For all of the offense the Reds and Cardinals can boast in their respective lineups, the first two games of the 2014 season have been all about pitching, resulting in a pair of 1-0 contests.
Including Wednesday’s 1-0 walk-off Reds win on a Chris Heisey pinch-hit single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, there have been only 13 1-0 games played at Great American Ball Park in its 12-year history.
For manager Bryan Price, it was coveted victory No. 1 for his career.
“It feels great from a selfish standpoint. From a team standpoint, it feels even better because it’s just important to get that first one and get the ball rolling,” Price said. “We know we’re playing a good club. It certainly makes for a better feeling tomorrow when we get to the ballpark.”
With the game still scoreless heading into the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Ludwick began the inning against reliever Carlos Martinez with a lined single to left field. Todd Frazier followed with a rolling single to left field before Zack Cozart’s perfect sacrifice bunt toward third base moved the runners up 90 feet. Brayan Pena was intentionally walked to load the bases for Heisey.
St. Louis moved right fielder Allen Craig in to give it five infielders as Heisey stepped in.
“To be honest with you, I realized [Cardinals manager Mike] Matheny was waving somebody around, but I was so focused on just getting the barrel on the ball, I didn’t see him standing up the middle,” Heisey said. “Guys were telling me, but I couldn’t have told you where. I was just up there trying to hit the ball hard — sacrifice fly, anything to get the job done.”
Heisey scorched an 0-1 pitch for a line drive into left-center field to end a night that began with a two-hour and 40-minute rain delay before the first pitch.
“There’s nothing like sitting around for about 10 hours and then getting one at-bat and doing something good,” Heisey said. “That’s the ups and downs of pinch-hitting. You get a hit and you feel great. If you don’t, it’s your one at-bat and you failed. It was nice to get a hit and have it be a game-winner at the same time.”
Thus ended the Reds’ stretch of 17 scoreless innings to start the season, which was the longest streak in modern franchise history. The 1909 and 1934 teams both started their seasons with 13 scoreless innings.
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