Win totals for pitchers don’t carry the same gravitas these days as other stats, but Reds starter Alfredo Simon has shown he has more than that on his resume this season.
Simon became the first National League pitcher to reach 12 victories, and it was secured with a three-run bottom of the fifth inning that gave him and the Reds a 4-1 win over the Cubs on Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park, pushing the Reds’ winning streak to five games.
“I’m really happy with myself right now. I hope the second half is going to be the same,” Simon said.
Simon gave up one run, four hits and two walks over his 6 2/3 innings with a season-high-tying eight strikeouts. At 12-3 in 18 starts this season, he has overtaken Adam Wainwright and Zach Greinke for the NL lead in victories and tied the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka for the Major League lead.
When the NL All-Star team was announced on Sunday, Simon’s name was one that was left off. His chances to be a roster replacement could improve if another pitcher — such as teammate Johnny Cueto — starts this Sunday ahead of Tuesday’s game at Target Field. Simon’s numbers are making it harder to deny him a ticket to Minneapolis.
“I hope they pick me up for the All-Star Game. I’ve done my job to be there,” Simon said. “That’s up to [NL manager Mike] Matheny. We’ll see what’s going to happen.”
Simon has a 2.70 ERA, which is 12th-best in the NL. He surpassed his career high in innings pitched during Wednesday’s game with 116 2/3.
The Reds are 15-3 this season when Simon takes the ball, including 8-0 in his last eight starts. His 16 quality starts are second to Cueto’s 17.
“Wins can be a little arbitrary. But you look at all his other numbers, and they’re about as good as the other guys up there,” Reds right fielder Jay Bruce said. “The guy has really done a great job for us. He started off as a filler. It turned out, he’s one of the guys. You hand him the ball, you expect to win.”
Simon was moved from the bullpen to rotation during Spring Training to replace the injured Mat Latos. When Latos returned, Simon got to keep his spot and Tony Cingrani lost his instead.
Cincinnati has won the first four games of this five-game series, tied a season high with a five-game winning streak and has won 14 of its last 19 overall. The club, at 49-42, is a season-high seven games above .500 and moved to 2 1/2 games behind the NL Central-leading Brewers after being seven back on Saturday and 8 1/2 out on June 20.
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