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Cincinnati Reds at Arizona Diamondbacks, Bank One Ballpark, Phoenix, AZ
May 11, 2009

Introduction

My series of random game stories continues with the same visiting team as in my last game story but 50 years later with a home team that did not exist in 1959.

The Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks both entered play tied for third in their (different) divisions: the Reds with a record of 17-14 (2-1/2 games out of first); the D-Backs at 13-19 (8-1/2 games out of first).

The Reds' starting pitcher was Bronson Arroyo. Arroyo entered play with a record of 4-2 and a 7.15 ERA - the latter largely the result of his previous start in which he allowed nine earned runs without getting an out in the second inning.

Arroyo's opponent was Jon Garland, who entered play with a 3-1 record and a 4.03 ERA.

First Inning

The Reds jumped on Garland early. Willy Taveras lined a single to center field, Jerry Hairson, Jr. lined a double to left field, and Joey Votto walked to load the bases with nobody out.

Cleanup hitter Brandon Phillips hit into a 6-4-3 double play which scored a run but killed the rally. And when Jay Bruce flied out to left field, the inning was over with only one run scored.

D-Backs leadoff hitter Felipe Lopez matched Taveras with a single leading off the bottom of the first inning. But the next three batters were easy outs and the game moved to the second inning with the Reds leading 1-0.

Second Inning

Garland made quick work of the Reds in the top of the second inning on three groundouts.

Eric Byrnes became the third leadoff hitter in four half-innings to hit a single. But he was thrown out by Reds' rightfielder Jay Bruce trying to stretch it to a double. Hence, when Chris Snyder reached on an error by third baseman Adam Rosales and Augie Ojeda was hit by a pitch, they did so with two out and nobody on base, so that Arroyo was able to get out of the inning by striking out his pitching opponent to end the inning.

Third Inning

For the fourth time in five half-innings, the top of the third inning began with a leadoff single, this one by Bronson Arroyo. Willy Taveras followed with his second single of the game putting runners on first and third. Jerry Hairston, Jr. followed with his second double of the game, this one scoring two runs. Joey Votto grounded out but Brandon Phillips doubled, scoring Hairston with the Reds' third run of the inning and fourth run of game. Garland bore down and got the next two batters, but the Reds led 4-0.

Another half-inning, another leadoff hit - this one a double by Felipe Lopez. After Chris Young flew out to left field, Justin Upton put the ball over the right-field fence to cut the Reds' lead in half. Eric Byrnes singled with two outs but Chad Tracy hit into a force play for the third out.

End of three innings, the Reds led 4-2.

Fourth Inning

Seven half-innings: six leadoff hits. And not just any leadoff hit. Laynce Nix led off the top of the fourth inning with a home run to push the Reds' lead to 5-2. Adam Rosales followed with a home run of his own and the Reds' lead was back to four runs.

Arroyo grounded out for the first out. But Willy Taveras followed with his third hit in as many at bats, this one a double. Jerry Hairston was retired for the first time in the game. But Joey Votto lined a two-out single to left field that scored Taveras and ended Jon Garland's game.

The new D-Backs pitcher was Leo Rosales. He got Brandon Phillips to pop out to end the inning, but the Reds had their largest lead of the game, 7-2. The D-Backs went out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, Arroyo's first 1-2-3 inning.

Fifth Inning

Rosales matched that in the top of the fifth inning, capping off his four-batter, four-out outing by striking out Laynce Nix.

The string of seven straight outs ended when Felipe Lopez led off the bottom of the fifth inning with the seventh leadoff hit and fourth home run of the game. Chris Young followed with a single. Arroyo got the next two batters, but Eric Byrnes doubled, scoring Young, cutting the Reds' lead to 7-4. But pinch hitter Conor Jackson popped out to end the inning.

Sixth Inning

Jackson had pinch hit for Leo Rosales after 1-1/3 perfect innings. The new Diamondbacks pitcher was Bobby Korecky.

• Adam Rosales doubled
• Arroyo sacrificed him to third
• Taveras got his fourth hit, an RBI single
• Taveras stole second base
• Hairston walked
• Votto singled, scoring Taveras
• Phillips singled, scoring Hairston and putting Votto on third base
• Korecky threw a wild pitch, scoring Votto
• Bruce grounded out for the second out
• Ramon Hernandez grounded out to end the inning.

The best the D-Backs could do in their half of the inning was a one-out single by Ojeda who never got past first base.

Seventh Inning

The Reds picked up in the seventh inning where they had left off in the sixth.

• Laynce Nix singled
• Adam Rosales doubled
• Arroyo struck out
• Taveras got his fifth hit of the game, a single, scoring Nix and sending Rosales to third base
• Korecky threw his second wild pitch in as many innings, this one scoring Rosales
• Hairston struck out
• Votto grounded out

And the top of the seventh inning finally came to an end. And with it, the end of Bobby Korecky's career as an Arizona Diamondback after five games with a 13.50 ERA. He would resurface with the Toronto Blue Jays for whom he played one game in 2012 and two games in 2014 to close out his major-league career.

And so the seventh inning stretch came with the Reds leading 13-4.

Mark Reynolds hit a two-out home run to cut the Reds' lead to 13-5 but it seemed like too little, too late.

Eighth Inning

The D-Backs brought out their fourth pitcher of the game for the eighth inning, Juan Gutierrez. Maybe the D-Backs should have gone to Gutierrez earlier as he worked around a two-out infield single to hold the Reds with only their third scoreless inning of the game.

The Reds also brought out a new pitcher for the eighth inning. Arroyo finished with seven innings in which he allowed 5 runs, all earned, on ten hits. He didn't walk anybody and struck out five. Not a great performance, although a big improvement over his previous start and plenty good enough to leave the game with an 8-run lead.

The Reds new pitcher was Danny Herrera. A leadoff single by pinch hitter Ryan Roberts was wiped out by a classic 6-4-3 double play and Herrera pitched a scoreless 3-batter bottom of the eighth, only the second inning all game in which neither team scored.

Ninth Inning

After all the excitement of the first seven innings, the last two innings were quite a change of pace. The ninth inning saw new pitchers for both teams. Both Josh Wilson and Mike Lincoln pitched scoreless innings and that was that.

Reds win, 13-5!

Game Summary

With their big win, the Reds moved up to a tie for second place, two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. The Reds would go on to win their next two games, pulling into a (3-way) tie for first place. That would be their high-water mark for the 2009 season, which they ended in fourth place with a 78-84 record.

Meanwhile, this loss dropped the Diamondbacks into last place in the NL West. They managed to spend a few days in fourth place, but they ended the season in fifth (last) place in the NL West with a record of 70-92.

Details of the game are shown below. First, I show Player won-lost records for all of the players who participated in the game. Baseball Player won-lost records are constructed so that the players on the winning team earn two pWins and one pLoss in the game while the players on the losing team earn one pWin and two pLosses. I also show expected wins and losses, eWins and eLosses, which are context-neutral. Full play by play details of the game are shown below the won-lost tables. My Player won-lost records are described in more detail in this article and throughout my website.

Retrosheet Box Score and Play-by-Play