Never could I be happier to be so dead wrong on that statement.
What Mike Leake and Johnny Cueto did was above amazing. Leake with his best performance of the season after a shaky June, and Cueto going 8 strong innings when he hadn't gotten past six in his last two starts with another outing in June that wasn't what we'd seen from him all season. That's really stepping up.
Then Chapman strikes out the side to preserve the one-run victory and a series win.
The Offense was on fire on Saturday with everyone contributing.
I mentioned in the above post that this team has some "magic" in it and that I think it will win the Division. The performance the last two days just solidifies that belief. That's like getting hit in the jaw and getting it broken early in a fight and then coming back and knocking the guy down yourself in the next round. This team has fight.
As has been mentioned over and over again, the team is finally healthy, Mes is out of his slump, Cozart and Hamilton are solid contributors and now Bruce has had a good couple of weeks+.
Two Starters and the Offense lifted the bullpen, patted them on the back and told them that this is a team effort. Give us your best next time out and together we'll win this Division.
Again, never could I be happier than to have been dead wrong about this one.
We're 2-0 Since Summer began and this team is not the same team at all that played those first 72 games. They are different in a hundred+ ways. I see no reason why we can't go 60-30 over these last 90 games and finish with 95 wins and a Division Title. Win two, lose one, win two, lose one, etc.. This team is good enough to do this.
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
I don't know how the Big Red Machine ever won like they did without collapsing after losing high scoring games, which was not uncommon for them.
One of the things that always amuses me is that the offense is blamed for not adding on more runs after a big inning occurring early in the game, as if it is a controllable attribute of any one game.
Losing a game where you are ahead 8-0 sucks, but the reality is that the other team scored more runs over the course of 9 innings than the Reds did, and while it is psychologically humbling, it also is the beauty of the randomness of this game that keeps me following, even when I'm wondering Friday night if I should expend any of my limited time resources on this ballclub.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
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