Game 98: Stubbs Bests Cordero Again, Reds Win 7th Straight

Bailey Has Superb Outing, Reds Comeback In 9th For Second Straight Night

Cincinnati   5  10  4
Houston      3   8   0

By Ryan Bramwell

"How 'bout that!" I literally yelled during the Reds' 9th inning rally last night.  Drew Stubbs came up big again late in the game for Cincinnati in his home state of Texas.  And, once again it was our old friend, Francisco Cordero, who blew the lead and the game for the Astros.  All the excitement almost makes you forget about the game that Homer Bailey had on the hill for the Reds.  Let's break it down with some game highlights:

• Homer Bailey truly threw a gem.  He did surrender five walks, and I want to state that first because it should be overlooked.  Why's that?  Well, because the home plate umpire was just awful with his balls/strikes and pinched Bailey all night.  Not only that, but Homer worked himself out of every one of those sticky situations like a true veteran.  So let us forget about the walks this time around as none of them came back to haunt us.  On to the rest of his statistical line for the night:  7 innings pitched, ZERO runs on just four hits, and seven strikeouts.  His ERA on the year is now 3.53 (4-0, 1.44 ERA in his last five starts).  Unfortunately, Bailey was cheated out of his 10th victory due to an unusually bad performance from Logan Ondrusek.
• Drew Stubbs.  Take a breath and say his name out loud with me..."Drew Stubbs".  Stubby has been the hero for this Reds club on consecutive nights now.  Sure, it was against a terrible, terrible team and a closing pitcher past his prime, but Drew's hits were indeed enormous for the Cincinnati ballclub.  Stubby's big hit came in the 9th off Cordero.  Just like the previous night.  Only instead of a homerun, Drew tagged a long double off the left-center field wall which would bring home two runs and give the Reds a one-run lead.  Stubbs was 2-for-5 with two doubles, three RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base.
• Xavier Paul.  Paul played great the other day in his first start for our boys.  Tonight he was reserved to pinch-hit duties.  And that 9th inning would not have been possible without the efforts of this young man.  Paul worked the count and waited until he got a pitch he could hit and then promptly drove that pitch into the outfield.  He had a leadoff double and suddenly the Reds were alive and very much in the game again.
• The Reds obtained their first run of the game in the 3rd inning when Mesoraco (singled) was knocked in by a double from Drew Stubbs.
• Speaking of Mesoraco, Devin had a good night as well.  He went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.  He also made a heck of a defensive play and threw a man out at second base.  He is going to be a special player someday.
• The Reds gained an insurance run in the 8th when Rolen singled in Stubbs to make it 2-0.  Jay Bruce was on second when this happened and did his best to score on the play but was easily thrown out at the plate.  As it turned out, we really needed him to score that run...
• The bottom of the 8th was a nightmare.  I'm not exaggerating.  It was an ugly affair, folks.  But it was an important game highlight so I have to write about it even though I don't want to.  OK, so Logan Ondrusek came in the ballgame to relieve Bailey after his eight strong innings of work.  Jose Altuve hit a double off of Ondrusek's second pitch to lead off the 8th.  I immediately thought to myself, "Good thing we got that insurance run."  Justin Maxwell then hit a fly ball deep enough to allow Altuve to tag-up and get to third base.  One out.  Chris Johnson then hit a liner over the head that was snagged by a leaping Scotty Rolen at third.  It was amazing to see the reaction time and jumping ability of the old fella.  Two outs.  Now the nightmare.  Scott Moore doubled to right field scoring Altuve.  Moore then reached third base on a wild pitch.  J.D. Martinez then tagged a double that pounded the left-center field wall and then fell straight down and sat directly at the bottom of the wall.  Ludwick fielded the ball and made a good throw to shortstop, but no one was there (error charged to Ludwick).  Martinez is now charging toward third base.  Todd Frazier, playing first base, picks it up and throws a beam to Rolen covering third.  But the throw is well-wide of Rolen (error charged to Frazier) and Martinez heads home to score and give the Astros the lead 3-2.  WHAT THE @?*$#! 
• Sean Marshall then was called upon and delivered the last out via a fly ball and got the Reds out of that horrendously disastrous inning of little league baseball.  
• In the 9th, part of which we've already covered, Cordero was on the mound again to close out the game for the Astros.  Xavier Paul hit a pinch-hit double to lead things off.  Heisey struck out swinging.  Brandon Phillips, who had the night off, came in to pinch-hit and worked a full count from CoCo after being down in the count 0-and-2.  He walked him.  Runners on first and second with one out, 3-2 Astros lead.  Cozart then struck out swinging.  Two outs.  Up walks Drew Stubbs to face Cordero for the second straight night with the game on the line.  Stubbs hit the second pitch he saw.  It was a two-out double off the wall that scored two runs.  Reds up 4-3.  "Woooo!!" I exclaimed at this point.  Jay Bruce was up next (after CoCo was replaced on the mound, of course) and he singled on a line drive that scored Stubbs from second.  The Reds would now go into the bottom of the 9th with a two-run lead.  Wow, what an amazing turn of events.
• Aroldis Chapman pitched in the 9th inning. Do I need to say anything else?  He did surrender a hit, but he got the save (his 19th) and the Reds won yet again.

Box Score

Mercy! These Reds are on fire, boys!  Seven wins in a row.  We've won 14-of-the-last-16 games.  We are 8-2 without Joey Votto in the lineup.  We are 18 games over .500!  Today we get a nice day off to rest and reflect on our success.  We will be in Denver to to take on the Rockies tomorrow night at 8:40pm ET.  It will be Bronson Arroyo (5-6, 3.98) vs lefty Drew Pomeranz (1-5, 4.98) at Coors Field.