Cubs 3, Reds 1

**Stardust** · 05-03-2012, 07:57 AM

here was a whole lot of cap tipping going on â fugitively, that is â in the Reds clubhouse after their 3-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago right-hander Jeff Samardzija was harder to hit than his name is to spell. The Cubs played outstanding defense. And the lineup was pesky enough to get Bronson Arroyo out after six innings.

âWe didnât do anything wrong,â Reds manager Dusty Baker said. âThey just did a lot of things right.â

Thus, the cap tipping.

âSometimes youâve got no choice but to tip your cap,â Baker said. â(Samardzija) was probably the best weâve seen against us this year. He usually doesnât have that kind of command and control. Unfortunately, he was throwing the ball very good. He was 95 to 98. That was tough one there.â

Arroyo concurred.

âSometimes, you tip your cap and say he just beat you,â Arroyo said. âHe went deeper into the game than I did. He commanded our lineup better than I did. He threw a hell of a game. He deserved to win.â

The loss makes the Reds 4-3 on the homestand, going into todayâs 12:35 p.m. finale. Obviously, todayâs game is the difference between a good homestand and a mediocre one.

Samardzija (3-1) went 72/3 innings and allowed the one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out seven.

Arroyo (1-1) wasnât bad â six innings, three runs on nine hits â but he was burned by the long ball, which was a bit odd. Heâs been pretty good at not giving up home runs this season. He had only allowed two on the year coming in. The Cubs have been pretty bad about hitting them. In fact, the Cubs came in with nine â the fewest in the majors.

But the Cubs took a 2-0 lead on a pair of home runs.

Bryan LaHair led off the second with a 408-foot shot to the right-center for his sixth.

âI was trying to get (inside) a little bit on LaHair,â Arroyo said. âWe thought we diving. I just didnât get it in there.â

An inning later, Ian Stewart hit a solo shot to right for his second.

âIt was an 0-0 sinker away that wound up being up in the zone a little bit,â Arroyo said.

The Reds didnât have a hit until the fourth. Joey Votto walked with one out. It was the 14th straight game in which Votto reached base safely. Brandon Phillips followed with a single to right. Votto, who was running on the play, ended up at third.

Jay Bruce followed with a hard grounder to LaHair at first. He stepped on the bag, taking off the force at second. Phillips stayed in a rundown long enough to allow Votto to score and make it 2-1.

âThatâs what youâre supposed to do in that situation, especially when he touches first base first,â Baker said. âThatâs what Brandon did.â

The Cubs added a run in the sixth on Geovany Sotoâs two-out RBI single with Samardzija on deck.

âThe third run hurt quite a bit because Samardzija was throwing so good,â Arroyo said. âTo give him extra breathing room makes it tough. If we could have kept it 2-1, weâd have a chance to get him out of the game quicker or have a little more life.âhttp://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120...|text|Reds

**Stardust** · 05-03-2012, 07:58 AM

[HTML]Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
DeJesus rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .238
Campana cf 4 0 1 0 0 3 .355
S.Castro ss 4 0 2 0 0 0 .340
LaHair 1b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .381
A.Soriano lf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .250
Marmol p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
I.Stewart 3b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .173
DeWitt 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .143
Barney 2b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .259
Soto c 3 0 2 1 1 0 .155
Samardzija p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Dolis p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
c-R.Johnson ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .212
Totals 34 3 10 3 1 5

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Cozart ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 .258
Stubbs cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .231
Votto 1b 3 1 0 0 1 1 .278
Phillips 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .254
Bruce rf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .298
Rolen 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .178
Heisey lf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .222
Hanigan c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .265
Arroyo p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .200
a-Harris ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .097
LeCure p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
b-Frazier ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .385
Hoover p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Totals 29 1 3 0 2 10

Chicago 010 101 000 â 3 10 0
Cincinnati 000 100 000 â 1 3 0

a-struck out for Arroyo in the 6th. b-walked for LeCure in the 8th. c-struck out for Dolis in the 9th.

LOBâChicago 6, Cincinnati 3. 2BâS.Castro (6), Bruce (6). HRâLaHair (6), off Arroyo; I.Stewart (2), off Arroyo. RBIsâLaHair (15), I.Stewart (9), Soto (2). CSâS.Castro (4). SâSamardzija.

Runners left in scoring positionâChicago 3 (Samardzija 2, S.Castro); Cincinnati 1 (Rolen). RISPâChicago 2 for 7; Cincinnati 0 for 2.

Runners moved upâI.Stewart, DeWitt. GIDPâBruce, Hanigan.

DPâChicago 2 (LaHair, S.Castro, LaHair, S.Castro), (DeWitt, S.Castro, LaHair).

Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Samardzija W, 3-1 72/3 3 1 1 2 7 94 3.41
Dolis H, 3 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 4 3.86
Marmol S, 2-4 1 0 0 0 0 2 15 5.19

Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Arroyo L, 1-1 6 9 3 3 1 3 99 3.03
LeCure 2 1 0 0 0 1 26 4.63
Hoover 1 0 0 0 0 1 12 0.00

UmpiresâHome, Dana DeMuth; First, Kerwin Danley; Second, Doug Eddings; Third, Paul Nauert.

Tâ2:37. Aâ16,868 (42,319).[/HTML]