Until Wednesday, Billy Hamilton seemed like a high-performance sports car that hadn’t been taken out of the garage yet. Through the first stretch of games, Hamilton either rarely reached base safely or was hurt and unable to play.
For quite a while after the 4-0 Reds win over the Cardinals, many will probably be talking about how Hamilton’s legs went “vroooom” from third to home to score on what was essentially a sacrifice pop fly just outside of the infield.
“I told [my teammates]: ‘I’m going to make something happen for you if I get the chance. Put the ball in play and I got your back,'” Hamilton said.
Hamilton reached safely four times with three hits, two steals and two runs scored while starting pitcher Mike Leake sped through the St. Louis lineup for eight innings of four-hit baseball as the Reds claimed the finale of the three-game series for a 2-4 road trip.
Cincinnati was already up 2-0 in the fifth inning against Cardinals starter Shelby Miller when Hamilton led off with a single to left field. He stole second base and advanced to third base on Brandon Phillips’ shallow fly to right field before Joey Votto walked.
Next was Jay Bruce, who skied what would normally be a routine popup to short right field behind second base. As Kolten Wong went back on the ball, right fielder Jon Jay charged in for the catch not too far from the infield dirt.
Hamilton was tagging up on the play, but he wouldn’t actually break for home … or would he?
“When the fly ball went up in the air, [third-base coach Steve] Smith was like, ‘I want to see how fast you really are,'” Hamilton explained. “I was like, ‘OK, that’s giving me the key point to go.’ He didn’t say go, but I knew I had to go.”
Hamilton raced to the plate ahead of Jay’s perfect throw and beat catcher Yadier Molina’s tag attempt.
“We didn’t think there would be a chance that he would go,” said Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco, who hit a two-out, two-run home run in the fourth inning. “It was awesome. It was really fun to see. He’s so exciting. He gets everybody on the edge of their seat. I think with Billy, there’s a lot more of those to come.”
The Cardinals may have been on the wrong end of that play — and the game — but they were equally impressed.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen that,” Molina said. “He’s so fast. Like I said, every time he’s on base he’s going to be dangerous. … Any time you see a guy with that kind of speed, he can change the game.”
The Reds were 0-3 vs. the Cardinals when Leake started last season, but he was in firm control on Wednesday. The right-hander faced two over the minimum 24 batters while throwing 100 pitches with three strikeouts and a walk. Two of the hits and the walk against him were erased by ground-ball double plays in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings.
A total of 17 Cardinals outs came via the ground ball from Leake. No runners got beyond second base all afternoon.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
