CINCINNATI -- No one needed to tell Mike Leake what was needed from him. The Reds' right-hander watched the bludgeoning the rest of the pitching staff took Friday night at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays. He knew the bullpen could use a day of rest because of the long week it has had.
Knowing a situation is one thing. Going out and doing something about it, especially when you haven't been at your best recently, is something completely different.
Leake was exactly what his team needed Saturday, pitching eight innings and allowing only a solo home run by Colby Rasmus as he shut down the potent Blue Jays offense on four hits in an 11-1 Reds win. Leake walked just two as the Reds rinse-and-spit out the bitter taste of Friday's 14-9 loss when they blew leads of 8-0 and 9-3.
"Not that you can predict what can happen but I did my best to try to get it quick and conductive," said Leake. "Those games suck when you're up so much and you let them slowly creep back. It was my job to not let them do that today."
Leake did his job as well as he has all season. It was the fourth time this year he's gone eight innings. He had pitched into the seventh inning or beyond in each of his first nine starts, but hadn't gone more than six innings in any of his previous five starts. He had given up 19 earned runs in his those starts after allowing just 20 earned runs in his first nine starts.
His last three starts didn't foretell a very good outcome for Saturday. Leake, who had been bothered recently by a neck issue, hadn't pitched more than 5 1/3 innings in those games, giving up 26 hits and 14 earned runs.
Saturday was a new day for Leake.
"Those three games I wasn't really putting the ball where I wanted," said Leake. "I was missing spots and getting them hit. Sometimes you miss spots when you're throwing the ball well and they miss it. They weren't missing them the last three games."
Leake had the Blue Jays missing a lot Saturday. He struck out six. Jose Bautista, who had been on with four walks Friday, was 0-for-4. Leake kept Edwin Encarnacion, who had two long home runs Friday, in the park. Encarnacion had only a second-inning walk in his four plate appearances.
"He had his command back," said catcher Devin Mesoraco. "He was a little thrown off here his last couple of starts with the neck thing that kind of got him out of whack. I think he was able to get back to that stretch where he was when he was really good. He was really commanding the ball. His stuff is so good. He's got a great cutter, a great sinker that he can go out there and throw those and go right after guys and be very successful."
Leake also helped himself with the bat in the fourth inning, pulling back on a bunt attempt and swinging away. His single straight up the middle sent Ramon Santiago first-to-third and set up what ended up being a four-run inning that increased the Reds' lead to 8-0.
Given what had happened Friday night, there was hesitancy around Great American Ball Park.
Leake alleviated any anxious feelings with his performance.
"This had a ton of consequence," said manager Bryan Price. "What he did today by staying in the game for eight innings, giving us a chance to win the game, saved our bullpen. It was hopefully something that will pay dividends (Sunday) should we need the guys. It couldn't have been a bigger effort."
Baseball is a game where the turn-around is so quick momentum is fleeting. But after getting back to .500 after an 11-4 win in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, the Reds had dropped two straight in manners that can be deflating. They re-inflated themselves Saturday behind Leake.
"We didn't talk about it as a team but we did as a coaching staff," said Price. "It was a character game. It was a game where we needed to show up and we needed to get the taste of (Friday)'s loss out of our mouths and get a win. It was a convincing win and showed that the guys were really into it."
