Mike Leake’s pitching helps Cincinnati Reds overpower Atlanta Braves, 5-1 – MLB Update
Cincinnati Reds’ starter, Mike Leake had a notable day as he pitched six dominant innings and struck-out two batters in the Reds’ 5-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, Atlanta on May 27.
The batters failed to score even a single run in the first inning due to the impressive throws of the pitchers. The Reds opened their scoring account in the second inning and got a 1-0 lead when Scott Rolen scored a single run on the drive of Fred Lewis.
No score was contributed in the third inning from either side. Lewis posted a run when Paul Janish hit a sacrifice bunt towards the pitcher and gave the Reds a 2-0 lead during the fourth inning.
Leake allowed one run on seven hits including one earned run. He permitted three walks on his 97 pitches. Leake said of his game, “I was just trying to go out and get a quality outing, because all the arms had been used up lately. I think it was more just
trying to be a little too picky and not going after them. I was trying to be too cute.”
Lewis expressed his excitement and said, “It was very important that he came in and did what he did. We just had a 19-inning game. Our bullpen was struggling.”
The Reds extended their lead 3-0 in the fifth inning when Jay Bruce reached to third base on an infield single and Brandon Phillips posted a single run. Rolen moved to second base at the top of fifth inning. On the other side, the Braves scored their first
and final run in the sixth inning to cut-off their deficit 3-1. Brian McCann scored a run for the Braves when Dan Uggla hit a sacrifice fly to centre-field.
The seventh and eighth inning went score-less for both teams. However, during the ninth inning, the Reds took a 5-1 lead by adding two runs. Ramon Hernandez struck a two-run homer (342 feet) towards right-field and Bruce completed one run to lift the Reds.
The Reds’ Manager Dusty Baker had a big ovation for Hernandez as he said, “That's a quality team and that was a huge home run, especially off the closer. That was big. Those two runs took it from a two-run game to a four-run game.”
Tommy Hanson was expensive as he gave away three runs on four hits in four innings pitches.
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