Best of 2012: #3 Performances

At the middle of our collection of top performances for 2012 and for the #3’s and for this, and you could say that two of the three have one thing in common: revenge.

Position player: Brandon Phillips, June 13 v. Cleveland

The middle game of the three played at GABP in the Ohio Cup. You know who the opponent is then, the Cleveland Indians. Honestly, I don’t need to describe much of this game to you. Instead, here’s a BP highlight reel for you to enjoy.

BP’s line: 3-for-3, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI. I think he had himself a game, don’t you?

Any time BP does well against the Tribe, he must feel some form of vindication. And just to remind those in Cleveland, all the Reds surrendered to get BP was Jeff Stevens, who is now back in the Reds organization.

Starting Pitcher: Mat Latos, June 30 @ San Francisco

The last person Giants fans want to see perform well at their home is Mat Latos. In San Francisco, Mat is known more for his days as a member of the San Diego Padres and his “I Hate SF” signature on a baseball. There’s the ranting about Dave Fleming and a car top, too. I think the latter has been resolved, but some people just won’t let anything go…

I’m thinking Latos might not either as he had his best game of his 2012 season on this day. Add the fact he did it coming off his first complete game as a Red.

Latos got on quite the roll. In case you’re wondering how in the world the Giants managed a run off Latos, Brandon Belt hit a triple and scored on a groundout by Gregor Blanco. This was after one out in the 9th. The only other hit Latos would surrender was 3rd inning to Brandon Crawford.

All told, 7 whiffs and 0 walks. Only those two hits would produce the Giant baserunners.

May 19, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; Arredondo throws a pitch during the ninth inning of a game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

Relief Outing: Jose Arredondo, May 19 @ New York Yankees

Arredondo got only one legit save opportunity during the 2012 season…and he capitalized on it. To have it take place in New York at the New Yankee Stadium may have made this relief outing even better. Thing is, Arredondo had a tough pair of outs to get in order to preserve a Reds win: Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson.

Did I mention that in this game, Dusty Baker had already used Logan Ondrusek, Aroldis Chapman and was in the process of replacing Sean Marshall with Arredondo? Didn’t think so.

The game didn’t end without suspense. As th Yankee captain strode to the plate, there was one thing on Arredondo’s mind” keep the ball down in the zone. I’m sure Dusty told him the same thing as Arredondo entered the game.

On the first pitch Jeter saw, he hacked away. The result was a forceout at second base. Now, to get Granderson. Well, Jeter would steal second on the 5th pitch of the AB. Now the winning run was in scoring position as Andruw Jones was at third base and Jeter now posted at second.

The next pitch would be the last one Arredondo would deliver as Granderson hit a weak grounder to Joey Votto to be the game’s final out and the Reds would be awarded a 6-5 win. What followed this game would be announcement that i”m sure we all know too well. Dusty would state that Chapman would be the Reds primary closer.

The rest is 2012 history.

And yes, this game is mentioned in the May recall.

Others in the 2012 Top Performances series:

Best of 2012: #5 Performances
Best of 2012: #4 Performances