Boxscore

Used to be that the name “Wandy Rodriguez” struck fear into the hearts of Reds everywhere, but lately his starts have been just another game against the worst team around. It was true last night, when the Reds beat the Astros 8-3.

It wasn’t for lack of hits from the Astros, though. In Mat Latos’s 5.0 inning start, he gave up 8 hits and 2 walks, resulting in 2 runs (earned). It took him 95 pitches to get through that many innings, so he probably was on his way out even if he hadn’t rolled his ankle partway through the fifth.

Jose Arredondo took over in the sixth and was the only pitcher for the Reds who didn’t give up a hit. Bill Bray gave up one in his 0.1 innings of work. Sam LeCure gave up one, plus two walks and a run in his 1.0 innings. Sean Marshall gave up one in the remaining 1.2.

Lucky for all of them, the Reds were putting up even more hits, and stringing them together for runs as well. Brandon Phillips, Ryan Ludwick, and Todd Frazier each went 3-for-6 on the night, and Chris Heisey went 2-for-4. Drew Stubbs went 2-for-6, which is pretty good…it just doesn’t look as impressive compared to the others. Even LeCure got on when he was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning.

It was exactly the sort of game you’d expect to see between a rising, first-place team and a bedraggled, last-place team. It was sort of hard to watch, though, both because I felt for the Astros and their fans and also because I remember so vividly what it was like watching games like that when my team was rebuilding.

The win brings the Reds’ record to 56-40. The Pirates lost last night, so the Reds’ lead in the division is extended to 1.5 games. The Cardinals lost last night, too, and are now 6.0 games back. The Reds continue the crusade against the Astros tonight at 8:05 p.m. Mike Leake (RHP, 3-6, 4.25 ERA) goes head-to-head with Lucas Harrell (RHP, 7-7, 4.24 ERA).

A week ago, the doorbell rang and I made it to the front door in time to see the UPS truck driving away. Under the welcome mat lay an envelope that I wasn’t expecting. I opened it to find a letter:

Congratulations! Your name has been selected as a Grand Prize Winner in the Kellogg’s/Marsh – Kirk Herbstreit Sweestakes!

At first I thought it might be a scam, since you always get those email scams that claim you won an international lottery you didn’t enter, and I didn’t enter this contest either. But upon reading the official contest rules (also included), I discovered that everyone who bought any Kellogg’s product from Marsh (a local grocery store chain here in Indiana) and used their rewards card at checkout was automatically entered. And we had, indeed, recently bought some Pop Tarts.

So, with just 2 days’ notice, I made plans to head to the Marsh headquarters during the middle of the workday on Wednesday for a lunch and meet-and-greet with a guy I had to Google to find out who he was (he’s a football analyst on ESPN, btw).

There had been 100 grand prize winners, and each was entitled to bring a guest, so they had seating and box lunches for up to 200 in Training Room B.

Trouble was:
1) they did only give the 2 days’ notice to the winners,
2) the event was during the time of day when most people are working, and
3) I probably wasn’t the only one who (a) thought it was a scam, or (b) didn’t know who Kirk Herbstreit was.

So my son and I sat with the 5 other people who showed up and stared at the uneaten 193 box lunches. At least there wasn’t a fight over the ham sandwiches.

They were running late, and we’d arrived a touch early, so we had plenty of time to get bored in Training Room B (probably like people usually are in training rooms). Plus, the a/c was acting up, so it was a real relief when they finally led us to an auditorium decked out in Cheez-Its and other fine products.

Herbstreit spoke a little on some rule change in college football and the whole Penn State thing, and then took questions. Finally we got to go up and get autographs. I used my autograph to get something for my brother, who requested this photo–it’s a reaction shot after the old dude in the middle said the F-word on live t.v.

While we were waiting in line, my son and I were bantering about how many boxes of Cheez-Its were on the stage (211), the guy doing “crowd” control gifted us a box to have autographed. I cannot tell you how much this made my son’s day. At the end of it all, despite the waiting, the sub-par cole slaw in the lunch, the Q&A about a sport he knows nothing about, he still says “that was awesome!” thanks to receiving a free box of cheese crackers.

After dropping off a couple matchbooks and inviting him to check out the blog (Herbstreit is a Reds fan, as it turns out), we rescued one more box lunch from the mountain and headed back home. I’d tell you to be on the lookout for my picture in Marsh or Kellogg’s promotional materials, except they didn’t take any pictures of us, and they didn’t ask for my publicity release forms.

Instead, just think of me the next time you see an autographed box of Cheez-Its. And if you’re Kirk Herbstreit, pulling out my matchbook and visiting the site for the first time: welcome! and don’t let your kids play with the matches.

Boxscore

Though the Brewers struck first with a run in the top of the third inning yesterday, the Reds answered with two in the bottom of the inning, and that’s all it would take to wrap up the sweep of Milwaukee.

Johnny Cueto got his 12th win of the season by putting in 7.0 innings of 1-run work. He did see a lot of runners on base, giving up 8 hits and an intentional walk, but they were conveniently distributed among his 9 strikeouts to keep the men from the crossing the plate.

Logan Ondrusek worked the eighth inning and didn’t allow a run despite adding 2 more hits to the Astros’ total. Aroldis Chapman closed it out. He didn’t give the Astros any more hits, but he did contribute a couple more strikeouts to give all the fans at GABP pizza and ice cream.

Brandon Phillips continued to tear it up, going 2-for-3 with a sac fly that brought in a run in the third. Wilson Valdez also had a multi-hit night, going 2-for-4 with the other RBI in the third. It wasn’t exactly a show (there wasn’t a single home run by either team, which is the first time there has been a homer-less game in GABP in 74 straight games), but it was still a win.

The win brings the Reds’ record to 55-40. That’s a season-high 15 games over .500, and a good thing, too, with the Pirates still only half a game back. The Reds travel to Houston tonight to take on the Astros at 8:05 p.m. Mat Latos (RHP, 7-3, 4.33 ERA) faces off against Wandy Rodriguez (LHP, 7-8, 3.75 ERA).