hammered their way to a 7-2 victory over their up-and-coming rivals.

On paper, the pitching matchup was heavily slanted in favor of the Cubs, as they ran out ace Jake Arrieta to the hill. In 13 of his last 14 starts, Arrieta had gone for a quality start, with his only non-quality outing coming in mile high altitude. While the Ohio River is not quite thin air, Arrieta was still pounded from start to finish—which was all of four innings.

The onslaught came in many different forms on Thursday. Under Dusty Baker, the Reds were a club that seldom stole bases, but with the addition of Billy Hamilton and hiring of Bryan Price, it has been bombs away with the feet. Four different Reds (Hamilton, Todd Frazier, Kristopher Negron and Zack Cozart) would steal bases for a total of six on the afternoon, a new season-high, and the first time the team accomplished the feat since 2006.

Running like their heels were on fire as they rounded the basepaths in the second, Negron would come home (after stealing second) on a base hit from Zack Cozart. The same rang true for the Reds shortstop after Billy Hamilton would drive him in on an opposite-field RBI double. Todd Frazier would cap the scoring frenzy with a rocket shot base hit into centerfield scoring Hamilton easily. Just as a nice touch, Frazier took second himself as well.

Once again igniting the offense was Zack Cozart, this time in the bottom of the fourth. Even though Dylan Axelrod and his atrocious bunting technique were unable to move him over, Cozart would swipe second for himself. Billy Hamilton would draw his second walk of the game, and both would score after run-scoring hits from Frazier, and then a bases-clearing rip from Brandon Phillips that would be the deathblow to Arrieta. After four innings of work, he had allowed six runs on six hits, while walking four and allowing six stolen bases.

Had it not been for the outstandingly solid start from Dylan Axelrod, the lead may have been in a bit more of a precarious position. It took 58 pitches to get through the first two innings, and 100 on the dot to get through five, but Axelrod escaped unscathed. The hit he would allow to Starlin Castro in the third would be the final for the Cubs prior to the ninth inning.

Picking up an insurance run that was not nearly as necessary as the night before, the Reds pushed a run across in the sixth on a double by Zack Cozart, followed by two Cubs errors. Billy Hamilton would cap off what was a perfect afternoon, going 2-for-2, with two walks, two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base.

It was quite the opposite of a perfect afternoon for Jay Bruce. Having already secured the “Golden Sombrero,” (or, four strikeouts in one game) by the end of the sixth, Bruce had a chance to make it all better with runners at the corners in the bottom of the eighth. He would strike out for a fifth time. Bruce would K twice against Arrieta, twice against Wesley Wright, and finally once in his final at-bat against Koji Fujikawa.

With Axelrod exiting after five, the game was in the hands of what was been a shaky Reds bullpen of late. Pedro Villarreal and Logan Ondrusek would combine to shut down the Cubs all nine times they came to the plate in innings 6-8. The same could not be said for Jumbo Diaz.

Not having worked since Sunday, Diaz allowed three base hits to the first three batters he faced. He would settle in after a sacrifice fly, and then finally, a groundball double play that went Santiago-to-Cozart-to-Hannahan for the victory.

Making the journey up the river to Pittsburgh, the Reds will clash with a familiar foe in the Pittsburgh Pirates and familiar teammate in Edinson Volquez. At 7:10 p.m. Friday night it will be Volquez taking on Mike Leake in the series opener.

Expect the Reds to put all their eggs in the basket of this weekend, as a sweep is all but necessary to stay alive in the tightly packed Postseason race. With Andrew McCutchen still hurt and Gregory Polanco down in Triple-A, the Reds may be getting the Pirates at exactly the right time.