The Cincinnati Reds took the first game of today's day-night double header behind some outstanding pitching from Johnny Cueto, who kept the White Sox bats quiet pretty much all game long. Despite a couple errors, the White Sox actually played some nice defense, including nailing three Cincinnati baserunners at home plate. It wasn't enough though. When you give up 13 hits and allow eight walks, you're gonna have a bad time.
The bottom of the first actually started in promising fashion for the White Sox. Adam Eaton uncharacteristically started off the game by getting on base with a double, and Melky Cabrera's lineout got him to third base. The Sox unfortunately were unable to bring him in, and that would represent the best scoring opportunity for quite some time.
Hector Noesi was shaky to start the game, giving up a hard single and a walk in the first inning. In the second, Noesi yielded a single and a walk before taking a line drive off his hip off the bat of Billy Hamilton. He had to exit the game, and Scott Carroll took over with the bases loaded and two out. He got out of the jam by inducing a grounder to third base.
Carroll did an admirable job of preserving the bullpen, as he kept the Reds off the board until the sixth inning. Singles from Jay Bruce and Brayan Pena set the table for Zack Cozart, who grounded into a possible double play. Alexei Ramirez tossed it to Micah Johnson for the force out, but Johnson threw the ball away trying to get Cozart at first, which allowed Cozart to move to second. Designated hitter Skip Schumaker (!!!) followed that up with an RBI double to make it 2-0 Reds. They'd tack on another run on an RBI groundout in the 7th.
Alexei Ramirez blasted his first home run of the year to make it a 3-1 game in the bottom of the seventh, but that would prove to be trivial. Dan Jennings came on in the bottom of the ninth and had a miserable outing that put the game out of reach. He walked three hitters, including one with the bases loaded, and gave up a couple singles. After a Billy Hamilton sacrifice fly, the Reds were up 7-1 and Robin Ventura called for Jake Petricka to finish the job. Marlon Byrd hit the first pitch from Petricka out of the park for a three run homer to make it a 10-1 game.
Johnny Cueto came on for the ninth inning, and after an otherwise stellar game, the Times Through the Order Penalty (TTOP) finally got to him. In his fourth trip through the White Sox order, Jose Abreu tagged him for a no-doubter home run. He walked Adam LaRoche for the second time, and Avisail Garcia smacked a line drive double to right to make it 2nd and 3rd with no one out. Unfortunately, the Sox only were able to muster a couple sacrifice hits to bring in both of those baserunners, and reliever J.J. Hoover got Ramirez to ground out to short to end the game.
Record: 10-16 | Box Score | Play by Play | Highlights