AN: FINALLY THE NASTY ONE HAS COME BACK TO FANFICTION!
Sorry about the long gap between chapters, but I've been busy with school and writing my other story that this one has been forgotten. But, I've finally gotten back around to it and feel like it deserves another chapter or two. So let's hop right in.
Chapter 13: A Bad Day
== Reminder of Series against Sand Diego ==
Game two of the series was Saturday night and the team ended up winning 3 to 0 behind a complete game shutout by Mike. He ended up striking out seven while improving his win-loss record to 3 – 2 on the season. The offense to support his effort came from an RBI double by utility player Kristopher Negron and a two RBI double by OF Jay Bruce.
Looking for the sweep Sunday afternoon, the team didn't disappoint as they ended up completing the sweep with a 5 – 2 win behind Homer who picked up his third win of the year, (3 – 4). Aroldis Chapman also ended up picking up his twelfth save of the season, while the offense was provided by 1B Joey Votto's solo homer, 3B Todd Frazier's two run homer, and another two RBI double from Bruce.
== Series against Philadelphia Phillies™ ==
The Phillies entered town Sunday evening to begin a three game series against the team Monday night. The Phillies ended up stealing the first game from the Reds 6 – 3. Johnny Cueto pitched six innings and left the game when it was still tied 3 – 3 thanks to runs from Negron's RBI single and Brayan's two RBI single. However, RHP Sam LeCure entered the game in the seventh and failed to record the out as he gave up three runs to seal the team's fate. The loss earned him his second loss of the year.
The team ended up bouncing back Tuesday night behind Tony Cingrani as they won the game 3 – 0 after Cingrani threw seven scoreless innings. LHP Manny Parra pitched a scoreless eighth for his fourth hold of the season, while Chapman picked up his thirteenth save. Offensive output was provided by an RBI double from Brandon and OF Marlon Byrd's two RBI single.
== Game Day (Wednesday June 10, 2015 12:35 PM CST) ==
(Refer back to Chapter 10 for the meanings behind the asterisks next to the players' names.)
Cincinnati Reds™ (27 - 31) vs. Philadelphia Phillies™ (33 – 27)
1. CF Billy Hamilton (S) ** 1. CF Ben Revere (L)
2. LF Kristopher Negron 2. SS Cesar Hernandez (S)
3. 1B Joey Votto (L) * 3. 2B Chase Utley (L)
4. 3B Todd Frazier * 4. 1B Darin Ruf
5. RF Jay Bruce (L) 5. LF Dominic Brown (L) **
6. 2B Brandon Phillips * 6. C Carlos Ruiz
7. C Devin Mesoraco 7. 3B Cody Asche (L)
8. SS Zack Cozart ** 8. RF Jeff Francoeur
9. SP Charlie Brown * 9. SP Cliff Lee (L)
Pitchers: RHP Charlie Brown (2 – 0, 0.74 ERA) vs. LHP Cliff Lee (2 – 5, 2.38 ERA)
'Let's see how I match up against a former CY Young Award winner.'
== Top of 1st Inning ==
CF Ben Revere stepped in to lead off the inning after Charlie Brown finished his warm up pitches. Revere ended up starting the game off on a good note for Philly as he hit a single into right field on the fourth pitch from Charlie Brown.
SS Cesar Hernandez followed that up with a seven pitch battle against Charlie Brown. Unfortunately for him he struck out on the seventh pitch when he was late on a low 4SFB.
2B Chase Utley decided to be aggressive and swung at the first pitch sending it right back to Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown fielded it and immediately tossed it to Brandon covering second who then fired it on to Votto to complete the inning-ending 1-4-3 double play.
== Top of 2nd Inning ==
After failing to score in the bottom half, Charlie Brown stared in to face Philly's cleanup hitter, 1B Darin Ruf. Ruf managed to work a nine pitch at bat before chasing a low and away Curve that was out of the zone.
LF Dominic Brown was next and worked a seven pitch at bat before grounding out to Brandon at second.
C Carlos Ruiz stepped in next but was quickly dispatched after fishing on a curve in the dirt on the third pitch of the at bat. Devin picked it up and easily threw out the slow Ruiz for the final out of the inning.
== Bottom of 2nd Inning ==
3B Todd Frazier led off the inning with a strikeout against Cliff Lee. Following him, Bruce doubled in the left center gap on a hanging Curve. Brandon walked up next and blasted a homerun to right, his seventh of the season, on a high fastball to put Cincinnati up by two. Devin and Cozart ended up being dispatched after that to end the inning.
== Top of 3rd Inning ==
3B Cody Asche, pronounced Ashy, led off the inning for Philadelphia. Coming into the game Asche was stuck in a 2 – 21 rut at the plate over his last six games. His luck didn't improve much as he grounded out to Brandon at second after four pitches.
RF Jeff "Frenchie" Francoeur was the next batter as he flew out to Billy in center after a three pitch at bat.
SP Cliff Lee was the last man to bat in the lineup and also grounded out to second, but this time after three pitches, when he went after a low and away 4SFB out of the zone.
== Bottom of 3rd Inning ==
Charlie Brown led off the inning against Lee, and Lee showed that he still had glimpses of his CY Young winning form when he struck Charlie Brown out after four pitches when he chased a low Changeup.
Billy didn't fare much better as he also struck out on Lee's changeup. Negron managed to avoid letting Lee strike out the side when he grounded out to second to end the inning.
== Top of 4th Inning ==
Revere stepped in to the lead off the inning with his second at bat of the game. On the fourth pitch of the at bat, he hit a hard shot to first on a high and in 4SFB but Votto's quick reactions allowed him to spear it before it got past him for the first out.
Hernandez was next and drew another long at bat, this time reaching eight pitches before he struck out again when he froze on a high and away 2SFB that looked out of the zone.
Utley was up next, and with no one on base the Reds activated the overshift on the right side of the infield since Utley was a notorious pull hitter. The shift didn't phase Utley one bit as he hit the fourth pitch into right center for a single past a diving Cozart's glove.
Capitalizing on the momentum, Ruf also managed to get a single when he hit the third pitch sharply to shortstop as it bounced off a diving Cozart's glove.
With two men on, Brown stepped in looking to score their first run, but ended up grounding out to Brandon at second on the first pitch Curve.
== Top of 5th Inning ==
The Reds failed to score in the bottom half again, so Charlie Brown still possessed a two run lead. Ruiz was the first hitter for the Phillies in the inning as he started the inning off with a two pitch single that ricocheted off a diving Brandon's glove at second base.
Asche was up next and looked for a pitch up that he could drive. He got his wish as the first pitch high and away 2SFB was crushed into the left center seats to tie the game up at 2 – 2. This was definitely going to snap him out of his cold spell.
Francoeur was next, looking to capitalize on the momentum but struck out after four pitches when was frozen on a high and tight 4SFB.
Lee was up next and took advantage of Charlie Brown's lack of focus on the at bat to smack a single back up the middle on the first pitch.
The inning continued to spiral downward for Charlie Brown as Revere smacked a triple over Negron's diving body in left on the fourth pitch he saw to drive in Lee and give Philadelphia a 3 – 2 lead.
Hernandez continued the rally by grounding out to Brandon at second after four pitches which scored Revere extending the lead to 4 – 2.
Utley came up to extend the inning but fell victim to Charlie Brown's 4SFB as he swung late on it to end the inning after a five pitch at bat.
== Top of 6th Inning ==
After failing to score in the bottom of the 5th, Price decided to pull Charlie Brown from the game due to his high pitch count, and the fact that he'd just given up four runs last inning. RHP J. J. Hoover came in for a 1-2-3 inning.
== Bottom of 6th Inning ==
Cincinnati managed to tie the game up in the sixth behind a sacrifice fly from Negron and Frazier's RBI single.
== Top of 8th Inning ==
Brown homered off of reliever Burke Badenhop to put Philly up by a score of 5 – 4.
== Bottom of 8th Inning ==
That didn't last long as Negron returned the favor by homering off of right-handed reliever Jake Diekman to tie the game back up at five. Neither team scored again in the ninth so it sent to game into extras.
== Top of 12th Inning ==
The score was still tied in the twelfth until right handed reliever Carlos Contreras gave up an RBI double to Cesar Hernandez making it a 6 – 5 game. The Reds failed to score in the bottom half which put another loss in the loss column. This dropped Contreras' win-loss record to 0 – 4 on the year.
== Final Stat Line ==
Pitching: ND (Still 2 – 0), 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 6 K's, 1,84 ERA on the season, 82 Pitches, 66 Strikes, 16 Balls.
Batting: 0 – 1, 1 K
== After the Game ==
The teams had packed up their things after the game and were waiting at the airport for their flight to Chicago to face the Cubs™ in a four game series at Wrigley Field. Charlie Brown was lost deep in thought as he mulled over what happened earlier during the game.
'Had a bad game today no doubt about it. But, this was bound to happen eventually. I'll just have to bounce back next time out.'
Charlie Brown vowed to do a better job next time he was given the ball, as the team was allowed to board their plane to start their next road trip of six games.
AN: That's a wrap on that chapter. Sorry for the shortness of it, but there was literally nothing else I could've thrown in to extend the chapter's length. Sometimes games just don't go your way and as a result there's no material to write about. Remember to read, review, follow and favorite the story so I see your support. Until next time this is "The Nasty One" signing off.
-PRAK #TheNastyOne