Reds Win 5th In A Row Over Cubs

The Cincinnati Reds won their fifth game in a row Saturday afternoon, and second in a row over the Chicago Cubs. Cincinnati has been riding a hot streak of late, thanks in part to a schedule of mainly poor opponents. But

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wins are wins and the Reds are a season best 13 games above .500 and only one game out of the NL Central lead. Saturday though the Reds executed great offensive baseball, likely the best offensive clinic in the 6th inning you will see this season.

Cincinnati sent Homer Bailey to the mound Saturday to face Travis Wood of the Cubs who is also a former Red. The Chicago Cubs are an awful baseball team, they are the worst team in the NL Central and once again have no shot of contending for the post season, if they are lucky they’ll get to maybe sixty wins, that would be a successful season for the team. Cincinnati in the mean time is on pace for another 90+ win season and another trip to the post season. This series is a tale of two opposites.

Homer Bailey has been on point this season but today he gave up two runs in the third and it appeared that he would not be able to record a win today that was until the sixth inning. In the middle of the sixth it was decided by manager Dusty Baker that Bailey would be pulled for the seventh. That meant the Reds must score some runs in the sixth to get Bailey the win.

The sixth inning resulted in four runs for the Reds. The best play of the inning came with runners on the corners and Derrick Robinson at the plate. Brando Phillips on third had a huge lead off the bag, such a big lead that Robinson put down a perfect squeeze bunt. Travis Wood fielded the ball but by that time it was safer to throw to first instead of the plate because Phillips was already there thanks to his lead. From there the Reds put up two more runs and the rest is history.

Aroldis Chapman closed the game, going 1-2-3 in the 9th striking out two. This is his 12th save of the season and first since his “collapse.” The Enquire’s sports writer Paul Daugherty said Chapman needed to decide what he wanted to do early in the week and said the pitcher needs to stop trying to throw so fast. Yeah Paul good thing he didn’t listen to you.

The Reds go for the sweep of Chicago tomorrow.