That's Baseball

One of the great things about baseball is the melding of the obvious and the settle in an intriguing drama in which the key to the action can be easily overlooked by the casual observer. Yestersday's Reds 1-0 victory over the Nationals was the type of game that separates the sports fan from the true baseball fan. 

What was obvious early on in this game was that both starting pitchers had brought their A Game to the ballpark, and runs were going to be very precious and hard to come by. By games end, starters Gio Gonzalez and Jonny Cuerto, along with three relievers combined to give up only eight hits while striking out 21 batter.

With this pitching dominance on display for everyone to see, it was two settle developments that turned the tide in favor of the Reds.

With no score in the bottom of the fifth, Reds left fielder Chris Heisey lashed a ground rule double into the left field corner to open the inning. Then in a curious move with lefthand hitting Skip Schumaker facing the lefty Gonzalez, manager Bryan Price elected to NOT have Shumaker attempt to bunt to advance Heisey to third with only one out. Instead, Shumaker hit a weak flyball to left for a very unproductive out.

But then on the second pitch to the next batter,  Brayan Pena, Heisey took off for third in a very crafty move. Heisey hadn't taken a particularly big lead, nor did anything about his body language or movement give any indication of his intent to swipe third.  But what he did take advantage of was the lack of peripheral vision a lefthander naturally has with his back toward a running leading off of second. Plus he took the calculated risk, undoubtedly back by scouting reports, that once Gonzalez refocused on home plate after craning his neck to get a glance at Heisey, that he would not take another peek.

With excellent anticipation, Heisey was able to get an early jump allowing him to steal third easily even with an accurate throw from catcher Wilson Ramos.  

Teams don't often bring the their infield in as early as the fifth inning of a tie game. But sensing (correctly in my view) that one run might be mighty big the way this game was unfolding, the Nationals infielders all positioned tight to the infield grass hoping to hold Heisey at third. But on the next pitch, a low, inside curveball, Pena was able to make solid contact with a sharp grounder wide of third. While likely playable for a harmless out if third baseman Anthony Rendon was positioned at normal depth, by playing in he couldn't range quickly enough to his left to get his glove on it.

So by taking advantage of a lefty's natural lack of peripheral vision with a runner on second and the split seconds lost in reaction time with the infield in, the Reds were able to produce the only run of the day in a wonderfully pitched game by both teams. 

On this day, if you come to the ballpark to see homeruns, you clearly left disappointed. And though even a true baseball fan might not want to see a whole bunch of these 1-0 games, for this one hot Cincinnati afternoon it was a beautiful thing.

Ian Desmond - Repeat Offender

In a post a couple of weeks back, I lamented how Ian Desmond's lack of discipline at the plate is sabotaging his five-tool talent - leaving the former All-Star batting around .240 when he his average could easily 30-40 points higher.

Exhibit A was a first inning strikeout against the Astros with runners in scoring position. In that six-pitch at bat, Desmond swung his at each pitch, even though not one of these pitches was even close to being a strike.

Exhibit B on Monday night was even more frustrating to watch, and ended up being the key at bat in what would eventually would become an 8-2 extra inning loss to the Orioles.

With the winning run on second and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Desmond faced a tough sidearming righthander in Darren O'Day. And again he came to the plate hacking away. The first pitch was a fastball over the plate but shoulder height, well out of the strike zone. But that didn't prevent Desmond from taking a futile but vicious swing.

When Desmond stepped out of the box between pitches, it almost looked like he had a bird on each shoulder whispering in each ear. The bird on his right shoulder was telling him to calm down, wait for his pitch and take the ball up the middle for a game winning single. But the bird on the left shoulder was screaming, "swing hard just in case you hit it."

The second pitch was another fastball, at least as high as the first, but this one was inside as well. With the left shoulder prevailing, Desmond took another big, empty hack. 

If O'Day wasn't already pitching to a scouting report of Desmond's free-swinging ways, he surely recognized by now that if he didn't make a mistake over the plate, that Desmond would get himself out.

The next two pitches were breaking balls well off the outside corner which Desmond was able to foul off - one squibbing awkwardly off the very tip of his bat.

Pitch number five was again outside, but close enough that most batters in protection mode would offer at. Desmond waved again on this fifth consecutive swing on what would have been "ball five" leaving our "Mighty Casey"  heading back to the dugout, mumbling to himself in frustration as the Nats best chance to pull out a victory in this taunt well-played pitchers duel, vanished into the warm night.   

 

A frustrated Desmond heads back to the dugout