By: Tyler Ward
Even before the game, we all knew that Tuesday's Cardinals-Reds matchup was going to be a fun-filled game. But, why do I say this? Brandon Phillips - The Reds' All-Star second baseman.
In what is a tight NL Central race, the Reds were leading the Cardinals by one game for the division lead entering Tuesday's game. Cincinnati hasn't been to the postseason since 1995, you know the Barry Larkin and Reggie Sanders era? Not to mention, the Reds haven't participated in a World Series since 1990 when they swept the Oakland A's. Can you say playoff hungry?
The Cardinals have been the complete opposite of the Reds - since the Reds' last playoff appearance in 1995, the Cardinals have made the playoffs eight times and won the World Series in 2006. St. Louis has also finished above .500 eleven times. Frankly, the Cardinals have dominated the Reds since the mid-90's and Cincinnati is tired of dealing with it. With this being said, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips is probably the leader of the group.
Did it run over smoothly? Eh, you can say that...if you didn't see the highlights.
As Phillips stepped up to the plate, he had heated words with Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and as they came closer and closer, benches started to clear. Next thing you know, it's just one big mob of white and gray jerseys. Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter is pinned against the fence. Cardinals catcher Jason LaRue gets kicked in the head. Tony La Russa says he has a concussion? There was a complete brawl on hand for the Reds fans.
Molina, who helped spark the incident, told the media afterwards, "The comment he made yesterday that he's got no friends over here -- then why you touch me? You are not my friend, so don't touch me. I mean, if we're no good for you, you are not my friend."
The brawl lasted a long seven fun-filled minutes. No players were ejected, but both managers (La Russa and Dusty Baker) were gone from the game. When play finally began again, Phillips grounded out and failed to back up his trash talk.
In the third, the Reds finally put a run on the board when Brandon Phillips grounded out to second and scored Drew Stubbs, bringing the score to 2-1. Later in the inning, MVP candidate Joey Votto singled and scored Ramon Hernandez and the game was successfully tied up. The game would not see another run until the sixth inning.
Pujols led off the inning with a single - the next batter, Matt Holliday, doubled to left with Pujols scoring and putting the Cardinals back on top. Colby Rasmus would then double, driving in Holliday. Rasmus advanced to third on the play after an error by outfielder Chris Heisey. St. Louis would put another run on the board after Molina hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Rasmus. After the top half of the inning, the Cardinals were up 5-2 with the win virtually in place.
Cincinnati's Drew Stubbs hit a single in the bottom of the sixth, scoring Votto and ex-Cardinal Scott Rolen on the play. The Reds were down just one run, but they would score no more for the rest of the inning.
The win was inevitable at the end of the seventh, after Holliday singled to left and scored Brendan Ryan and John Jay. Due to smart baserunning, Pujols was somehow able to squeeze in there and score on the play, putting the Cardinals up 8-4.
Ryan Franklin got his 20th save of the year, after pitching only a third of an inning. Jaime Garcia pitched 5.1 innings, surrendering four runs and two hits, but also had five walks. The rookie is now 10-5 and is the first Cardinals rookie to win 10 games in a season since Jason Simontacchi in 2002. Cueto (11-3) also pitched 5.1 innings, but gave up seven hits and four runs.
