Let's get this out of the way early. Did you see that Reds lineup? That wasn't the real Reds. These were the scrubs, the replacements, the expendables. They weren't quite a Triple-A team, but they weren't the Reds who won the NL Central either.
So, yeah, it was great that Nelson Figueroa pitched a shutout over 6 2/3 innings, striking out five and giving up six hits. It was a great outing for him, keeping his team in a 1-0 game for much of his time on the hill. Figueroa got a number of ground outs and worked around an Angel Sachez error.
The offense (outside of Carlos Lee) was non-existant, but that's understandable since the Reds threw Johnny Cueto, who is most definitely not a scrub. Still, Brett Wallace, Jason Castro and Hunter Pence were a combined 0 for 10 while Chris Johnson was just 1 for 4. That's a big chunk of the offense not producing on this particular night. Still, we had Carlos going 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.
But, the Reds didn't take this game as seriously after clinching the night before. The city of Cincinnati partied hard the night before and this team and game had the feel of a hangover game. Not for the Astros, mind you, but with the fans. I don't have a lot more to say about it besides that we're two games away from Stephen and clack nailing their predicted win total.