ON THE MOUND
Coming into this game, Joe had posted quality starts in SIX of his last SEVEN games . . .
now, make that SEVEN of EIGHT 🙂
At one point Joe retired ELEVEN straight AND retired the side in order in FOUR of his SEVEN full innings. The Reds didn’t score their first and only run until the 7th inning – when Joe allowed back-to-back ONE out doubles but, then got TWO ground balls to get out of it. All in all, super start for Joe…
SEVEN innings ~ SIX hits ~ ONE earned run ~ ZERO walks ~ TWO strikeouts
and he even tried to help his own cause at the plate (after bunting for strike THREE in his previous AB)
buntin’ Joe | David Kohl, AP
} Charlie great in inning #8: ELEVEN pitches = THREE outs
} Tommy (not to be outdone) was fine #9: FIVE pitches = his EIGHTEENTH save and preservation of Joe’s SEVENTH victory (AND back-to-back road series wins for the first time this season)
return of The Bartender | Andy Lyons, Getty Images
AT THE PLATE
~ Only SIX hits aside in this one (and another double-digit K game) but, they made them count as Nick gave the M’s the early lead (AGAIN!) with a solo shot in the 1st and Justin came through with a TWO-run shot in the 3rd that extended the M’s lead to 3-1 which gave the M’s the 3-0 lead at the time.
~ Raul extended his hitting streak to TWELVE
love this shot . . . sort of tells the 1000 words of the season
The Kid and The Vet | David Kohl, AP
IN THE FIELD
* Nice stop/flip in the 1st by Nick to end the 1st inning and serious threat for 1+ runs
* Great sliding catch by Choo ended the M’s 1st and a chance to go up by more than one early
* Justin showed his under-rated worth at 1B with back-to-back solid efforts in the 5th on slightly errant throws: digging way to his right on a wide throw from Brad for the out and leaping for a high throw from Joe (which unfortunately pulled him off the bag a second too long)
tweets of the game . . .
Compass Rosy 