OFF TO ST. LOUIE, LOUIE - edeadstroke's Blog

edeadstroke's Blog

OFF TO ST. LOUIE, LOUIE

Posted on March 7, 2019 at 12:39 AM.

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2017 REDS FANTASY FRANCHISE

So Rocco and the Reds traveled to St. Louis for a 3 game series. The Reds (3-0) swept the Phillies in their home opener, while St. Louis (0-3) dropped all 3 against the Cubs.

RECAP: Started off against the Phillies with Dynamic Difficulty setting on lowest settings as I was just starting a new franchise team. Decided to bump the setting to All-Star in pitching and hitting. Oh boy, this has been tough for me.

GAME 1:

CIN - SP Sonny Gray vs. STL - SP Lance Lynn

The Cardinals jumped out to a quick 1 - 0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning, it would not be until the 7th when the Reds would tie it at 1 - 1. The Reds bats were surprisingly working as they got 10 hits, but the runs were hard to come by, the Reds were able to push 1 more run across in the 9th and managed to beat the Cardinals by a score of 2 - 1.

SP Sonny Gray went 7 strong innings in his Cincinnati debut, by giving up only the 1 run and striking out 9 batters. Unfortunately he did not get the win, the win was credited to SP/RP Brandon Finnegan for his 1 inning of work, while CP Jonathan Broxton earned his second save.

GAME 2:

CIN - SP Mike Leake vs. STL - SP Alex Reyes

This was a low scoring affair, I mean A REALLY LOW SCORING AFFAIR! Both pitchers were dealing in this one. Reds SP Mike Leake took the mound to face one of his former teams as he played for one of his former teams. Leake would pitch 7 innings of shut-out baseball, allowing 3 hits and striking out 9. Cardinal's Reyes kept the Reds scoreless for 7 and 2/3, allowing 4 hits and 8 strikeouts.

This game would not be decided until the 9th inning, with the lone run being scored. In the bottom of the 9th the Cardinals SS Aledmys Diaz doubled to lead off the inning, CF Dexter Fowler would lay down a sac bunt moving Diaz to third. Then Cardinals power hitting 1B Matt Carpenter came to the plate...time to really pitch to the corners was Cincy's pitching coach, Derek Johnson, advice to RP Tony Cingrani during his mound visit. Cingrani made a down and away change up...and Carpenter...laid down a suicide squeeze bunt to perfection, Reds defense was caught way off guard and Diaz crossed home plate giving the Cardinals their first win of the season.

Manager Rocco Baldelli could only shake his head in disbelief when asked about the game winning play after the game.

GAME 3:

CIN - SP Matt Belisle vs. STL - SP Carlos Martinez

SP Matt Belisle would get the start in the rubber match, and would go 7 inning not allowing a run. He allowed 3 hits and struck out 7. SP Martinez matched Belisle through the first seven, but the top off the 8th allowed the Reds to score the first run of the game. Martinez was pulled with no outs. Card's RP Siegrist came in and kept the Reds scoreless. The Card's then tied it in the bottom of the 8th (1-1). Then both clubs decided to make it interesting...by playing extra innings. Both clubs got runners on and in scoring position but could not capitalize through to the 12th. Then finally the Reds, in the top of the 13th, scraped together a couple hits to score a run. CP Broxton came in in the bottom of the 13th to get a save. SP/RP Bronson Arroyo got the win after pitching 3 and 2/3 innings.

"Only thing keeping us in these games is our pitching", was Manager Rocco Baldelli's comment after the game.

The Reds venture to Pittsburgh to play the (2-4) Pi-RATS.

SIDE NOTE: I have put my 2017 Reds Actual Team on hold, as I have decided to go ahead and buy MLB 19 when it comes out. I was dead set against it, being disappointed by MLB 18, but after watching the dev stream on YouTube I changed my mind. Hope it is worth it. Fingers and toes crossed.