Cincinnati Reds thrash the Washington Nationals by 8-5—MLB Update
Joey Votto hit a two-run double on Sunday, April 15, to help the Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Nationals by 8-5. Breaking the three-game winning streak of the Washington Nationals, Votto’s hit came in the 11th inning when the score was tied.
This was the first game in the season where the Reds had scored most runs. Previously, out of six games, the team had managed to score only 10 runs in total. Nonetheless, Votto’s timely hit also avoided the embarrassing four-game sweep.
The team had lost the first three games closely. With tough fought games, the Reds lost the first by 3-2, the second by 2-1, and the last one by 4-1. But here was a resurgent team which fought harder this time to avoid the sweep.
The game began with the grand slam coming off Ryan Ludwick’s bat that gave the team a supposedly safe lead. However, the Washington Nationals staged a comeback after the Reds had 5-0 lead until the 4th inning.
Adam LaRoche scored a two-run single in the bottom of the 4th, while Mark DeRosa scored a run afterwards to bring down the Reds lead to 5-3. It was the shortstop I Desmond who made possible a run each in both 5th and 7th innings, leading to the tie.
Mike Leake of the Reds allowed 5 runs in his 6.1 innings. While Ross Detwiler also gave up 5 runs in his 5 inning spell. It was afterwards the bullpen that had to play the fundamentally important role of ensuring the win for either of the two teams.
While bullpen did an awesome job for the Reds, Joey Votto’s 11th inning hit with Ludwick’s grand slam and the wonderfully pitched last inning by Sean Marshall led to the team’s ultimate victory.
"Ludwick's first home run as a Red, Marshall's first save as a Red, and a lot of firsts today. Hopefully we can have some seconds, thirds, fifteens, twenties and on down the line," the team manager Dusty Baker said.
With the win, the Reds may feel imbued with confidence now to get on the rival team in the next encounter against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.
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