Jeff Karstens was, improbably, cruising through the first few innings, striking out five batters in his first 3.2 innings, largely by challenging them with a very mediocre fastball that they didn’t appear to see coming. But he ran into some trouble in the fourth after punching out the first two batters – Neil Walker couldn’t come up with a ball struck by Jay Bruce, and then Ramon Hernandez and Paul Janish also singled, bringing home a run. (Andrew McCutchen was charged with an error on the play, allowing Hernandez and Janish to move up to second and third.)
That brought up pitcher Edinson Volquez, who fortunately made the third out. I might have considered pinch-hitting for Volquez if I were Reds manager Dusty Baker, given that Volquez had already thrown 82 pitches, but I can see why Baker didn’t – Volquez has settled in nicely since a very rough first inning.