By Ryan Bramwell
NYM 1 4 0
CIN 6 13 0
W: Mike Leake (5-7)
L: R.A. Dickey (15-4)
Box Score
- Recap:
- Well that was fun, eh? Mike Leake stepped up to the challenge of facing the NL's leading Cy Young candidate and took it to the next level. While Leake demonstrated he too could be a force on the mound like his fellow rotation members, the Reds offense was demonstrating that Dickey's knuckleball has the ability to travel a long distance when struck hard by a baseball bat. While Leake allowed only one run on four hits for the entire night, R.A. was smashed for three home runs and ten hits thru just six innings of work. The beating Dickey took certainly helps Johnny Cueto at least a little in his attempt for the Cy Young Award himself. Overall, that makes five straight wins for the Redlegs and puts us 25 games over the .500 mark! We are also seven full games up on both the Pirates and the Cardinals.
- Reds Offense:
- Home Runs - Scotty Baseball and Superhero Todd Frazier went back-to-back off Dickey in the 4th inning. Rolen's (6) was a left field corner shot and Frazier's (15) was just preposterous. Todd's home run ball hit above the batter's eye in dead center field and was so high up that the camerman was unable to follow it. The ball traveled an estimated 475 feet. That is the 10th longest in GABP history and the 4th longest in the majors this season (according to sources at Redleg Nation). Jay Bruce then joined the party in the 6th inning when he smacked his third home run in as many games. It was Jay's 24th on the year and the third allowed by Dickey in the game, the most he's allowed in a start all season.
- Cozart continues to pile up extra base hits as he was 2-for-3 with a walk and a pair of doubles (26, 27). Don't look now but Cozy has his average almost up to .250.
- Bruce and Rolen were both 2-for-4 with a home run. Rolen also added a double.
- Stubbs, Phillips, Ludwick and Leake all had a hit apiece on the night.
- Todd Frazier - My man! Frazier had the best night of them all: 3-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, RBI
- Reds Pitching:
- Mike Leake - 9.0 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 SO. Mike pitched his second complete game on the season which is also the second of his young career. It's been easy to fault Leake in 2012, as he has been the weakest link among a tremendous staff. I've been guilty of not wanting to give him another chance at times, myself. We have to remember that all these starters, with the exception of Arroyo, are under the age of 26. Most pitchers are just getting their big league careers underway at that age. We have four that contribute so much that they are a major reason the Reds will be going to the playoffs this season. Leake is our fifth starter. Our back-of-the-rotation guy. The guy that will most likely be cut from the playoff rotation and be used out of the pen instead. And yet, he still sports a very respecatable 4.29 ERA. And he pitches half his games in the league's most hitter friendly park. Just something to think about the next time you start to unravel on Mike Leake.
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