Game 137 Recap vs Reds
Luke Weaver and Anthony DeSclafani didn’t have their best stuff this afternoon, neither starter lasting more than 4 innings.
Weaves had one of the longest innings I can remember this season to begin the game, ending the inning on a twin killing on the 40th pitch. Weaver had no control again, throwing strikes down the heart of the plate and missing off, trying to nibble around batters. Weaver found himself behind a handful of batters, eventually leading to 5 walks.
Hamilton opened the game with a double to RF, advancing to 3B on a ground out from Peraza. Votto then walked to put runners at the corners for Gennett, who would rip a single into RF to make it 1-0 Reds. With Suárez batting, Weaver would throw a wild pitch, bringing Votto in to make it 2-0. Suárez eventually walked and Schebler followed doing the same. With the bases loaded, Weaver would induce an inning-ending double-play on Williams, 6-4-3 on the play, escaping big time damage by limiting the score to 2-0.
The Cardinals offense would miss a handful of opportunities this afternoon, the first coming in the 1st inning. Carp would walk and Yadi would single to RF to bring in Cafecíto. DeSclafani would get his first of 4 k’s on Cafecíto, striking him out on a slider. Swags and Pauly Deez then grounded out to Peraza for the second and third out of the inning.
Weaver would work around another bases loaded situation in the 2nd, serving up a leadoff double to Casali. After DeSclafani was retired, Hamilton would draw a free pass. Weaver got a big second out forcing Peraza to pop out to Yadi in foul territory. Votto then drew a walk to load the bases for Gennett, who would fly out to Swags.
Weaves would settle in his last 2 innings, allowing one one hit. Weaver would pick up his first and second strikeout on Suárez and Williams to end the the 3rd inning on 14 pitches.
Meanwhile, DeScalfani would retire the Birds in order in the 3rd inning, striking out Martínez on a slider to end the inning, his third of the game.
Weaves worked a 1-2-3 inning his last inning of work, striking out the first two he faced (DeSclafani and Hamilton), before getting Peraza to fly out to Bader in CF.
The Cardinals tied things up 2-2 in the bottom half of the 4th inning, Swags reaching base from a HBP, and Pauly Deez singled to CF to put two runners on. Wisdom then popped up into an infield fly rule. Haaaaaaarry Bader made things exciting, ripping an RBI double down the LF line to score Swags. Good Guy Greg then laid down a perfect bunt up the 1B line, keeping it fair to reach base without a throw attempt. With Carp coming to the plate after the O’Neill strikeout, he would rip a grounder to Votto at 1B to end the inning.
Tyler Webb worked the next 1.1 innings from the Cardinals bullpen, striking out Schebler to end the 5th inning.
The bats would go silent in the 5th on newly entered reliever Sims, going down in order, Swags getting robbed by Suárez to end the inning.
Webb and Leone tag-teamed the the 6th inning, setting the Reds down in order. Webb got the lefty Williams to ground out to Pauly and Leone got Casali to fly out to Cafecíto and Sims to strikeout on a fastball.
But Sims had another 1-2-3 inning in store, striking out the first two (DeJong and Wisdom) he faced before getting Bader to ground out to end the inning.
With Tsunami coming in to pitch the 7th, the Reds would grab the lead once again. Hamilton opened the inning with a double into RF, getting sacrificed over to 3B on a Peraza bunt. Votto then drove Hamilton in with a sac-fly to Bader to put the Reds back on top 3-2. Gennett grounded out to end the inning on Tsunami’s 8th offering.
Sims walked Garcia to begin the bottom of the 7th, bringing in a pinch-hitter in Matt Adams. Adams would smoke a ball to Votto, lining into an unassisted double-play. Carp grounded out to Votto to end the inning, taking things to the 8th.
Dakota Hudson worked a perfect 8th and 9th inning for the Cards bullpen, walking Schebler with one-out in the 8th.
The Cardinals tied things up at 3-3 in the bottom of the inning, getting things started with a Yadi leadoff walk. JAG would pinch-run for Yadi, moving to 2B on the Cafecíto single. Swags then moved both runners over, tapping a grounder up the first base line for the force out. DeJong then got intentionally walked to load the bases for Wisdom, who popped into his second infield fly of the afternoon. Haaaaaarry Bader came thru in the clutch yet again, legging out an RBI infield single to tie things up at 3-3. Garcia then grounded into a 4-6 fielder’s choice to end the inning, on a play which it looked like Harry beat the force play at 2B, rounding the base hard, a real heads up move.
Hudson worked a 10-pitch 9th inning, inducing 3 ground outs on Barnhart, Hamilton, and Peraza.
What happened next.......you might want to just not read the rest of this, fair warning for those that move forward.
Okay I warned you.
The Cardinals would load the bases on Lorenzen with nobody out; Muñoz led off the inning with a pinch-hit double to RF, Carp was intentionally walked, Peña laid down a perfect bunt up the 1B line, reaching safely to load the bases for Cafecíto. The Cards are gonna win, right? Wrong!!!!
Lorenzen would get Cafecíto swinging at a fastball in the dirt, the fourth strikeout on the afternoon for Cafecíto. Swags then grounded into a 4-2 fielder’s choice, Muñoz getting thrown out at home on the force play. DeJong was the final hope to walk it off, popping out to Gennett to end the inning. A huge disappointment.
The Reds would then score 3 runs on Bud Norris in the 10th, getting things started with a leadoff walk to Votto. Bud then got Gennett to pop out to Wisdom, bringing in a dangerous threat in Suárez. Suárez continued being a Cardinal killer, mashing a two-run shot to LF to make it 5-3 Reds. Dixon then opened the lead to three with back-to-back bombs, sending his to LCF.
The Cardinals got a run back with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, as Garcia drove in Wisdom (leadoff walk) on a ground out to Peraza. Kelly then worked an excellent walk to bring in Carp, who would get intentionally walked for the second time in-a-row. Peña represented the winning run, flying out to deep RF to end the Cardinals consecutive series winning streak at 10-straight series.
The Cardinals (76-61) travel to Washington to take on the Nationals (68-69) to begin a 6-game road trip before heading back home.
Jack Flaherty (8-6, 2.87) takes on Mad Max Scherzer (16-6, 2.22) in game-one tomorrow afternoon. Some holiday baseball to enjoy in the afternoon, gotta love it.
First pitch from Nationals Park 12:05 c/t.
Thanks for reading, cheers!
Stew
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