Miscues lead to Reds loss in NLDS
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By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
CINCINNATI — A passed ball and an error summed up the Cincinnati Reds' 10th inning in Game 3 of the NLDS as the San Francisco Giants kept their season alive with a 2-1, 10-inning win Tuesday.
The score was tied at 1-1 from the third inning until the 10th, but the sweep for the Reds wasn't meant to be as Buster Posey and Hunter Pence led off the 10th with back-to-back base hits through the middle of the infield and past third base. Those hits were followed by consecutive strikeouts by reliever Jonathan Broxton.
Then the wheels fell off, so to speak, for the home team when Ryan Hanigan was unable to contain a pitch by Broxton for a passed ball, moving the runners to second and third with two outs.
Then the costly error by Scott Rolen occurred as the veteran third baseman bobbled the ground ball, as Posey scored and Brandon Crawford reached first base safely by a step.
"It was a tough play," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "The ball came up on him at the last minute. This guy is one of the best.
Another miscue by the Reds in the first inning cost them one run as well.
Brandon Phillips led off the Reds' first with a base hit up the middle of the infield, then stole second, but in trying to take third, Posey threw out Phillips at third for the first out.
"Brandon is a heads up baseball player. He thought he had the chance to make the play and the ball came right back to Buster Posey," Baker said. "Doesn't weigh on my mind. We had chances sometime later in the game, too."
Zack Cozart followed with a walk, and with two outs, Ryan Ludwick doubled to left field. Cozart scored on a two-out single past a diving Brandon Belt at first by Jay Bruce for the Reds' lone run as they totaled just four hits in Game Three. In their first two NLDS games, Cincinnati had 22 hits, winning by scores of 5-2 and 9-0.
All of that led to a wasted performance by Reds' starting pitcher Homer Bailey, who pitched another quality game.
Bailey was spot on after two innings with three strikeouts and three fly ball outs against the first six hitters he faced.
The Giants tied the score in the top of the third with Gregor Blanco leading off the inning by being hit by a pitch, followed by Crawford drawing a walk from the No. 8 spot in the batting order. Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong moved the runners on a sacrifice bunt, and Angel Pagan tied the score with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Blanco from third.
Vogelsong pitched five innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and three walks. He struck out five on 95 total pitches (55 strikes).
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Though a run was scored, Bailey continued to keep the Giants hitless in the third inning, along with a pop out and two strikeouts in the fourth, and in the fifth, the Texas-born flame-thrower struck out the side on 16 pitches to keep the 1-1 score, ending the inning by striking out Crawford.
Bailey held the Giants hitless for 5.2 innings until Marco Scutaro hit a two-out single to right field. In Bailey's 5-plus innings of hitless baseball, the former first-round draft pick struck out 10 batters, six in a row from the fourth through sixth innings, where at one point he retired 11 consecutive batters.
For the game, Bailey went seven innings, allowing one run on one hit, one walk and one hit batter. He totaled 88 pitches with 60 for strikes. It was the second time in consecutive postseason games a Reds starter allowed just one hit in seven innings as Bronson Arroyo did the same thing on Sunday in Game 2 of the NLDS.
"Homer was lights out. That's the best I've seen Homer," Baker said. "I didn't see his no hitter because I was in the hospital. He's getting better and better and that's what we had hoped. He had a number of strikeouts, looked like they weren't seeing the ball very well and he was ahead of the count for the most part. But that was an outstanding job by Homer."
In Bailey's past three starts, he's pitched 20 innings, giving up just five hits, one run and two walks. In that same span, he's struck out 26 batters.
On Tuesday Reds pitching totaled 16 strikeouts ... the most in a postseason game since the Houston Astros pitchers struck out 16 in Game 4 of the NLDS in '05. The previous Reds postseason team strikeout mark was 12 in Game 1 of the '90 NLDS vs. Pittsburgh.
The Reds threatened in the bottom of the sixth with two outs as Jay Bruce was hit by a Jeremy Affeldt (a former Red) pitch, and Scott Rolen gained an infield base hit toward third base … but a ground out to second by Ryan Hanigan ended the threat.
Following Bailey were Sean Marshall and Aroldis Chapman, who didn't allow a run, combining for a total of three strikeouts as they faced a total of six batters.
Cincinnati was 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners stranded. The Giants stranded four.
The Reds and Giants will play again on Wednesday at Great American Ball Park at 4 p.m.
The score was tied at 1-1 from the third inning until the 10th, but the sweep for the Reds wasn't meant to be as Buster Posey and Hunter Pence led off the 10th with back-to-back base hits through the middle of the infield and past third base. Those hits were followed by consecutive strikeouts by reliever Jonathan Broxton.
Then the wheels fell off, so to speak, for the home team when Ryan Hanigan was unable to contain a pitch by Broxton for a passed ball, moving the runners to second and third with two outs.
Then the costly error by Scott Rolen occurred as the veteran third baseman bobbled the ground ball, as Posey scored and Brandon Crawford reached first base safely by a step.
"It was a tough play," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "The ball came up on him at the last minute. This guy is one of the best.
"You got to give the base runner credit for hustling down the line at the same time. Most guys, they're out on that ball. That was just a series of bad events. Thought we got out of it, then the wild pitch and then the error, so that was a series of bad events for us."
Cincinnati had an opportunity to tie the game but were retired 1-2-3 in their half of the 10th for their first postseason loss. Gaining the win was Sergio Romo, and the loss went to Broxton.Another miscue by the Reds in the first inning cost them one run as well.
Brandon Phillips led off the Reds' first with a base hit up the middle of the infield, then stole second, but in trying to take third, Posey threw out Phillips at third for the first out.
"Brandon is a heads up baseball player. He thought he had the chance to make the play and the ball came right back to Buster Posey," Baker said. "Doesn't weigh on my mind. We had chances sometime later in the game, too."
It appears that's the only chance when you look back upon it but, no, doesn't weigh heavily on our minds. I urged our guys to advance bases and to hustle.
Zack Cozart followed with a walk, and with two outs, Ryan Ludwick doubled to left field. Cozart scored on a two-out single past a diving Brandon Belt at first by Jay Bruce for the Reds' lone run as they totaled just four hits in Game Three. In their first two NLDS games, Cincinnati had 22 hits, winning by scores of 5-2 and 9-0.
All of that led to a wasted performance by Reds' starting pitcher Homer Bailey, who pitched another quality game.
Bailey was spot on after two innings with three strikeouts and three fly ball outs against the first six hitters he faced.
The Giants tied the score in the top of the third with Gregor Blanco leading off the inning by being hit by a pitch, followed by Crawford drawing a walk from the No. 8 spot in the batting order. Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong moved the runners on a sacrifice bunt, and Angel Pagan tied the score with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Blanco from third.
Vogelsong pitched five innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and three walks. He struck out five on 95 total pitches (55 strikes).
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Though a run was scored, Bailey continued to keep the Giants hitless in the third inning, along with a pop out and two strikeouts in the fourth, and in the fifth, the Texas-born flame-thrower struck out the side on 16 pitches to keep the 1-1 score, ending the inning by striking out Crawford.
Bailey held the Giants hitless for 5.2 innings until Marco Scutaro hit a two-out single to right field. In Bailey's 5-plus innings of hitless baseball, the former first-round draft pick struck out 10 batters, six in a row from the fourth through sixth innings, where at one point he retired 11 consecutive batters.
For the game, Bailey went seven innings, allowing one run on one hit, one walk and one hit batter. He totaled 88 pitches with 60 for strikes. It was the second time in consecutive postseason games a Reds starter allowed just one hit in seven innings as Bronson Arroyo did the same thing on Sunday in Game 2 of the NLDS.
"Homer was lights out. That's the best I've seen Homer," Baker said. "I didn't see his no hitter because I was in the hospital. He's getting better and better and that's what we had hoped. He had a number of strikeouts, looked like they weren't seeing the ball very well and he was ahead of the count for the most part. But that was an outstanding job by Homer."
In Bailey's past three starts, he's pitched 20 innings, giving up just five hits, one run and two walks. In that same span, he's struck out 26 batters.
On Tuesday Reds pitching totaled 16 strikeouts ... the most in a postseason game since the Houston Astros pitchers struck out 16 in Game 4 of the NLDS in '05. The previous Reds postseason team strikeout mark was 12 in Game 1 of the '90 NLDS vs. Pittsburgh.
The Reds threatened in the bottom of the sixth with two outs as Jay Bruce was hit by a Jeremy Affeldt (a former Red) pitch, and Scott Rolen gained an infield base hit toward third base … but a ground out to second by Ryan Hanigan ended the threat.
Following Bailey were Sean Marshall and Aroldis Chapman, who didn't allow a run, combining for a total of three strikeouts as they faced a total of six batters.
Cincinnati was 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners stranded. The Giants stranded four.
The Reds and Giants will play again on Wednesday at Great American Ball Park at 4 p.m.