Saturday, May 31, 2008
Reds 8, Braves 7
Full update possibly before gametime tomorrow, perhaps not. In the meantime the pic says it all...
Friday, May 30, 2008
Brandonie, Bruce Buck Braves 3-2 in Eleven
Brandon Phillips provided two of the Reds’ three runs batted in, including the game-winning single in the eleventh to drive Cincinnati to a 3-2 win over Atlanta Friday night.
The extra-innings heroics obscured another fantastic start from Edinson Volquez, who appears to have shaken off the disastrous relief outing in the San Diego Marathon and was again superb.
The one RBI that didn’t belong to Phillips came from the sensation, the one everyone was waiting for, Jay Bruce, who had four hits in another fantastic performance. He even provided a few laughs getting all turned around on the sac fly that led to Atlanta’s first run (it was so deep the runner would have tagged and scored no matter what). The other day they had video on the telecast of Dunn and Griffey tricking him into running onto the field by himself to start the game, and on top of that he was recipient of one of the best pies to the face I’ve ever seen. This team really does feel energized by the youth, and they’re playing with a spark they really didn’t show on the west coast trip. Bruce has truly shown he belongs so far, and has made the Reds look dumb for not going with him in center from the start. If he’s really this good, how many wins has it cost the Reds already putting the clowns they were sending out to center out there instead of Bruce?
Isn’t it interesting that despite being hot as fire, Joey Votto is permanently stuck in the seven hole, but Jay Bruce, a guy who’s getting his first big-league at-bats, has hit either second or third in each of his starts, including his first major league game? Dusty continues to slot hitters based on position in the field rather than what actual players are playing those positions on a given night. Bruce has performed well, but there’s not much room for a slump at such important spots in the order, and a rookie is eventually going to slump. Still no thought, it seems, has been made to moving Adam Dunn up to second or third in the order. Griffey is still cemented to number three, and Phillips to cleanup. It seems Dusty doesn’t read the Enquirer, which has had several excellent Sunday pieces on what hitter fits each spot best based on actual numbers, rather than gut feeling.
“Well, let me tell you something baby, the only thing I use a newspaper for is to whip a doggie, and ain’t nothing I use to whip a doggie that’s gonna whip my behind, jack!”
The extra-innings heroics obscured another fantastic start from Edinson Volquez, who appears to have shaken off the disastrous relief outing in the San Diego Marathon and was again superb.
The one RBI that didn’t belong to Phillips came from the sensation, the one everyone was waiting for, Jay Bruce, who had four hits in another fantastic performance. He even provided a few laughs getting all turned around on the sac fly that led to Atlanta’s first run (it was so deep the runner would have tagged and scored no matter what). The other day they had video on the telecast of Dunn and Griffey tricking him into running onto the field by himself to start the game, and on top of that he was recipient of one of the best pies to the face I’ve ever seen. This team really does feel energized by the youth, and they’re playing with a spark they really didn’t show on the west coast trip. Bruce has truly shown he belongs so far, and has made the Reds look dumb for not going with him in center from the start. If he’s really this good, how many wins has it cost the Reds already putting the clowns they were sending out to center out there instead of Bruce?
Isn’t it interesting that despite being hot as fire, Joey Votto is permanently stuck in the seven hole, but Jay Bruce, a guy who’s getting his first big-league at-bats, has hit either second or third in each of his starts, including his first major league game? Dusty continues to slot hitters based on position in the field rather than what actual players are playing those positions on a given night. Bruce has performed well, but there’s not much room for a slump at such important spots in the order, and a rookie is eventually going to slump. Still no thought, it seems, has been made to moving Adam Dunn up to second or third in the order. Griffey is still cemented to number three, and Phillips to cleanup. It seems Dusty doesn’t read the Enquirer, which has had several excellent Sunday pieces on what hitter fits each spot best based on actual numbers, rather than gut feeling.
“Well, let me tell you something baby, the only thing I use a newspaper for is to whip a doggie, and ain’t nothing I use to whip a doggie that’s gonna whip my behind, jack!”
I’m not saying Bruce shouldn’t be starting, mind you, lest anyone say “People pick on Dusty for not playing youngsters, and now he is playing one and you’re complaining about it!” On the contrary, a blind man could tell you even he can see Bruce gives the Reds the best chance to win in center. Plugging him into the top of the order so soon is just a lot of pressure for a kid who’s already had a lot of expectations put on him. That is all.
With Griffey struggling, can’t he at least consider trying to go the other way every now and then? I can’t count the number of possible ground-ball singles hit straight into the shift this season (today, it was his AB in the bottom of the sixth). He doesn’t even seem to consider going with the pitch and driving it into left anymore. He does waste a strike every at-bat lamely showing bunt, but it doesn’t seem to be deterring the shift at all. I hate to suggest a Hall of Famer needs coaching in his approach at the plate, but if the power bat isn’t there trying to pull the ball all the time, doesn’t he need to be trying to get hits any way he can?
(NOTE: This is why I don’t do live blog entries on the fly; later in the game he did go the other way, twice. He lined out to short once and got the second hit continuing the rally in the eleventh. Kudos to Junior, and I’m an idiot.)
Not to go all Uni Watch on you, but I have to say one thing about Atlanta’s uniforms. I don’t know if the Braves have been doing this all the time, but the all-blue caps with the normal grey road uniforms looks like crap. First off, their traditional roads are absolutely a modern classic, and a great reminder of the TBS era, which I hated at the time but of which I now have this strange nostalgic fondness. Secondly, on those uniforms red is the dominant color, with blue as a trim color, and the solid blue caps look like they’re slapped on the top of a uniform designed to showcase red as well as blue (which, now that I think about it, is exactly the case). Third, the all-blue caps seem to be a different shade of blue than the blue on the rest of the uniform, almost a black, while the blue-and-red caps seem to be a slightly lighter blue. I’m no Pantone expert, but it looked really strange and out of place. I like the all-blue caps, although I’m no fan of Atlanta’s cluttering up of their uniform set with two alts. For the longest time they were one of the only teams to have no alternate look whatsoever, and it was really great how conservative they were. Not anymore, and much like the Braves being absent from TBS, that’s sad.
So tomorrow the weather calls for some Foggy conditions. Really Foggy. Josh Foggy. Foggybear takes on the Braves on Fox at 3:55 Eastern, 12:55 in Chargerland. Josh Fogg takes on star rookie Jair Jurrjens for the Braves. The Reds are 26-29 and back out of last by a half-game. The record is pretty amazing considering how terrible they’ve looked at times this year. May is almost gone and the Reds are ensured a winning month; with only one game left they’re 14-12. June looks to be a beastly month, with series upcoming at Florida and at Philadelphia, vs. Boston and the Dodgers, and at the Yankees, at Toronto and at Cleveland. Yikes. Good time to be peaking. Let’s get hot for more than a week and make this interesting.
With Griffey struggling, can’t he at least consider trying to go the other way every now and then? I can’t count the number of possible ground-ball singles hit straight into the shift this season (today, it was his AB in the bottom of the sixth). He doesn’t even seem to consider going with the pitch and driving it into left anymore. He does waste a strike every at-bat lamely showing bunt, but it doesn’t seem to be deterring the shift at all. I hate to suggest a Hall of Famer needs coaching in his approach at the plate, but if the power bat isn’t there trying to pull the ball all the time, doesn’t he need to be trying to get hits any way he can?
(NOTE: This is why I don’t do live blog entries on the fly; later in the game he did go the other way, twice. He lined out to short once and got the second hit continuing the rally in the eleventh. Kudos to Junior, and I’m an idiot.)
Not to go all Uni Watch on you, but I have to say one thing about Atlanta’s uniforms. I don’t know if the Braves have been doing this all the time, but the all-blue caps with the normal grey road uniforms looks like crap. First off, their traditional roads are absolutely a modern classic, and a great reminder of the TBS era, which I hated at the time but of which I now have this strange nostalgic fondness. Secondly, on those uniforms red is the dominant color, with blue as a trim color, and the solid blue caps look like they’re slapped on the top of a uniform designed to showcase red as well as blue (which, now that I think about it, is exactly the case). Third, the all-blue caps seem to be a different shade of blue than the blue on the rest of the uniform, almost a black, while the blue-and-red caps seem to be a slightly lighter blue. I’m no Pantone expert, but it looked really strange and out of place. I like the all-blue caps, although I’m no fan of Atlanta’s cluttering up of their uniform set with two alts. For the longest time they were one of the only teams to have no alternate look whatsoever, and it was really great how conservative they were. Not anymore, and much like the Braves being absent from TBS, that’s sad.
So tomorrow the weather calls for some Foggy conditions. Really Foggy. Josh Foggy. Foggybear takes on the Braves on Fox at 3:55 Eastern, 12:55 in Chargerland. Josh Fogg takes on star rookie Jair Jurrjens for the Braves. The Reds are 26-29 and back out of last by a half-game. The record is pretty amazing considering how terrible they’ve looked at times this year. May is almost gone and the Reds are ensured a winning month; with only one game left they’re 14-12. June looks to be a beastly month, with series upcoming at Florida and at Philadelphia, vs. Boston and the Dodgers, and at the Yankees, at Toronto and at Cleveland. Yikes. Good time to be peaking. Let’s get hot for more than a week and make this interesting.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Reds Bombed By Bucs, Harang Sucks and It's Getting Foggy In Here
Reds lost tonight to the Buccaneers, 7-2. The home winning streak is over, and I'm concerned about Aaron Harang. After pitching poorly in his start Thursday at San Diego, the Cincinnasti Dream Dusty Baker had him throw sixty-three pitches in the marathon Sunday, then brought him back on three days' rest to start tonight. He just didn't have his breaking ball, plain and simple, and didn't have great location on his fastball. Now the Reds are three games into a stretch of twenty straight games without an off-day with a tired stopper. That's freaking faaaaan-tastic.
Additionally, Adam Dunn left the game early apparently due to his little child having a massive seizure, although he's apparently okay right now I'm hoping for the best, as is everyone.
LHwaP and ex-Red Phil Dumatrait made the Reds look like the kiddie corps offensively, and it was super embarassing for all.
And on top of all that, to make us even more emo, another PLAYER MOVE!!!! Kent Mercker is back from his questionable DL stint, Matt Belisle is in AAA and the Reds have decided to put their best foot forward in front of the nation and start Josh Fogg on Fox Saturday Baseball against the Fiesta Bravos.
Positives tonight? No one bombed the stadium. I assume no hick was like "watch this" and fell to their death walking down the escalator rail. It was tied at the start of the game and also after one inning. The Great Brandonie hit a dinger. A.Phil 2.0 got to start a game, which was probably exciting for his parents and friends. Why is Edwin getting so many days off? It's like Dusty is blaming Edwin for his ejection in San Diego. Hard times, indeed.
Tomorrow it's the Reds (25-29) and Braves (29-25) at home for the first of three. The Reds try to pick up the pieces of their shattered home win streak and start another one. Edinson Volquez tries to shake off the game-winning dinger from the SD Marathon against Tom Glavine. Yes, a game against another lefthander, making this I think 19 out of the last 20 someone has thrown a LHwaP. And on top of that, it's the greatest Reds killer of them all. The Reds knocked him around pretty good in that start earlier this year at the ATL, though, so who knows? Maybe something will happen and someone will win the game. You can only get analysis like this here, folks.
Additionally, Adam Dunn left the game early apparently due to his little child having a massive seizure, although he's apparently okay right now I'm hoping for the best, as is everyone.
LHwaP and ex-Red Phil Dumatrait made the Reds look like the kiddie corps offensively, and it was super embarassing for all.
And on top of all that, to make us even more emo, another PLAYER MOVE!!!! Kent Mercker is back from his questionable DL stint, Matt Belisle is in AAA and the Reds have decided to put their best foot forward in front of the nation and start Josh Fogg on Fox Saturday Baseball against the Fiesta Bravos.
Positives tonight? No one bombed the stadium. I assume no hick was like "watch this" and fell to their death walking down the escalator rail. It was tied at the start of the game and also after one inning. The Great Brandonie hit a dinger. A.Phil 2.0 got to start a game, which was probably exciting for his parents and friends. Why is Edwin getting so many days off? It's like Dusty is blaming Edwin for his ejection in San Diego. Hard times, indeed.
Tomorrow it's the Reds (25-29) and Braves (29-25) at home for the first of three. The Reds try to pick up the pieces of their shattered home win streak and start another one. Edinson Volquez tries to shake off the game-winning dinger from the SD Marathon against Tom Glavine. Yes, a game against another lefthander, making this I think 19 out of the last 20 someone has thrown a LHwaP. And on top of that, it's the greatest Reds killer of them all. The Reds knocked him around pretty good in that start earlier this year at the ATL, though, so who knows? Maybe something will happen and someone will win the game. You can only get analysis like this here, folks.
You think you're our ace, Harang?
I bet you think you're pretty good, don't you, daddy? You been going out there, pitching good for like three years, wearing your designer suits, flashing 'round that jezebel Baby Doll like she ain't something off a street corner? Well let me tell you somethin', jack... if you think good times are comin' round the bend for you, baby, you gotta contend with somethin' else coming outta my sleeve, baby!
But before I can pontificate and elaborate on what I'm trying to do to you I gotta slow it down a bit, if you will... and in the words of the Gamesmaster, sit a spell by the learning tree. Ask Mark Prior how he pitched after I was done with him! That's right! Ask Kerry Wood, closing for two months in Chitown before he shuts it down for good! I came close to putting him out of the game... if you will. You walk around here talkin about how you think I'm not so bad? I may not have a million dollar body jack, but I am bad and all these people know it!
For somebody who everybody wants to crown Cy Young, I don't see no gold on your shelves, baby. No gold like division titles... NL titles... Hit Behind Hank Aaron For Like A Year Titles... these are the things kings are made of! And all put on a poor hard-working man like the Cincinnati Dream Dusty Baker. You thought you were tired after the Beach Blast 18 in San Diego... in the Dream's day Mike Marshall pitched sixty pitches every day for an entire season. You thought it was a fluke when you got knocked around by the Bucs... let me tell you something, baby... you ain't seen nothin' yet, JACK.
Give it up for the Cincinnati Dream ladies and gentlemen! Now let's go to the ring!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Reds say Hello to Bruce, Adieu to Patterson, Adios to Bucs... Twice
Lots of news on the Reds front over the last two days.
First, the phenom Jay Bruce was called up from Louisville, taking the place of the designated-for-assignment Scott Hatteberg. Bruce proceeded to go three-for-three in Tuesday's win over the Pirates, walking twice, and one-for-three in Wednesday's game, picking up another RBI and walking two more times. (Joe from Florence Yall says, "Looks like we got another Dunn to me! Gotta swing the bat to make things happen!" Listening in his office at GABP, Dusty Baker nods sagely.)
Anyway, Bruce has been just sensational so far. He made some awkward swings on one of his outs tonight but overall has been fantastic. He's shown plate discipline with the walks but the ability to lash out at good pitches to hit as well, and this is when he's coming up for his first plate appearances in the bigs. Got to be hard to keep it together and be patient in that situation. Bringing up Bruce was the only move to make and it really shows that Walt Jocketty is finally trying to do something to shake things up. Obviously he was just waiting to be done with the west coast trip to make the moves.
I'm sorry to see Hatteberg go. He's been far more useful than I ever thought he would be over the last couple of years, but really didn't have a place on this current team, being an older, no-power lefthanded first baseman. He really didn't take to the pinch-hitting role at all and really didn't seem happy. The handwriting was really on the wall when Javier Valentin was getting to play on Votto's days off; if Hatteberg wasn't going to get at-bats then, he was never going to play. Votto-Hatteberg was just a platoon that never made much sense. Hopefully he can latch up with someone else and play the rest of the year.
Initially the DFA of Hatteberg didn't seem to be a complimentary move to the Bruce callup; it left the Reds with one less infielder and one outfielder too many. The Corey Patterson demotion seemed like the more natural move (I've already written enough about how awful Patterson has been; just see the post below entitled "Corey Patterson" and you'll pretty much see the extent of my thoughts on him). It only took a day for Patterson to go, with infielder Andy Phillips coming up from Louisville to take his place. Phillips has played for the Yankees on and off, was hitting well in Louisville and has played at first, second and third in his career. Looks like Freel is mostly going to be an outfielder with this callup, and between Hairston, Freel and A.Phil 2.0 (there wasn't a 1.0, but he seems better with 2.0 on the end) the Reds have lots of versatility off the bench. Hopefully he can hit a little, too.
Last night the Reds jumped out to a big lead and held on to beat the Pirates 9-6 (Adam Dunn had the big blow, pushing the Reds ahead in what was a close game with a three-run dinger), while tonight they jumped ahead 6-0 after one, knocking LHwaP Tom Gorzelanny out of the box after two-thirds of an inning. The team really does seem energized by the recent moves and just feels much... fresher, overall, maybe? Turning a minus in the lineup into a plus at center, combined with Dunn killing the ball really makes this offense tick. Fan freaking tastic!
Another factor in this turnaround over the last two: starting pitching, dummy! Why didn't you think of that? Taco Filling pitched for the second time in four games and was admirable. The way he pitched wasn't admirable; he was admirable in general. Six innings, three hits, six whiffs. I love it. Tuesday night, Johnny Greato was okayish; it wasn't a disaster, anyway. He again only went five innings, which is frustrating. He just can't get deep into games and just leaves too many pitches in the hitting zone, not to a Belisle extent but still he needs some work. And you know he will work, and work hard. Every fifth day.
So anyway, it's been a good couple of days in Reds Land. They're even getting withing spitting distance of .500, at 25-28, and have moved ahead of the Bucs and out of last. They're just a game back of the Crew of Brew at this point, and from there it's a rocket to the moon. Tomorrow they go for the sweep as Aaron "Son of Beast" Harang takes on the Thin White Duke for the Tri-Rivers Buccaneers. I have to admit I was worried about this series after the Bucs took the last two of the Cubs series last weekend in dramatic fashion but they've rolled over and died so far. Why would tomorrow be any different? Famous last words, I know... but the Reds have the power on their side...
First, the phenom Jay Bruce was called up from Louisville, taking the place of the designated-for-assignment Scott Hatteberg. Bruce proceeded to go three-for-three in Tuesday's win over the Pirates, walking twice, and one-for-three in Wednesday's game, picking up another RBI and walking two more times. (Joe from Florence Yall says, "Looks like we got another Dunn to me! Gotta swing the bat to make things happen!" Listening in his office at GABP, Dusty Baker nods sagely.)
Anyway, Bruce has been just sensational so far. He made some awkward swings on one of his outs tonight but overall has been fantastic. He's shown plate discipline with the walks but the ability to lash out at good pitches to hit as well, and this is when he's coming up for his first plate appearances in the bigs. Got to be hard to keep it together and be patient in that situation. Bringing up Bruce was the only move to make and it really shows that Walt Jocketty is finally trying to do something to shake things up. Obviously he was just waiting to be done with the west coast trip to make the moves.
I'm sorry to see Hatteberg go. He's been far more useful than I ever thought he would be over the last couple of years, but really didn't have a place on this current team, being an older, no-power lefthanded first baseman. He really didn't take to the pinch-hitting role at all and really didn't seem happy. The handwriting was really on the wall when Javier Valentin was getting to play on Votto's days off; if Hatteberg wasn't going to get at-bats then, he was never going to play. Votto-Hatteberg was just a platoon that never made much sense. Hopefully he can latch up with someone else and play the rest of the year.
Initially the DFA of Hatteberg didn't seem to be a complimentary move to the Bruce callup; it left the Reds with one less infielder and one outfielder too many. The Corey Patterson demotion seemed like the more natural move (I've already written enough about how awful Patterson has been; just see the post below entitled "Corey Patterson" and you'll pretty much see the extent of my thoughts on him). It only took a day for Patterson to go, with infielder Andy Phillips coming up from Louisville to take his place. Phillips has played for the Yankees on and off, was hitting well in Louisville and has played at first, second and third in his career. Looks like Freel is mostly going to be an outfielder with this callup, and between Hairston, Freel and A.Phil 2.0 (there wasn't a 1.0, but he seems better with 2.0 on the end) the Reds have lots of versatility off the bench. Hopefully he can hit a little, too.
Last night the Reds jumped out to a big lead and held on to beat the Pirates 9-6 (Adam Dunn had the big blow, pushing the Reds ahead in what was a close game with a three-run dinger), while tonight they jumped ahead 6-0 after one, knocking LHwaP Tom Gorzelanny out of the box after two-thirds of an inning. The team really does seem energized by the recent moves and just feels much... fresher, overall, maybe? Turning a minus in the lineup into a plus at center, combined with Dunn killing the ball really makes this offense tick. Fan freaking tastic!
Another factor in this turnaround over the last two: starting pitching, dummy! Why didn't you think of that? Taco Filling pitched for the second time in four games and was admirable. The way he pitched wasn't admirable; he was admirable in general. Six innings, three hits, six whiffs. I love it. Tuesday night, Johnny Greato was okayish; it wasn't a disaster, anyway. He again only went five innings, which is frustrating. He just can't get deep into games and just leaves too many pitches in the hitting zone, not to a Belisle extent but still he needs some work. And you know he will work, and work hard. Every fifth day.
So anyway, it's been a good couple of days in Reds Land. They're even getting withing spitting distance of .500, at 25-28, and have moved ahead of the Bucs and out of last. They're just a game back of the Crew of Brew at this point, and from there it's a rocket to the moon. Tomorrow they go for the sweep as Aaron "Son of Beast" Harang takes on the Thin White Duke for the Tri-Rivers Buccaneers. I have to admit I was worried about this series after the Bucs took the last two of the Cubs series last weekend in dramatic fashion but they've rolled over and died so far. Why would tomorrow be any different? Famous last words, I know... but the Reds have the power on their side...
Monday, May 26, 2008
Rotation Change
After yesterday's debacle the rotation for the upcoming homestand has changed.
Johnny Cueto still starts Tuesday against the Pirates; rather than Harang and Volquez following him, though, the Reds will start Arroyo on three days' rest again, followed by Harang in the series finale Thursday. Friday Volquez will start the opener against the Braves, followed by Belisle and Cueto in the series finale. I'm not sure why they can't just bring up Homer Bailey or another Louisville starter to go Wednesday; I know Arroyo pitched pretty well last time he threw with three days' rest but I wouldn't make it a habit.
Johnny Cueto still starts Tuesday against the Pirates; rather than Harang and Volquez following him, though, the Reds will start Arroyo on three days' rest again, followed by Harang in the series finale Thursday. Friday Volquez will start the opener against the Braves, followed by Belisle and Cueto in the series finale. I'm not sure why they can't just bring up Homer Bailey or another Louisville starter to go Wednesday; I know Arroyo pitched pretty well last time he threw with three days' rest but I wouldn't make it a habit.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Corey Patterson
While I'm thinking about this junk from this loss today, let me say something about CP23...
He was 0-8 today. Zero for eight. One sacrifice. Hell, that's an out, too. He might be the worst contact hitter I've ever seen. I watch a lot of baseball. A LOT. When I'm watching the Reds I generally have one game on picture-in-picture and anohter on MLB.tv, sometimes two on there. I'm generally watching at least two games at once, sometimes as many as four. No one I have seen currently playing regularly in the bigs is as awful as Corey Patterson. He's a bad bunter. He tries to bunt for a hit like he's Norris Hopper, and never makes contact. When he swings he's the king of infield popups. When he does make contact he barely even gets a piece of it. I can't remember the last time I saw him have a solid base hit, like hitting it square. I seem to recall a double recently but even that was sliced down the line. He swings like he has the timing down, but he closes his eyes and swings based on the sound the ball makes rather than the location where he sees it pitched. I almost wonder if he needs Lasik or has vision problems. If his continued playing time is Dusty's doing, Dusty needs to have his head examined. Ridiculous.
Just had to vent. More about today's debacle below.
He was 0-8 today. Zero for eight. One sacrifice. Hell, that's an out, too. He might be the worst contact hitter I've ever seen. I watch a lot of baseball. A LOT. When I'm watching the Reds I generally have one game on picture-in-picture and anohter on MLB.tv, sometimes two on there. I'm generally watching at least two games at once, sometimes as many as four. No one I have seen currently playing regularly in the bigs is as awful as Corey Patterson. He's a bad bunter. He tries to bunt for a hit like he's Norris Hopper, and never makes contact. When he swings he's the king of infield popups. When he does make contact he barely even gets a piece of it. I can't remember the last time I saw him have a solid base hit, like hitting it square. I seem to recall a double recently but even that was sliced down the line. He swings like he has the timing down, but he closes his eyes and swings based on the sound the ball makes rather than the location where he sees it pitched. I almost wonder if he needs Lasik or has vision problems. If his continued playing time is Dusty's doing, Dusty needs to have his head examined. Ridiculous.
Just had to vent. More about today's debacle below.
Game 51: Reds Squander Chance for Series Win, Fall in 18
The Reds blew late leads of 6-5, 7-6 and 9-7 (the latter in extra innings) and fell to the Padres, 12-9 in eighteen frames Sunday afternoon and evening.
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=280525125
The box and further details are above, but needless to say the game started with frustration (another poor start from the increasingly-overmatched Matt Belisle), continued into elation with multiple comebacks and solid hitting (two-run homer from Adam Dunn, tiebreaking homer from Brandon Phillips that should have ended it). Now all that's left is disappointment and worry, because Aaron Harang pitched four relief innings on two days' rest and Edinson Volquez took the loss pitching an inning and two-thirds on just a day's rest.
Really, once Bill Bray was used and the bullpen was empty, Harang and Volquez were the logical next options, short of pitching Cueto as the long-term reliever for today and calling up someone from Louisville to start Tuesday. A manager quickly runs out of options when the starter only goes four and a third and the game ends up going eighteen. Seeing Harang throw sixty-three pitches three days after throwing 103 is distressing as hell, though, and Volquez threw thirty-nine just two days after throwing ninety-one can't be good for a young arm.
Double-switching Adam Dunn out of the game in the ninth obviously turned out to be a dumb move, because he's been hot and it removed one of the only currently hot bats from the lineup. If Dusty thought Francisco Cordero was going to have no issues closing it out, he shouldn't have double-switched him into the game in the first place, because if he had closed the door in the ninth it would have been a moot point. It was hard not to smell trouble for Cordero as soon as he entered the game; he warmed up for about an hour before getting into a non-save opportunity last night, and had also pitched Friday. He gave up the tying run in the ninth, but pitched a scoreless tenth.
Then came the eleventh, when the Reds got two across to make it 9-7. Ballgame over, right? Well, no; the last arms in the bullpen were Josh Fogg and Bill Bray. Dusty went with Fogg and away went the lead, with Bray having to come in to clean up the mess. As horrible as Fogg has been, why not go with Bray to begin with? Hindsight is 20/20, but that's a no-brainer. At the time I had thought Bray pitched Friday, giving him three straight days with appearances, but now that I look at his game log he pitched Thursday and Saturday, but not Friday. I know Bray has been a roller-coaster ride, either great or awful, but with Fogg you have no doubt what you're getting: awful.
Once the Padres scored two to send it to the twelfth, things settled down. The Reds threatened in the seventeenth, but Paul Bako was the only bat left and of course he took two perfect strikes before whiffing. The Padres were pitching their AAA bullpen and the Reds couldn't scatch one across for seven innings. Of course, when the only threats in the lineup at the time were Griffey, Phillips and Votto, it gets pretty easy to pitch around them to get to the easier outs.
I'll stop now because it's hard not to be venomous when your team just lost in 18 innings. The Reds had a shot to get three of four in San Diego and come away with a 3-4 road trip, a miracle after the disastrous LA series (that's a yearly tradition unlike any other), but instead end up 2-5. They're now 23-28 on the season. Thank God there's a day off tomorrow, because the entire bullpen and 40% of the rotation pitched today. Johnny Cueto is slated to get the ball Tuesday against the Pittsburghers. Ian Snell goes for the Bucs. Game time 7:10 Eastern, 4:10 here in Carnitas Burrito Land. I've been watching baseball for nine hours. I'm going to go play some Wii or something. Peace!
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=280525125
The box and further details are above, but needless to say the game started with frustration (another poor start from the increasingly-overmatched Matt Belisle), continued into elation with multiple comebacks and solid hitting (two-run homer from Adam Dunn, tiebreaking homer from Brandon Phillips that should have ended it). Now all that's left is disappointment and worry, because Aaron Harang pitched four relief innings on two days' rest and Edinson Volquez took the loss pitching an inning and two-thirds on just a day's rest.
Really, once Bill Bray was used and the bullpen was empty, Harang and Volquez were the logical next options, short of pitching Cueto as the long-term reliever for today and calling up someone from Louisville to start Tuesday. A manager quickly runs out of options when the starter only goes four and a third and the game ends up going eighteen. Seeing Harang throw sixty-three pitches three days after throwing 103 is distressing as hell, though, and Volquez threw thirty-nine just two days after throwing ninety-one can't be good for a young arm.
Double-switching Adam Dunn out of the game in the ninth obviously turned out to be a dumb move, because he's been hot and it removed one of the only currently hot bats from the lineup. If Dusty thought Francisco Cordero was going to have no issues closing it out, he shouldn't have double-switched him into the game in the first place, because if he had closed the door in the ninth it would have been a moot point. It was hard not to smell trouble for Cordero as soon as he entered the game; he warmed up for about an hour before getting into a non-save opportunity last night, and had also pitched Friday. He gave up the tying run in the ninth, but pitched a scoreless tenth.
Then came the eleventh, when the Reds got two across to make it 9-7. Ballgame over, right? Well, no; the last arms in the bullpen were Josh Fogg and Bill Bray. Dusty went with Fogg and away went the lead, with Bray having to come in to clean up the mess. As horrible as Fogg has been, why not go with Bray to begin with? Hindsight is 20/20, but that's a no-brainer. At the time I had thought Bray pitched Friday, giving him three straight days with appearances, but now that I look at his game log he pitched Thursday and Saturday, but not Friday. I know Bray has been a roller-coaster ride, either great or awful, but with Fogg you have no doubt what you're getting: awful.
Once the Padres scored two to send it to the twelfth, things settled down. The Reds threatened in the seventeenth, but Paul Bako was the only bat left and of course he took two perfect strikes before whiffing. The Padres were pitching their AAA bullpen and the Reds couldn't scatch one across for seven innings. Of course, when the only threats in the lineup at the time were Griffey, Phillips and Votto, it gets pretty easy to pitch around them to get to the easier outs.
I'll stop now because it's hard not to be venomous when your team just lost in 18 innings. The Reds had a shot to get three of four in San Diego and come away with a 3-4 road trip, a miracle after the disastrous LA series (that's a yearly tradition unlike any other), but instead end up 2-5. They're now 23-28 on the season. Thank God there's a day off tomorrow, because the entire bullpen and 40% of the rotation pitched today. Johnny Cueto is slated to get the ball Tuesday against the Pittsburghers. Ian Snell goes for the Bucs. Game time 7:10 Eastern, 4:10 here in Carnitas Burrito Land. I've been watching baseball for nine hours. I'm going to go play some Wii or something. Peace!
Game 50: Reds 7, Padres 2
The Reds have a shot at a 3-4 road trip after a 7-2 victory over the Padres Saturday night. Taco Filling was excellent, going seven innings, as the Reds built an early lead and never looked back. Joey Votto's three-run homer was enough to provide the winning margin. They go for three of four over the Friars today as Greg Maddux takes on Matthew Belisle. Game time is 1:05 in Chargerland, 4:05 in the Nasti.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Finally... Reds 3, Padres 2
For the first time since 2005 I actually witnessed a Reds win in person as they defeated the Padres, 3-2 last night in San Diego.
The journey was long and treacherous, but an Adam Dunn homer leading off the ninth provided the winning margin. The dinger was an absolute no-doubter, and a fellow Reds fan standing near me called it before it happened. Sad as it is to say, there is no way Trevor Hoffman is a better pitcher than Heath Bell right now, and the Padres are rolling the dice and doing themselves a disservice every time they send Hoffman out in the ninth. When he went 3-1 on Dunn I knew he would have to come in the zone with something and there it was, Dunn crushing it to left, just a beautiful sight.
As far as Edinson Volquez's start goes, wow, wow, wow, all I can say is wow. He is just nasty, plain and simple. When you have Jake Peavy saying you're nasty, you know you're tough. He was locating every pitch last night, the fastball, curve, slider and change, all at different speeds. Granted, the Padres are a terrible hitting team, but twelve strikeouts in six innings is damned impressive any way you shake it. Volquez is the Reds' MVP, current ace and possible savior and there is no one in either league pitching better than he is right now.
It's too bad, though, that thanks to anohter anemic offensive night Volquez was stuck with a no-decision. Lefthander with a Pulse (Shawn Estes version) shut them down good, and had a no-hitter going through four. His arm is held together with duct tape and he hasn't pitched in the bigs since one game in 2006, but he's lefthanded and still breathing, so the Reds were powerless against him.
It didn't help matters that due to a series of baserunning problems and questionable strategic decisions the Reds had ten different players reach base in the fifth, sixth and seventh and came away with just two runs. In the fifth, Dunn walked and Hairston had a single to lead off the inning in a scoreless game. Joey Votto tried twice to bunt unsuccessfully in the rain (first time in four years it's rained when I've been there) then struck out. Not only were the conditions not great to bunt, it was still fairly early in the game, Votto is a guy you want to produce runs and likely isn't a great bunter, not to mention a much worse hitter (Paul Bako) and the pitcher were hitting behind him. A single dents the scoreboard, doesn't give up an out and virtually guarantees a run, rather than putting men on second and third with the horribly-slumping bad-hitting Bako and the pitcher due up. The rain delay hit after Votto's whiff, when the game resumed Bako struck out and Volquez grounded out to end the threat.
After the Padres got a run in the fifth Ryan Freel doubled to lead off the sixth. This time they had Corey Patterson try to bunt him to third. Problem #1 with this is that Freel is guaranteed to score on nearly any single, and can go to third on a groundout to the right side or a flyball to right or center. Problem #2 is that Corey Patterson either tries to bunt or threatens to try to bunt about four times per start and is never able to get it down, so obviously bunting isn't his strong suit. Of course, he is unsuccessful in his first two bunt attempts, being one of the poorest bat handlers on the club. So since he can't get the bunt down, either Freel was instructed to go on contact, or he went on his own, but he got thrown out at second on a tapper to the pitcher. One out, one one. After a Griffey strikeout Phillips walked, putting men on first and second for Dunn. Dunn shows bunt with two outs, both runners go in motion and Patterson is thrown out at third to end the inning. The Reds simply gave away two outs when they were down 1-0 in idiotic fashion. Did Chris Speier forget there were two outs? Did they really think Dunn was going to bunt for a hit? Why, when you're down one with a speedy runner at second, on a night when baserunners are at a premium, would you have Dunn try to put a bunt down rather than try to get the single to tie the game? Why have the last out of the inning be caught stealing at third? It just made no sense in the world to me. This team has run itself out of innings all year and it just has to stop.
However, the Reds got two in the seventh off Estes and some reliever named Corey (the Padres are already in the "call up anyone and everyone because we've given up on 2008" phase of the year, so I didn't recognize about a quarter of their roster) as Javier Valentin had a big clutch hit. They gave the run right back thanks to Jared Burton but Jeremy Affeldt was excellent in relief. David Weathers wound up getting the final out of the eighth and got the win after Dunn's homer. Cordero got the save, pitching a scoreless ninth.
Tonight is game three of the series. Taco Filling goes for the Reds against Lefthander with a Pulse (Wil Ledezma version) for the Friars. I'm fully expecting another low-scoring affair, but shouldn't have to worry about rain. I won't be going tonight or Sunday so it's Channel 4SD for me. Yay!
The journey was long and treacherous, but an Adam Dunn homer leading off the ninth provided the winning margin. The dinger was an absolute no-doubter, and a fellow Reds fan standing near me called it before it happened. Sad as it is to say, there is no way Trevor Hoffman is a better pitcher than Heath Bell right now, and the Padres are rolling the dice and doing themselves a disservice every time they send Hoffman out in the ninth. When he went 3-1 on Dunn I knew he would have to come in the zone with something and there it was, Dunn crushing it to left, just a beautiful sight.
As far as Edinson Volquez's start goes, wow, wow, wow, all I can say is wow. He is just nasty, plain and simple. When you have Jake Peavy saying you're nasty, you know you're tough. He was locating every pitch last night, the fastball, curve, slider and change, all at different speeds. Granted, the Padres are a terrible hitting team, but twelve strikeouts in six innings is damned impressive any way you shake it. Volquez is the Reds' MVP, current ace and possible savior and there is no one in either league pitching better than he is right now.
It's too bad, though, that thanks to anohter anemic offensive night Volquez was stuck with a no-decision. Lefthander with a Pulse (Shawn Estes version) shut them down good, and had a no-hitter going through four. His arm is held together with duct tape and he hasn't pitched in the bigs since one game in 2006, but he's lefthanded and still breathing, so the Reds were powerless against him.
It didn't help matters that due to a series of baserunning problems and questionable strategic decisions the Reds had ten different players reach base in the fifth, sixth and seventh and came away with just two runs. In the fifth, Dunn walked and Hairston had a single to lead off the inning in a scoreless game. Joey Votto tried twice to bunt unsuccessfully in the rain (first time in four years it's rained when I've been there) then struck out. Not only were the conditions not great to bunt, it was still fairly early in the game, Votto is a guy you want to produce runs and likely isn't a great bunter, not to mention a much worse hitter (Paul Bako) and the pitcher were hitting behind him. A single dents the scoreboard, doesn't give up an out and virtually guarantees a run, rather than putting men on second and third with the horribly-slumping bad-hitting Bako and the pitcher due up. The rain delay hit after Votto's whiff, when the game resumed Bako struck out and Volquez grounded out to end the threat.
After the Padres got a run in the fifth Ryan Freel doubled to lead off the sixth. This time they had Corey Patterson try to bunt him to third. Problem #1 with this is that Freel is guaranteed to score on nearly any single, and can go to third on a groundout to the right side or a flyball to right or center. Problem #2 is that Corey Patterson either tries to bunt or threatens to try to bunt about four times per start and is never able to get it down, so obviously bunting isn't his strong suit. Of course, he is unsuccessful in his first two bunt attempts, being one of the poorest bat handlers on the club. So since he can't get the bunt down, either Freel was instructed to go on contact, or he went on his own, but he got thrown out at second on a tapper to the pitcher. One out, one one. After a Griffey strikeout Phillips walked, putting men on first and second for Dunn. Dunn shows bunt with two outs, both runners go in motion and Patterson is thrown out at third to end the inning. The Reds simply gave away two outs when they were down 1-0 in idiotic fashion. Did Chris Speier forget there were two outs? Did they really think Dunn was going to bunt for a hit? Why, when you're down one with a speedy runner at second, on a night when baserunners are at a premium, would you have Dunn try to put a bunt down rather than try to get the single to tie the game? Why have the last out of the inning be caught stealing at third? It just made no sense in the world to me. This team has run itself out of innings all year and it just has to stop.
However, the Reds got two in the seventh off Estes and some reliever named Corey (the Padres are already in the "call up anyone and everyone because we've given up on 2008" phase of the year, so I didn't recognize about a quarter of their roster) as Javier Valentin had a big clutch hit. They gave the run right back thanks to Jared Burton but Jeremy Affeldt was excellent in relief. David Weathers wound up getting the final out of the eighth and got the win after Dunn's homer. Cordero got the save, pitching a scoreless ninth.
Tonight is game three of the series. Taco Filling goes for the Reds against Lefthander with a Pulse (Wil Ledezma version) for the Friars. I'm fully expecting another low-scoring affair, but shouldn't have to worry about rain. I won't be going tonight or Sunday so it's Channel 4SD for me. Yay!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Well, that sucked
I go away for a few days and the Reds go in the garbage... seriously. Sunday's win over the Indians giving the Reds a sweep of the homestand means very little after four straight losses out west, the first three to LA and last night's 8-2 loss to the Padres.
This team is so undisciplined and impatient at the plate it's ridiculous. After a good start last night with Griffey's homer they managed just one hit from the second through the sixth, and it was a Dunn broken-bat single. Brandon Phillips took like four straight breaking balls from Randy Wolf over two straight at-bats for called strikes, then complained to the umpire about it. Edwin Encarnacion struck out looking twice on the same pitch and managed to get himself run. It doesn't matter if a hitter agrees with a call or not, if it's a strike once it's going to be a strike again, so you'd better swing.
While Phillips and Encarnacion had issues with home plate umpire Mike Cooper's strike zone, others just weren't working the count. Randy Wolf didn't get to 100 pitches in seven innings despite striking out nine, which is ridiculous.
RANDY WOLF'S INNING-BY-INNING PITCH COUNT
1st - 19
2nd - 9
3rd - 9
4th - 18
5th - 14
6th - 11
7th - 13
Wolf had been awful this year but he's lefthanded and this team is just awful on the west coast in recent years (no wins in LA since 2005, now 2-5 at Petco over the last three years). They're just so easy to pitch to.
Freel - One of the few hitters who can be pesky in this lineup, but not really a threat to hurt you offensively. Save your good pickoff move if he gets on, because he gets crazy on the basepaths and falls for anything.
Janish - Looks overmatched so far at the plate. Can't catch up to gas. 2008 is the only year he's even sort-of hit in the minors and that was for an average in the .270 range. Dusty hitting him second is a joke. You can't just install Keppinger's replacement in Keppinger's spot in the lineup and expect similar production as if Keppinger was magically hitting because he was second in the batting order.
Griffey - Just go away, away, away and you're good. He'll only look for something he can pull. If you don't make a mistake on the inner half it's fine.
Phillips - Don't throw anything in the strike zone. Loves to chase breaking balls in the dirt. Very undisciplined and not in a good Vlad Guerrero way.
Dunn - See Griffey. Nibble, and he'll take anything that isn't obviously a strike. Umpires are very generous with the strike zone, don't have to be too fine, just don't make a mistake in.
Encarnacion - One of the more well-rounded hitters on the team and fairly disciplined, but tends to take close pitches in the zone, so be very fine.
Votto - Go away so he can't muscle it to a gap. Tough out. Hasn't shown much patience at the big league level, unfortunately.
Bako - Seems to be a pure guess hitter because he inexplicably takes fastballs right down broadway for strikes nearly every at-bat.
Watching this team every day just as a fan, I almost feel I could call the pitches for the opposition, so I shudder to think what a real scout would have to say about this team. Now that the bullpen is awful like expected, it's just a mess. Harang didn't pitch well here for the first time since, well, ever. The Padres have been a joke offensively and they made the Reds look like batting practice pitchers. I was at this game and normally it wouldn't have been fun, however, onto the positives...
GOOD SEATS FROM A GOOD DUDE
I was standing behind the plate in the standing room section in the lower level, like I had planned, wearing a Reds cap and keeping a scorecard, like I always do. A guy in a Giants cap and jersey was standing there and he comes over to me. "Hey man," he says, "are you standing here by yourself keeping that card?" I said, "yeah." He goes, "I'm going to eat this ticket anyway, so come with me, these are awesome seats." I think, "yeah right," then look down and they're eighth row, behind the plate. Pinch me, I'm dreaming. So we walk down, down, down and we're in the first row behind the $200 seats where people drink wine the whole game, maybe thirty feet from home plate. Just unreal. Whoever that guy was is like the best dude ever, because I've never had seats anywhere near that good for a big league game. It was really surreal, like did that really happen? Just too bad the Reds couldn't hang onto the early lead, but still it was amazing and I couldn't thank him enough.
The good seats gave me a really good vantage point for a bunch of Padre homers, but at least Dusty had a great meltdown when he was ejected, throwing his hat down then kicking it into the air. It was epic. Anyone who hasn't sat that close at a major league game before, do it at least once, just so you can see how tough even the "routine" plays look, how fast the ball gets to the plate, just how big league baseball looks up close. I wouldn't want to pay that kind of money every night, at least not til I'm more secure financially, but for one day it was great, especially for five bucks (which is how much I paid for my standing room ticket). Tonight I'll be standing again and let's hope my personal Reds jinx is lifted. They've now lost five straight with me in attendance. Game time is 7:05 here in Chargerland, 10:05 back in the Nasti. Edinson Volquez goes for the Reds against Shawn Estes for the Friars. Wish me luck.
This team is so undisciplined and impatient at the plate it's ridiculous. After a good start last night with Griffey's homer they managed just one hit from the second through the sixth, and it was a Dunn broken-bat single. Brandon Phillips took like four straight breaking balls from Randy Wolf over two straight at-bats for called strikes, then complained to the umpire about it. Edwin Encarnacion struck out looking twice on the same pitch and managed to get himself run. It doesn't matter if a hitter agrees with a call or not, if it's a strike once it's going to be a strike again, so you'd better swing.
While Phillips and Encarnacion had issues with home plate umpire Mike Cooper's strike zone, others just weren't working the count. Randy Wolf didn't get to 100 pitches in seven innings despite striking out nine, which is ridiculous.
RANDY WOLF'S INNING-BY-INNING PITCH COUNT
1st - 19
2nd - 9
3rd - 9
4th - 18
5th - 14
6th - 11
7th - 13
Wolf had been awful this year but he's lefthanded and this team is just awful on the west coast in recent years (no wins in LA since 2005, now 2-5 at Petco over the last three years). They're just so easy to pitch to.
Freel - One of the few hitters who can be pesky in this lineup, but not really a threat to hurt you offensively. Save your good pickoff move if he gets on, because he gets crazy on the basepaths and falls for anything.
Janish - Looks overmatched so far at the plate. Can't catch up to gas. 2008 is the only year he's even sort-of hit in the minors and that was for an average in the .270 range. Dusty hitting him second is a joke. You can't just install Keppinger's replacement in Keppinger's spot in the lineup and expect similar production as if Keppinger was magically hitting because he was second in the batting order.
Griffey - Just go away, away, away and you're good. He'll only look for something he can pull. If you don't make a mistake on the inner half it's fine.
Phillips - Don't throw anything in the strike zone. Loves to chase breaking balls in the dirt. Very undisciplined and not in a good Vlad Guerrero way.
Dunn - See Griffey. Nibble, and he'll take anything that isn't obviously a strike. Umpires are very generous with the strike zone, don't have to be too fine, just don't make a mistake in.
Encarnacion - One of the more well-rounded hitters on the team and fairly disciplined, but tends to take close pitches in the zone, so be very fine.
Votto - Go away so he can't muscle it to a gap. Tough out. Hasn't shown much patience at the big league level, unfortunately.
Bako - Seems to be a pure guess hitter because he inexplicably takes fastballs right down broadway for strikes nearly every at-bat.
Watching this team every day just as a fan, I almost feel I could call the pitches for the opposition, so I shudder to think what a real scout would have to say about this team. Now that the bullpen is awful like expected, it's just a mess. Harang didn't pitch well here for the first time since, well, ever. The Padres have been a joke offensively and they made the Reds look like batting practice pitchers. I was at this game and normally it wouldn't have been fun, however, onto the positives...
GOOD SEATS FROM A GOOD DUDE
I was standing behind the plate in the standing room section in the lower level, like I had planned, wearing a Reds cap and keeping a scorecard, like I always do. A guy in a Giants cap and jersey was standing there and he comes over to me. "Hey man," he says, "are you standing here by yourself keeping that card?" I said, "yeah." He goes, "I'm going to eat this ticket anyway, so come with me, these are awesome seats." I think, "yeah right," then look down and they're eighth row, behind the plate. Pinch me, I'm dreaming. So we walk down, down, down and we're in the first row behind the $200 seats where people drink wine the whole game, maybe thirty feet from home plate. Just unreal. Whoever that guy was is like the best dude ever, because I've never had seats anywhere near that good for a big league game. It was really surreal, like did that really happen? Just too bad the Reds couldn't hang onto the early lead, but still it was amazing and I couldn't thank him enough.
The good seats gave me a really good vantage point for a bunch of Padre homers, but at least Dusty had a great meltdown when he was ejected, throwing his hat down then kicking it into the air. It was epic. Anyone who hasn't sat that close at a major league game before, do it at least once, just so you can see how tough even the "routine" plays look, how fast the ball gets to the plate, just how big league baseball looks up close. I wouldn't want to pay that kind of money every night, at least not til I'm more secure financially, but for one day it was great, especially for five bucks (which is how much I paid for my standing room ticket). Tonight I'll be standing again and let's hope my personal Reds jinx is lifted. They've now lost five straight with me in attendance. Game time is 7:05 here in Chargerland, 10:05 back in the Nasti. Edinson Volquez goes for the Reds against Shawn Estes for the Friars. Wish me luck.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Game 43: Reds 4, Indians 2
Adam Dunn crushed the game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth Saturday afternoon, giving the Reds a 4-2 win over Cleveland. The win, the Reds' fifth straight, ensures a second straight series victory for Cincinnati, who goes for the sweep today in a dazzling pitching matchup.
Masa Kobayashi took the loss for the Indians, failing to get an out in the ninth before allowing the game-winning homer. Joey Votto singled leading off the inning, and Kobayashi hit Edwin Encarnacion with a pitch to put two on before Dunn's homer.
Cincinnati's other RBI went to Brandon Phillips, who tied the game at one in the sixth with a two-out single. Phillips had two more hits Saturday to raise his average to .294, and is hitting .320 in May with a 950 OPS. In another good sign for the Reds offense, Dunn's blast gave him three straight games with homers, and it looks like he's coming out of his funk as well.
The dramatic win obscured another subperb outing from Aaron Harang (7IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 H, 5 K), whose hard luck continued with a no-decision. Today it's a battle between the NL and AL ERA leaders for just the third time in history, as the Reds' Edinson Volquez takes on Cleveland's Cliff Lee. I'm going away and will likely be back Thursday to catch up with four games in one day before the Reds come to San Diego. Game time today is 1:10 Eastern, 10:10 in Chargerland.
Masa Kobayashi took the loss for the Indians, failing to get an out in the ninth before allowing the game-winning homer. Joey Votto singled leading off the inning, and Kobayashi hit Edwin Encarnacion with a pitch to put two on before Dunn's homer.
Cincinnati's other RBI went to Brandon Phillips, who tied the game at one in the sixth with a two-out single. Phillips had two more hits Saturday to raise his average to .294, and is hitting .320 in May with a 950 OPS. In another good sign for the Reds offense, Dunn's blast gave him three straight games with homers, and it looks like he's coming out of his funk as well.
The dramatic win obscured another subperb outing from Aaron Harang (7IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 H, 5 K), whose hard luck continued with a no-decision. Today it's a battle between the NL and AL ERA leaders for just the third time in history, as the Reds' Edinson Volquez takes on Cleveland's Cliff Lee. I'm going away and will likely be back Thursday to catch up with four games in one day before the Reds come to San Diego. Game time today is 1:10 Eastern, 10:10 in Chargerland.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Maple Bats
So I'm watching the Reds-Indians game from earlier today on MLB.tv, it's the bottom of the fourth right now and Brandon Phillips just had his bat explode everywhere, nearly hitting Fausto Carmona. This exploding-bat trend is becoming an epidemic and it has to be stopped. The maple bats are allegedly harder, but players seem to be breaking more bats now than they ever have. It's three or four per game now, it seems, and something should really be done before someone gets hurt.
Also this one is a snoozer offensively for Cincinnati and it doesn't look good so far. Will probably have to eat dinner soon and will finish when I get home, or possibly tomorrow, whatever. Until next time, in the words of Dr. Steve Brule... "foryourhealth."
Also this one is a snoozer offensively for Cincinnati and it doesn't look good so far. Will probably have to eat dinner soon and will finish when I get home, or possibly tomorrow, whatever. Until next time, in the words of Dr. Steve Brule... "foryourhealth."
Friday, May 16, 2008
Game 42: Reds 4, Indians 3
The Reds won their fourth straight Friday night, edging Cleveland 4-3 in the series opener.
Cincinnati built a 3-0 lead off Indians starter Jeremy Sowers, getting a two-run dinger from The Great Brandonie in the first and a solo shot from Adam Dunn in the second. The Reds offense then went quiet, but the lead looked very safe through the first five, as Johnny Cueto held the Indians hitless. The sixth was a different story; solo shots from Casey Blake, Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta tied the game. Cueto wound up going six innings, striking out seven. The three homers were the only hits he allowed. One bad inning ruined an otherwise-pristine performance.
The lead lasted til the eighth, when the Reds loaded the bases on a walk, double and walk, all off Cleveland reliever Jensen Lewis. Adam Dunn worked the count full before getting the game-winning RBI on another walk. Francisco Cordero nailed it down to earn his eighth save, and David Weathers picked up the win by pitching a scoreless eighth.
A LITTLE WINNING STREAK!
Don't look now, but the Reds have won seven of ten! Their four-game winning streak is a season high, and it's nice to see them finally playing well. Perhaps Griffey's penny prank on Josh Fogg is really paying off... okay, that's bad. Really bad.
Anyway, the Reds are still a game behind Pittsburgh in fifth, have a record of 19-23 and are seven out of first. They're putting together a decent May, though; they've got a west coast swing which usually means death, but the Padres really aren't good and Los Angeles doesn't scare me right now, either. Nobody scares me. That's why I'm an outlaw hunting outlaws. A bounty hunter. A renegade.
ANYWAY...
The Cubs signed Jim Edmonds? Are you serious? Do they just want to have a jersey to put in the "athletes who briefly wore weird teams' jerseys at the end of their careers" list? I know the Padres always fly under the national radar, especially now that they're bad... but did the Cubs actually watch him play when he was here? He was beyond awful. He was like all the stories of Willie Mays with the Mets, times ten. Inexplicable. Completely inexplicable.
JARED BURTON
He just makes me nervous. He pitched an inning tonight and it was one of those days where the fastball was just sailing up, up, up in the zone and it seemed like Bako was really having trouble getting it under control. The way this bullpen is currently put together, unless the starter goes seven solid innings, either Burton or Lincoln Logs will have a high-leverage situation to pitch nearly every night. Both of these things make me nervous. Lincoln Logs looked great in the eighth on Wednesday then completely exploded worse than the eighteen wheeler in the Jack In The Box Sloppy Eating ad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDJYvsg2DuY
I don't want to start doing this very often, because you never know who is reading a blog on the internet, but it is a Damn Shame we don't have those macaroni bites here. There is a Jack in the Crack on every corner and they don't have those? WTF?
ADAM DUNN
Two straight games with homers! I don't want to jinx it so that is all I have to say.
I'M JUST GONNA SAY IT...
Amy and Erin are getting better with age. There it is.
COMING UP
Saturday the Reds and Indians crank it up at 3:55 Eastern, 12:55 here in Chargerland. The game marks a rare Fox Saturday Baseball appearance for the Reds, although it's only slated to go to 7% of the country (basically Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia). However the other two regional games, Red Sox-Brewers and Yankees-Mets, had their series openers rained out Friday, so if the weather holds up maybe it'll get more exposure. It's a great pitching matchup that deserves more attention, as the Criminally Underappreciated Aaron Harang takes on Cleveland's Fausto Carmona. Due to some stuff going on here I think I won't have a chance to watch it til late Saturday or possibly early Sunday. qq.
EDIT: I'm an idiot, Yankees-Mets isn't the Fox game, Angels-Dodgers is the other Fox game. So much for the game slipping onto Fox 6 here. Oh well.
HERO OF THE DAY
HYDRAHERO: Johnny Cueto, Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips
Cueto showed why he's in the bigs to stay for now with his five hitless innings, then in the same game showed why he's a rookie in allowing three solo shots. Cleveland has struggled offensively but they still have offensive talent, and he pitched very well. Dunn and Phillips had all four of the Reds RBIs, so they get credit too.
Cincinnati built a 3-0 lead off Indians starter Jeremy Sowers, getting a two-run dinger from The Great Brandonie in the first and a solo shot from Adam Dunn in the second. The Reds offense then went quiet, but the lead looked very safe through the first five, as Johnny Cueto held the Indians hitless. The sixth was a different story; solo shots from Casey Blake, Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta tied the game. Cueto wound up going six innings, striking out seven. The three homers were the only hits he allowed. One bad inning ruined an otherwise-pristine performance.
The lead lasted til the eighth, when the Reds loaded the bases on a walk, double and walk, all off Cleveland reliever Jensen Lewis. Adam Dunn worked the count full before getting the game-winning RBI on another walk. Francisco Cordero nailed it down to earn his eighth save, and David Weathers picked up the win by pitching a scoreless eighth.
A LITTLE WINNING STREAK!
Don't look now, but the Reds have won seven of ten! Their four-game winning streak is a season high, and it's nice to see them finally playing well. Perhaps Griffey's penny prank on Josh Fogg is really paying off... okay, that's bad. Really bad.
Anyway, the Reds are still a game behind Pittsburgh in fifth, have a record of 19-23 and are seven out of first. They're putting together a decent May, though; they've got a west coast swing which usually means death, but the Padres really aren't good and Los Angeles doesn't scare me right now, either. Nobody scares me. That's why I'm an outlaw hunting outlaws. A bounty hunter. A renegade.
ANYWAY...
The Cubs signed Jim Edmonds? Are you serious? Do they just want to have a jersey to put in the "athletes who briefly wore weird teams' jerseys at the end of their careers" list? I know the Padres always fly under the national radar, especially now that they're bad... but did the Cubs actually watch him play when he was here? He was beyond awful. He was like all the stories of Willie Mays with the Mets, times ten. Inexplicable. Completely inexplicable.
JARED BURTON
He just makes me nervous. He pitched an inning tonight and it was one of those days where the fastball was just sailing up, up, up in the zone and it seemed like Bako was really having trouble getting it under control. The way this bullpen is currently put together, unless the starter goes seven solid innings, either Burton or Lincoln Logs will have a high-leverage situation to pitch nearly every night. Both of these things make me nervous. Lincoln Logs looked great in the eighth on Wednesday then completely exploded worse than the eighteen wheeler in the Jack In The Box Sloppy Eating ad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDJYvsg2DuY
I don't want to start doing this very often, because you never know who is reading a blog on the internet, but it is a Damn Shame we don't have those macaroni bites here. There is a Jack in the Crack on every corner and they don't have those? WTF?
ADAM DUNN
Two straight games with homers! I don't want to jinx it so that is all I have to say.
I'M JUST GONNA SAY IT...
Amy and Erin are getting better with age. There it is.
COMING UP
Saturday the Reds and Indians crank it up at 3:55 Eastern, 12:55 here in Chargerland. The game marks a rare Fox Saturday Baseball appearance for the Reds, although it's only slated to go to 7% of the country (basically Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia). However the other two regional games, Red Sox-Brewers and Yankees-Mets, had their series openers rained out Friday, so if the weather holds up maybe it'll get more exposure. It's a great pitching matchup that deserves more attention, as the Criminally Underappreciated Aaron Harang takes on Cleveland's Fausto Carmona. Due to some stuff going on here I think I won't have a chance to watch it til late Saturday or possibly early Sunday. qq.
EDIT: I'm an idiot, Yankees-Mets isn't the Fox game, Angels-Dodgers is the other Fox game. So much for the game slipping onto Fox 6 here. Oh well.
HERO OF THE DAY
HYDRAHERO: Johnny Cueto, Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips
Cueto showed why he's in the bigs to stay for now with his five hitless innings, then in the same game showed why he's a rookie in allowing three solo shots. Cleveland has struggled offensively but they still have offensive talent, and he pitched very well. Dunn and Phillips had all four of the Reds RBIs, so they get credit too.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Reds Sweep Floridians!
Thanks to Mother Nature the Reds four-game series with Florida became a three-game set, as Thursday's series finale was rained out. For the first time in 2008, the Reds have swept a series. Scheduled starter Matt Belisle will have his turn skipped in the rotation, clearly the only choice that makes any sense. Johnny Cueto, Aaron Harang and Edinson Volquez will be starting in the Cleveland series, with Bronson Arroyo throwing the opener in Los Angeles and Belisle getting game two.
Cleaning Up Schottzie will be a bit sporadic in its updates over the next few days, as I've got a trip coming up. Friday I'll try to get an update after the game, but thanks to MLB's television deal with Fox I likely won't be watching Saturday's game til early Sunday morning. Sunday through Wednesday, I won't be watching til Thursday morning/afternoon, then Thursday and Friday night I'll be going to the games at Petco.
I first saw the Reds here in San Diego in 2005, when I saw them pound the Padres on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Eric Milton shockingly pitched great in the Sunday game, and Adam Dunn had a grand slam. 2006 was a different story; the Reds came in a contender and limped home winning one of three, the one I didn't attend. Saturday Jake Peavy threw a complete game and struck out approximately 57 batters, and Sunday David Wells shut down the Reds and they lost late. Eric Milton again pitched really well, though... to me he was a great signing! Last year, again, the Reds lost two out of three and I attended the two losses. Greg Maddux was just fantastic in the first one I attended, going the distance, and the second game was the infamous Bronson Arroyo 129-pitch outing that cooked his season.
My Reds-Padres history actually goes a long way back, as it's the matchup I've seen most often. My first matchup between the teams in person came August 1, 1993, as San Diego won. Tony Gwynn robbed Barry Larkin of a potential game-tying homer to end it. This was also one of just two times I sat in the yellow seats at Riverfront. I saw the teams play twice in 2001 at Riverfront, as San Diego pounded the Reds Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Sunday was a particularly ugly start by Osvaldo Fernandez. 2002 I saw the two teams tangle in the Sunday afternoon game. Danny Graves had a total meltdown, blowing a two-run lead in the ninth, then there was a lengthy rain delay, and the game went twelve before Aaron Boone won it with a dinger. 2004 was my last time at Great American, as I went with my future wife and Khalil Greene went four-for-six with two homers and four RBI. Paul Wilson lasted just an inning and a third, and the Reds lost, 14-5. Just so ugly.
I don't know if anyone else found that interesting, but I did. Next the Reds welcome the Indians to Great American for a three-game set. Game time for the first game is 7:10, 4:10 here in Chargerland. Peace!
Cleaning Up Schottzie will be a bit sporadic in its updates over the next few days, as I've got a trip coming up. Friday I'll try to get an update after the game, but thanks to MLB's television deal with Fox I likely won't be watching Saturday's game til early Sunday morning. Sunday through Wednesday, I won't be watching til Thursday morning/afternoon, then Thursday and Friday night I'll be going to the games at Petco.
I first saw the Reds here in San Diego in 2005, when I saw them pound the Padres on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Eric Milton shockingly pitched great in the Sunday game, and Adam Dunn had a grand slam. 2006 was a different story; the Reds came in a contender and limped home winning one of three, the one I didn't attend. Saturday Jake Peavy threw a complete game and struck out approximately 57 batters, and Sunday David Wells shut down the Reds and they lost late. Eric Milton again pitched really well, though... to me he was a great signing! Last year, again, the Reds lost two out of three and I attended the two losses. Greg Maddux was just fantastic in the first one I attended, going the distance, and the second game was the infamous Bronson Arroyo 129-pitch outing that cooked his season.
My Reds-Padres history actually goes a long way back, as it's the matchup I've seen most often. My first matchup between the teams in person came August 1, 1993, as San Diego won. Tony Gwynn robbed Barry Larkin of a potential game-tying homer to end it. This was also one of just two times I sat in the yellow seats at Riverfront. I saw the teams play twice in 2001 at Riverfront, as San Diego pounded the Reds Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Sunday was a particularly ugly start by Osvaldo Fernandez. 2002 I saw the two teams tangle in the Sunday afternoon game. Danny Graves had a total meltdown, blowing a two-run lead in the ninth, then there was a lengthy rain delay, and the game went twelve before Aaron Boone won it with a dinger. 2004 was my last time at Great American, as I went with my future wife and Khalil Greene went four-for-six with two homers and four RBI. Paul Wilson lasted just an inning and a third, and the Reds lost, 14-5. Just so ugly.
I don't know if anyone else found that interesting, but I did. Next the Reds welcome the Indians to Great American for a three-game set. Game time for the first game is 7:10, 4:10 here in Chargerland. Peace!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Game 41: Reds 7, Floridians 6
Cincinnati started the day with a callup, ruined it with a blown lead, and redeemed itself with one swing of the bat from the kid in his big-league debut.
Shortstop Paul Janish made his big-league debut one to remember, getting the game-winning hit in the tenth inning to lift the Reds to their third straight win over the Floridians, 7-6 Wednesday night.
After the Reds built a 6-0 lead protected wonderfully by Bronson Arroyo's seven-inning stint on short rest, it only took one inning for Mike Lincoln and Francisco Cordero to make the lead disappear. Cincinnati only had gotten one out when Florida's Cody Ross crushed a homer to left-center, knotting the score at six. Lincoln had pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning before failing to gain an out and loading the bases in the ninth. Lincoln was then lifted for Cordero, who pitched over an inning in Monday's win and gained a save in Tuesday's win as well. Perhaps he was tired or just didn't have it, but either way it led to his first blown save of the season.
However in the tenth the Reds made up for it. Pinch hitter Dave Ross and Paul Bako walked. Johnny Cueto pinch-ran for Ross at second, and Janish lined a base hit over first to end things. Great to see the kid get mobbed in his first big-league game. I kind of got a Joker Joe Randa vibe out of him with a little grin on his face the whole time, but maybe that was just the thrill of his major league debut.
DUSTY'S LUCKY...
... that the game didn't end up being a marathon, because other than Scott Hatteberg and Javier Valentin (backup catcher) he had no players left on his bench after Ross pinch-hit. Freel pinch-ran for Griffey in the ninth, Jerry Hairston moved to left erasing Dunn and getting Janish into the game, and Ross had the pinch-hitting appearance. Dusty wouldn't have wanted to use Valentin in case something happened to Bako at catcher, which only leaves Hatteberg on the bench. That's why Cueto wound up pinch-running in the tenth.
I also didn't particularly agree with his leaving Arroyo in the game into the seventh. He did look really good again tonight, and based on how the bullpen did when they were introduced into this game I can't blame Dusty entirely... but still. I hate when managers leave pitchers in an inning longer than they should, making a high pitch count a really inflated pitch count, just because the pitcher's spot in the order isn't coming up. That's why double switches exist. Arroyo has now thrown 226 pitches in the last five days, and there's no extra days off between now and his next scheduled start in the first game at Los Angeles this Monday.
SCOTT HAIRSTON
Had a really nice game at the plate, just a home run away from the cycle. He's played pretty well since his callup despite his playing time being a little sporadic. I've been surprised he hasn't gotten more of a chance since his callup but now would appear to be the time, with Keppinger out and the only other shortstop option on the team being a guy who's never really hit in the minors, his performance with the Bats this year being an obvious exception.
DUNN
Absolutely killed the ball on his homer. Just thought I would throw it in there. Griffey, on the other hand, continues to look done. We're a quarter through the season and it's like if he doesn't get his perfect pitch, he can't do anything with it. Teams just keep going away, away, away and he either can't reach it at all, watches it go by or can't get around on it. Reds fans thinking a trade is imminent are kidding themselves, because you'd have to be crazy to give anything for him right now.
WITH THE WIN...
The Reds have won three straight over the Floridians as their star has faded somewhat in the 'Nasti. The series finale is tomorrow at 7:10, 4:10 here in Chargerland. The Redlegs are going for the sweep and send Matt Belisle to the mound against former Tiger farmhand Andrew Miller. Per one Marlins blog (Fish Stripes, maybe? Who knows) he's pretty much had to just figure out which pitch he can actually get over every night, and just rely on that one pitch. Let's hope tomorrow that pitch is one the Reds can handle. Seeing most of Florida's rotation in this series all I can say is they must have been killing the ball to get a good record considering the numbers their starters carried into this series. Luckily the Reds have been able to keep them in the park on the strength of three really good starting performances. Go Go Belisle! Her life is in your hands, dude.
HERO OF THE GAME
It would be Non-Mirror Universe Bronson, for pitching seven sparkling innings (five hits, no runs) on short rest against a tough Florida lineup... but in honor of the kid, we'll give it to Paul Janish, who made his big-league debut as a defensive replacement and unexpectedly was thrust into a clutch situation. I'm concerned about his hitting in the big leagues long-term, but he made his first hit count and made it the game-winner. Paul Janish, This Bud's for you.
Shortstop Paul Janish made his big-league debut one to remember, getting the game-winning hit in the tenth inning to lift the Reds to their third straight win over the Floridians, 7-6 Wednesday night.
After the Reds built a 6-0 lead protected wonderfully by Bronson Arroyo's seven-inning stint on short rest, it only took one inning for Mike Lincoln and Francisco Cordero to make the lead disappear. Cincinnati only had gotten one out when Florida's Cody Ross crushed a homer to left-center, knotting the score at six. Lincoln had pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning before failing to gain an out and loading the bases in the ninth. Lincoln was then lifted for Cordero, who pitched over an inning in Monday's win and gained a save in Tuesday's win as well. Perhaps he was tired or just didn't have it, but either way it led to his first blown save of the season.
However in the tenth the Reds made up for it. Pinch hitter Dave Ross and Paul Bako walked. Johnny Cueto pinch-ran for Ross at second, and Janish lined a base hit over first to end things. Great to see the kid get mobbed in his first big-league game. I kind of got a Joker Joe Randa vibe out of him with a little grin on his face the whole time, but maybe that was just the thrill of his major league debut.
DUSTY'S LUCKY...
... that the game didn't end up being a marathon, because other than Scott Hatteberg and Javier Valentin (backup catcher) he had no players left on his bench after Ross pinch-hit. Freel pinch-ran for Griffey in the ninth, Jerry Hairston moved to left erasing Dunn and getting Janish into the game, and Ross had the pinch-hitting appearance. Dusty wouldn't have wanted to use Valentin in case something happened to Bako at catcher, which only leaves Hatteberg on the bench. That's why Cueto wound up pinch-running in the tenth.
I also didn't particularly agree with his leaving Arroyo in the game into the seventh. He did look really good again tonight, and based on how the bullpen did when they were introduced into this game I can't blame Dusty entirely... but still. I hate when managers leave pitchers in an inning longer than they should, making a high pitch count a really inflated pitch count, just because the pitcher's spot in the order isn't coming up. That's why double switches exist. Arroyo has now thrown 226 pitches in the last five days, and there's no extra days off between now and his next scheduled start in the first game at Los Angeles this Monday.
SCOTT HAIRSTON
Had a really nice game at the plate, just a home run away from the cycle. He's played pretty well since his callup despite his playing time being a little sporadic. I've been surprised he hasn't gotten more of a chance since his callup but now would appear to be the time, with Keppinger out and the only other shortstop option on the team being a guy who's never really hit in the minors, his performance with the Bats this year being an obvious exception.
DUNN
Absolutely killed the ball on his homer. Just thought I would throw it in there. Griffey, on the other hand, continues to look done. We're a quarter through the season and it's like if he doesn't get his perfect pitch, he can't do anything with it. Teams just keep going away, away, away and he either can't reach it at all, watches it go by or can't get around on it. Reds fans thinking a trade is imminent are kidding themselves, because you'd have to be crazy to give anything for him right now.
WITH THE WIN...
The Reds have won three straight over the Floridians as their star has faded somewhat in the 'Nasti. The series finale is tomorrow at 7:10, 4:10 here in Chargerland. The Redlegs are going for the sweep and send Matt Belisle to the mound against former Tiger farmhand Andrew Miller. Per one Marlins blog (Fish Stripes, maybe? Who knows) he's pretty much had to just figure out which pitch he can actually get over every night, and just rely on that one pitch. Let's hope tomorrow that pitch is one the Reds can handle. Seeing most of Florida's rotation in this series all I can say is they must have been killing the ball to get a good record considering the numbers their starters carried into this series. Luckily the Reds have been able to keep them in the park on the strength of three really good starting performances. Go Go Belisle! Her life is in your hands, dude.
HERO OF THE GAME
It would be Non-Mirror Universe Bronson, for pitching seven sparkling innings (five hits, no runs) on short rest against a tough Florida lineup... but in honor of the kid, we'll give it to Paul Janish, who made his big-league debut as a defensive replacement and unexpectedly was thrust into a clutch situation. I'm concerned about his hitting in the big leagues long-term, but he made his first hit count and made it the game-winner. Paul Janish, This Bud's for you.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Game 40: Reds 5, Floridians 3
The afterglow of the Reds 5-3 win over the Floridians Tuesday was dampened somewhat by what could be a devastating injury.
Per the Reds television broadcast Jeff Keppinger is out indefinitely after breaking his kneecap during a second inning at-bat.
With the injury the Reds lose more than their everyday shortstop; they also lose one of their only dependable hitters so far in 2008. With the rest of the lineup either struggling on and off (Brandon Phillips, Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr., Edwin Encarnacion) or doing nothing thus far (anyone playing center) Keppinger and Joey Votto had proven themselves the only go-to bats for what little offense this team has been able to generate.
Now the Reds have to decide what to do about the shortstop problem. Brandon Phillips could slide over, with Ryan Freel or Jerry Hairston Jr. taking second. Phillips, though, has only five games at short in his career. Second is Hairston's natural position. He's played just nine games career at short. Freel has never played short, but has 99 games at second.
The easiest thing would be for Alex Gonzalez to just get better and come back, but he has stress fractures in his knee and can't be rushed back. Louisville's everyday shortstop is Paul Janish, a twenty-five year old righty who's OPS'd .740 on his minor league career. He's having a pretty good year for him at Louisville but still nothing great.
If the solution is moving Phillips over and Freel/Hairston to second, an outfield spot would open. Seems like an awfully convenient time to bring up Jay Bruce, install him in center and see how the kid does. He's killing the ball in Louisville lately. One factor to consider is that if Bruce is brought up this early and sticks the rest of the year, after 2009 he'll achieve "Super 2" status and be eligible for arbitration already. But if this team is interested in winning at the major league level, the Bruce callup is clearly the right move.
The Keppinger injury aside, Tuesday was a nice win. Edinson Volquez allowed one run in six innings of work, and again was fantastic. His only bugaboo continues to be pitch efficiency; he threw 110 pitches in the six innings. Florida just couldn't hit the ball hard, despite having seven hits and baserunners in nearly every inning. Volquez is just nasty, plain and simple.
Offensively, Keppinger had an RBI walk in the AB when he was injured. Joey Votto had a solo homer, David Ross had a brilliantly-placed bunt single, Freel had an RBI infield single and Dunn drove in a run on a groundout.
Florida starter Mark Hendrickson is a strange dude to watch; he's six-nine, lefthanded and a soft tosser on the mound. His only plus pitch seemed to be a fastball that bores in on righthanders and saws them off. Other than that, I'm not sure how he's having such a good year thus far. His walks are around where they've always been, he's just not allowing as many hits. He's not striking out any more guys, but less fly balls are leaving the yard and he's allowing less line drives. Part of his performance may have come from the teams he's faced in his first eight starts: the Mets the second game, Pittsburgh twice, Atlanta when they were struggling offensively, Milwaukee twice who hasn't been scoring much, Washington and the light-hitting Padres.
Tomorrow, Florida throws righty Ricky Nolasco against short-rested Bronson Arroyo, who was excellent in the second game of the doubleheader against the Mets Saturday. Consistent with his rubber-armed reputation Arroyo has actually been good on short rest the three times he's done it before, with an ERA around three. Still, I'm concerned that against a hungry and talented Marlin lineup nothing but his best will be good enough. With a win the Reds can clinch a series victory; tonight's win guaranteed at least a split. Game time is again 7:10, 4:10 here on the wessyde.
HERO OF THE GAME
EDINSON VOLQUEZ
The Volquez-Hamilton deal so far might be the most even swap ever. I still can't believe the Rangers dealt Volquez when they've struggled for pitching since I was about ten (I'm twenty-six now). Viva Volquez!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Game 39: Reds 8, Floridians 7
The Reds overcame a deficit, built a lead and nearly blew it before holding on to beat the Florida Floridians 8-7 in the series opener Monday night.
Florida opened things by breaking through for three runs in the first four innings off a less-than-sharp Aaron Harang. Jeremy Hermida and Hanley Ramirez crushed no-doubters off the Reds' ace in the first. Dan Uggla added a solo shot in the fourth, some of the sting of which was removed by Uggla being the starting second baseman for my fantasy league team.
The score remained 3-0 until the Cincinnati fifth, when the Reds cut it to 3-2 on Corey Patterson's double and Jorge Cantu's throwing error on a Jeff Keppinger grounder that would have ended the inning. The Reds got two more in the sixth on Adam Dunn's sac fly and a Burke Badenhop wild pitch. Florida evened the score in the top of the seventh, then the Reds came back with a four-run seventh on a Jeff Keppinger tie-breaking two-run shot and an absolutely titanic tater from Brandon Phillips, both coming off Fish reliever Taylor Tankersley.
The Reds couldn't get comfortable with the lead, though, as the bullpen continued its struggles. David Weathers and Jeremy Affeldt allowed the Floridians to get a rally going, then Francisco Cordero was brought on in the eighth. Ken Griffey Jr. muffed an easy fly ball to make it 8-7, then nearly dropped a shot to right from Alfredo Amezaga but held on. Cordero pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save and the win for the Reds.
Overall it was quite the up-and-down night, one that was nearly as frustrating as it was exciting to watch, but it was good to see the Reds get some runs and hold off a team that's playing really well right now, particularly offensively. This should be a fun series.
MOVES?
I read somewhere (Yahoo?) that Dusty Baker told Hal McCoy that Jay Bruce was coming soon. It'll almost be shades of Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns' promotions way back when, with the big buzz preceding an outfield prospect. Kearns didn't really work out like he appeared he would on the first callup, but Dunn has for the most part come as advertised, although the hitting for average component has never really manifested itself the way some thought it would given the plate discipline he showed at such a young age. Again, it isn't official yet, but Dusty seems to think Bruce's callup is imminent.
CP23...
Which may leave Corey Patterson without a job. I mentioned early in the game tonight to my wife that Patterson seems to make less solid contact than any hitter I've ever watched on a consistent basis. And of course, he went out tonight and had four hits (although one was a bunt, two were the definition of bloops and only one, the double, was a solid hit, much like this win when you're struggling there are no style points). Nevertheless, I don't think anyone in this organization is kidding themselves; Patterson isn't the longterm answer.
PHILLIPS...
Brandonie continued his hot-hitting ways with a 2-for-4 night and that colossal dinger. If you didn't see the game, you owe it to yourself to check it out, because it was a true no-doubter.
TOMORROW
Florida Floridians at Cincinnati Reds, part II. NL ERA leader Edinson Volquez takes on Mark Hendrickson, the former Ray and Dodger scrub who has gotten off to an amazing start after his Lasik surgery in the offseason. Could be a pitcher's duel.. but it's hard to hold down any team in Great American. First pitch 7:10, 4:10 here in Chargerland.
HERO OF THE DAY
JEFF "NO PICTURE" KEPPINGER
Go-ahead dinger. That dude can just plain hit! 1-for-5 tonight but he made it count.
Florida opened things by breaking through for three runs in the first four innings off a less-than-sharp Aaron Harang. Jeremy Hermida and Hanley Ramirez crushed no-doubters off the Reds' ace in the first. Dan Uggla added a solo shot in the fourth, some of the sting of which was removed by Uggla being the starting second baseman for my fantasy league team.
The score remained 3-0 until the Cincinnati fifth, when the Reds cut it to 3-2 on Corey Patterson's double and Jorge Cantu's throwing error on a Jeff Keppinger grounder that would have ended the inning. The Reds got two more in the sixth on Adam Dunn's sac fly and a Burke Badenhop wild pitch. Florida evened the score in the top of the seventh, then the Reds came back with a four-run seventh on a Jeff Keppinger tie-breaking two-run shot and an absolutely titanic tater from Brandon Phillips, both coming off Fish reliever Taylor Tankersley.
The Reds couldn't get comfortable with the lead, though, as the bullpen continued its struggles. David Weathers and Jeremy Affeldt allowed the Floridians to get a rally going, then Francisco Cordero was brought on in the eighth. Ken Griffey Jr. muffed an easy fly ball to make it 8-7, then nearly dropped a shot to right from Alfredo Amezaga but held on. Cordero pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save and the win for the Reds.
Overall it was quite the up-and-down night, one that was nearly as frustrating as it was exciting to watch, but it was good to see the Reds get some runs and hold off a team that's playing really well right now, particularly offensively. This should be a fun series.
MOVES?
I read somewhere (Yahoo?) that Dusty Baker told Hal McCoy that Jay Bruce was coming soon. It'll almost be shades of Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns' promotions way back when, with the big buzz preceding an outfield prospect. Kearns didn't really work out like he appeared he would on the first callup, but Dunn has for the most part come as advertised, although the hitting for average component has never really manifested itself the way some thought it would given the plate discipline he showed at such a young age. Again, it isn't official yet, but Dusty seems to think Bruce's callup is imminent.
CP23...
Which may leave Corey Patterson without a job. I mentioned early in the game tonight to my wife that Patterson seems to make less solid contact than any hitter I've ever watched on a consistent basis. And of course, he went out tonight and had four hits (although one was a bunt, two were the definition of bloops and only one, the double, was a solid hit, much like this win when you're struggling there are no style points). Nevertheless, I don't think anyone in this organization is kidding themselves; Patterson isn't the longterm answer.
PHILLIPS...
Brandonie continued his hot-hitting ways with a 2-for-4 night and that colossal dinger. If you didn't see the game, you owe it to yourself to check it out, because it was a true no-doubter.
TOMORROW
Florida Floridians at Cincinnati Reds, part II. NL ERA leader Edinson Volquez takes on Mark Hendrickson, the former Ray and Dodger scrub who has gotten off to an amazing start after his Lasik surgery in the offseason. Could be a pitcher's duel.. but it's hard to hold down any team in Great American. First pitch 7:10, 4:10 here in Chargerland.
HERO OF THE DAY
JEFF "NO PICTURE" KEPPINGER
Go-ahead dinger. That dude can just plain hit! 1-for-5 tonight but he made it count.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Get 'Em Harang
BEAT THE
Game's at 7:10, 4:10 in Chargerland. It's now or never. Some brother's shooting dice, so I said, "Let's do this."
Game 38: Mets 8, Reds 3
The Reds dropped the third game of their final series at Shea Stadium Sunday, losing an 8-3 decision to the Mets.
Johnny Cueto just didn't have it today. It's weird because he really doesn't walk anybody, but when he doesn't have his command he tends to make mistakes up and over the plate. Young pitchers can be so frustrating because Cueto especially can look like a Cy Young candidate one day, then get pounded the next, and who knows how long it'll take him to really figure it out. It's taken the Angels something like four years now to see the good Ervin Santana on a consistent basis, and even he may not be there yet (he's had a good month, who knows if he can keep it going).
For Cueto, this season is going to be a constant effort to keep learning, keep getting better and keep it together when things go wrong. He was outwardly very angry with himself after the fifth inning mistakes to Beltran and Church. Some pitchers are like that, some aren't, so I won't pass judgment on that, but it was interesting seeing him be so emotional.
CENTER FIELD
I've been more leaning toward patience when it comes to Jay Bruce, but even with defensive issues he's got to be better than any of the center field options currently on the big club. Despite decent early returns (I'm talking first five games type of early here, not the full season thus far, and yes, I'm saying this because I said I liked him after like three games) Corey Patterson looks to be a total bust, and Ryan Freel's game has completely fallen apart compared to where it used to be. He can't cover the ground center field requires, and whatever benefit he brings at the plate is completely negated by his recklessness on the basepaths. He got picked off again in the seventh today, and down 8-3 there's just no reason to be messing around like that.
BULLPEN
Jared Burton again looked shaky, and judging by the situations he's been used, I don't think Dusty has any confidence in him right now, not that I blame him. Bill Bray was again shaky as well, allowing a run. Guys aren't getting destroyed for the most part, and with a three-run deficit already it wasn't the highest-leverage situation in the world, but a good start by the pen is turning into a rough May. Hopefully with Harang going tomorrow they can get a day off after the doubleheader and the start today with Cueto not lasting through the fifth. VOTTO Joey Votto looked lost against Oliver Perez. He had a fifth-inning AB representing the tying run where he has all tied up in knots.
Now talking about what the Reds should have done in the offseason is a moot point now, and hindsight is always 20/20, but I'm going to do it anyway.
The longer this season goes without a viable righthanded power option at first or in the outfield, the more I wish they'd brought Jorge Cantu back. I know the Reds were worried that he'd get some big $4 or $5 million payday in arbitration, but honestly, it would be worth it, because this team has a ton of trouble still with any lefthanded starter. Cantu's numbers have been pretty good this year for Florida as well, rubbing more salt into that wound.
SPEAKING OF FLORIDA...
The Floridians look mighty mighty tough so far this year. Luckily the Reds are going to face them the next four games and will miss their best starter, Scott Olson. In fact, with Harang and Volquez going the first two games, the Reds have a decent shot at a series win. Place your bets now, Florida will now sweep. But anyway, I'm very much looking forward to the series. Even last year I always liked looking in on Marlins games just to see all their young talent: Uggla, Hermida, Willingham, and especially Hanley Ramirez, who is just sickening. The Reds played a four-game set in Miami last year (at least I think it was four) and I think Ramirez had about fifteen hits in four days. He's on the verge of being locked up longterm if the reports are true, and it will truly be worth it for them if a deal is reached.
GOAT OF THE DAY
EVIL CUETO is apparently a redneck for some reason
Johnny Cueto just didn't have it today. It's weird because he really doesn't walk anybody, but when he doesn't have his command he tends to make mistakes up and over the plate. Young pitchers can be so frustrating because Cueto especially can look like a Cy Young candidate one day, then get pounded the next, and who knows how long it'll take him to really figure it out. It's taken the Angels something like four years now to see the good Ervin Santana on a consistent basis, and even he may not be there yet (he's had a good month, who knows if he can keep it going).
For Cueto, this season is going to be a constant effort to keep learning, keep getting better and keep it together when things go wrong. He was outwardly very angry with himself after the fifth inning mistakes to Beltran and Church. Some pitchers are like that, some aren't, so I won't pass judgment on that, but it was interesting seeing him be so emotional.
CENTER FIELD
I've been more leaning toward patience when it comes to Jay Bruce, but even with defensive issues he's got to be better than any of the center field options currently on the big club. Despite decent early returns (I'm talking first five games type of early here, not the full season thus far, and yes, I'm saying this because I said I liked him after like three games) Corey Patterson looks to be a total bust, and Ryan Freel's game has completely fallen apart compared to where it used to be. He can't cover the ground center field requires, and whatever benefit he brings at the plate is completely negated by his recklessness on the basepaths. He got picked off again in the seventh today, and down 8-3 there's just no reason to be messing around like that.
BULLPEN
Jared Burton again looked shaky, and judging by the situations he's been used, I don't think Dusty has any confidence in him right now, not that I blame him. Bill Bray was again shaky as well, allowing a run. Guys aren't getting destroyed for the most part, and with a three-run deficit already it wasn't the highest-leverage situation in the world, but a good start by the pen is turning into a rough May. Hopefully with Harang going tomorrow they can get a day off after the doubleheader and the start today with Cueto not lasting through the fifth. VOTTO Joey Votto looked lost against Oliver Perez. He had a fifth-inning AB representing the tying run where he has all tied up in knots.
Now talking about what the Reds should have done in the offseason is a moot point now, and hindsight is always 20/20, but I'm going to do it anyway.
The longer this season goes without a viable righthanded power option at first or in the outfield, the more I wish they'd brought Jorge Cantu back. I know the Reds were worried that he'd get some big $4 or $5 million payday in arbitration, but honestly, it would be worth it, because this team has a ton of trouble still with any lefthanded starter. Cantu's numbers have been pretty good this year for Florida as well, rubbing more salt into that wound.
SPEAKING OF FLORIDA...
The Floridians look mighty mighty tough so far this year. Luckily the Reds are going to face them the next four games and will miss their best starter, Scott Olson. In fact, with Harang and Volquez going the first two games, the Reds have a decent shot at a series win. Place your bets now, Florida will now sweep. But anyway, I'm very much looking forward to the series. Even last year I always liked looking in on Marlins games just to see all their young talent: Uggla, Hermida, Willingham, and especially Hanley Ramirez, who is just sickening. The Reds played a four-game set in Miami last year (at least I think it was four) and I think Ramirez had about fifteen hits in four days. He's on the verge of being locked up longterm if the reports are true, and it will truly be worth it for them if a deal is reached.
GOAT OF THE DAY
EVIL CUETO is apparently a redneck for some reason4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
He'll be okay in the long run, and this is just another step in the road for Cueto. We knew this year would be up-and-down and today was a down day. It happens. His next start will come Friday against Cleveland, so he'd best figure some things out quickly. But I still believe in him, oh yes, I do.
Next game tomorrow at 7:05 against the Florida Floridians. It's at 4:05 here in Chargerland. Eat some Skyline for me, will you?
So far not good...
Evil Cueto so far, lefthanded Oliver Perez (best pitcher in MVP Baseball 2005 by far) is rolling, this doesn't look good...
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Game 37: Reds 7, Mets 1
The Reds earned a split of their day/night doubleheader Saturday in New York, downing the Mets in the nightcap, 7-1.
The Reds’ effort was spurred by the excellent night by the embattled Bronson Arroyo. Coming into tonight he’d pitched really well in one out of seven starts, and it showed to the tune of a 1-4 record and 8.63 ERA. His last start was so bad they examined him for injuries, but he was just superb tonight, keeping Met hitters off-balance. When he’s on, he’s putting breaking balls into awkward places in the zone, moving in and out, mixing speeds and nothing looks to be thrown hard enough to break a windowpane. Fortunately for the Reds tonight was one of the good nights.
New York starter Mike Pelfrey was nearly as good, and after seven this game was tight, with the Reds clinging to a 2-1 lead. The way the Reds’ season has been going it felt like the roof was going to cave in at any moment, but the offense came alive in the eighth against the Mets’ bullpen. Duaner Sanchez allowed two runs in the eighth on singles by Scott Hatteberg (who looked great in a rare start) and Paul Bako, and the Reds got three more in the ninth off Billy Wagner. Francisco Cordero finished things for the Reds with a scoreless ninth.
The Reds’ effort was spurred by the excellent night by the embattled Bronson Arroyo. Coming into tonight he’d pitched really well in one out of seven starts, and it showed to the tune of a 1-4 record and 8.63 ERA. His last start was so bad they examined him for injuries, but he was just superb tonight, keeping Met hitters off-balance. When he’s on, he’s putting breaking balls into awkward places in the zone, moving in and out, mixing speeds and nothing looks to be thrown hard enough to break a windowpane. Fortunately for the Reds tonight was one of the good nights.
New York starter Mike Pelfrey was nearly as good, and after seven this game was tight, with the Reds clinging to a 2-1 lead. The way the Reds’ season has been going it felt like the roof was going to cave in at any moment, but the offense came alive in the eighth against the Mets’ bullpen. Duaner Sanchez allowed two runs in the eighth on singles by Scott Hatteberg (who looked great in a rare start) and Paul Bako, and the Reds got three more in the ninth off Billy Wagner. Francisco Cordero finished things for the Reds with a scoreless ninth.
OTHER NOTES...
Surprising to see Griffey play both games. Dusty said multiple times Griffey was trying to talk himself into the lineup both games, and apparently it worked. He had a couple of little dunky singles and a walk in the nightcap. Now we'll see if he plays tomorrow. It's really a testament to how messed-up his legs were, and how much they've improved since then, when you look at how he's treated now (playing every single day for the most part) versus how he was treated in the Bob Boone era (removed from games early at the first opportunity, benched every time the outfield was even marginally wet). It's probably a combination of better conditioning along with Griffey knowing his limits better than he used to (which basically means I can outrun him in a 40-yard dash), but since the operation to screw his hamstring to the bone, he really hasn't had the hammy issue anymore. Yes, he's had his season end early the last three years even though he's been relatively healthy, but it hasn't been the hamstring putting him out, which is nice.
Surprising to see Griffey play both games. Dusty said multiple times Griffey was trying to talk himself into the lineup both games, and apparently it worked. He had a couple of little dunky singles and a walk in the nightcap. Now we'll see if he plays tomorrow. It's really a testament to how messed-up his legs were, and how much they've improved since then, when you look at how he's treated now (playing every single day for the most part) versus how he was treated in the Bob Boone era (removed from games early at the first opportunity, benched every time the outfield was even marginally wet). It's probably a combination of better conditioning along with Griffey knowing his limits better than he used to (which basically means I can outrun him in a 40-yard dash), but since the operation to screw his hamstring to the bone, he really hasn't had the hammy issue anymore. Yes, he's had his season end early the last three years even though he's been relatively healthy, but it hasn't been the hamstring putting him out, which is nice.
Hatteberg looked good at the plate. Some guys just know how to hit. Yes, if he was in the lineup he'd hit a soft .300 like last year, but maybe Jocketty can find a place for him somewhere in a trade. Much like Fogg, he's gone after this year, so if anyone will give a marginal class A prospect for him, I think you have to take it at this point. Of course, if Bob Castellini is still in "win-now" mode, the point is moot, because Hat is pretty much the only (ostensibly) useful pinch hitter off the bench. It should be noted, though, that he's been awful in that role this season.
How about Keppinger going five-for-five with five singles? Pete Rose would be proud.
TOMORROW
Reds and Mets, Part III: THE RUBBER GAME. Final go-around for the Reds at Shea, and from hearing Marty Brenneman and Hal McCoy on the radio no one will be missing it. Twas really funny reading McCoy's column from Thursday (or was it Friday?) where he basically said Shea was shaped like a toilet and was a piece of crap. All the Mets fans were jumping on the comments section at the DDN website and being all like "it's shaped like a horseshoe not a toilet, nice journalism idiot" and "Shea rules, you're a moron and the Reds suck" and stuff like that. I've never been there, but it looks as bad as it's described from seeing it on television. I grew up going to games at Riverfront and as many fond memories as I have of the place, it was crummy. No one is saying the Mets are awful or people who go to games there are stupid. If you're a Mets fan, you want to go there because that's where your team plays, but it looks like a masoleum on television and I'll trust someone who's been there. I've never seen a ballpark review site that liked Shea. So maybe you're the idiot, Mets fan Shea defender.
Reds and Mets, Part III: THE RUBBER GAME. Final go-around for the Reds at Shea, and from hearing Marty Brenneman and Hal McCoy on the radio no one will be missing it. Twas really funny reading McCoy's column from Thursday (or was it Friday?) where he basically said Shea was shaped like a toilet and was a piece of crap. All the Mets fans were jumping on the comments section at the DDN website and being all like "it's shaped like a horseshoe not a toilet, nice journalism idiot" and "Shea rules, you're a moron and the Reds suck" and stuff like that. I've never been there, but it looks as bad as it's described from seeing it on television. I grew up going to games at Riverfront and as many fond memories as I have of the place, it was crummy. No one is saying the Mets are awful or people who go to games there are stupid. If you're a Mets fan, you want to go there because that's where your team plays, but it looks like a masoleum on television and I'll trust someone who's been there. I've never seen a ballpark review site that liked Shea. So maybe you're the idiot, Mets fan Shea defender.
Anyway, Johnny Cueto faces Oliver Perez in the series finale. 1:10 start back east, 10:10 here in Chargerland.
HERO OF THE DAY
GOOD BRONSON ARROYO8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 9 K, 2 BB
Just a sparkling effort from a guy who's had a really tough year. Note to Big Dust: Only pitch him in night games.
Game 36: Mets 12, Reds 6
Saturday afternoon's rain-delayed series opener against the Mets was yet another example of a common theme for the Reds' 2008 season: it's always something.
Whether the bats don't show up or the arms can't get anyone out, it's been a tough row to hoe for the Redlegs, and in game one of the day/night doubleheader it was the latter that doomed them to their 22nd loss on the season, 12-6. Matt Belisle was knocked around in his third start back with the Reds (five innings, seven hits, six runs, five earned), and the bullpen was similarly inept. The newly-recalled Bill Bray combined with Mike Lincoln to allow five runs and six hits in two innings that broke the game open and sealed the deal for New York.
The loss puts the Reds' record at 14-22, while the Mets are now 18-15.
On the radio side it didn't take long for Marty and Jeff to start beating the drums for Homer Bailey's callup. His numbers have been good in Louisville, but I'm not sure that's the right move. It set him back six months when he was called up too soon last season, and now he's trying to learn a new pitch. Belisle was great in Louisville, too, but you don't see him setting the world on fire. This team isn't going anywhere even if Bailey were to be terrific, which he certainly wasn't last year.
Hal McCoy said in his guest spot he wouldn't be surprised if a trade gets made fairly soon. While he admitted this thought isn't based on any concrete rumor he's heard, it will still be worth keeping an eye on. Talk persists that Colorado is interested in bringing back Josh Fogg. Obviously the Reds should take whatever they can get for him, because they can find someone in Louisville to take his role in the bullpen pretty easily (Tom Shearn would be perfect). Fogg is only pitching when the Reds are down ten in the second inning anyway. If they can clear off the rest of Fogg's salary off the books and pick up a marginal A-ball prospect in the process, great.
As far as positives go on the day game of the doubleheader, Ryan Freel had three hits. Griffey had two hits including a double, as did Brandon Phillips. Edwin Encarnacion homered. The offense scored off every Met hurler save for Jorge Sosa's scoreless ninth, and pounded out fifteen hits (the Mets had just 12). The pitching just couldn't get anyone out. Bronson Arroyo gets the ball in the nightcap. His last start was the massacre in Atlanta. He's had five full days of rest between starts, though, and it's a night game, so he got to sleep in today. No excuses and no quarter... let's see the Reds manage a split, eh? For New York, righthander Mike Pelfrey takes the hill. On the year his ERA is 5.27 and he's only struck out 11 in 27 1/3 innings, so he should be hittable. His WHIP is 1.90. Come on.
Game time is 7:30 Eastern, or maybe 7:40, nobody was sure. It'll be three hours earlier here in Chargerland (people are mad about the Padres being so horribly disgustingly awful, so it isn't Padreland anymore). I might be back and I might not be before tomorrow. I'll leave you with some suspense. Peace.
Whether the bats don't show up or the arms can't get anyone out, it's been a tough row to hoe for the Redlegs, and in game one of the day/night doubleheader it was the latter that doomed them to their 22nd loss on the season, 12-6. Matt Belisle was knocked around in his third start back with the Reds (five innings, seven hits, six runs, five earned), and the bullpen was similarly inept. The newly-recalled Bill Bray combined with Mike Lincoln to allow five runs and six hits in two innings that broke the game open and sealed the deal for New York.
The loss puts the Reds' record at 14-22, while the Mets are now 18-15.
On the radio side it didn't take long for Marty and Jeff to start beating the drums for Homer Bailey's callup. His numbers have been good in Louisville, but I'm not sure that's the right move. It set him back six months when he was called up too soon last season, and now he's trying to learn a new pitch. Belisle was great in Louisville, too, but you don't see him setting the world on fire. This team isn't going anywhere even if Bailey were to be terrific, which he certainly wasn't last year.
Hal McCoy said in his guest spot he wouldn't be surprised if a trade gets made fairly soon. While he admitted this thought isn't based on any concrete rumor he's heard, it will still be worth keeping an eye on. Talk persists that Colorado is interested in bringing back Josh Fogg. Obviously the Reds should take whatever they can get for him, because they can find someone in Louisville to take his role in the bullpen pretty easily (Tom Shearn would be perfect). Fogg is only pitching when the Reds are down ten in the second inning anyway. If they can clear off the rest of Fogg's salary off the books and pick up a marginal A-ball prospect in the process, great.
As far as positives go on the day game of the doubleheader, Ryan Freel had three hits. Griffey had two hits including a double, as did Brandon Phillips. Edwin Encarnacion homered. The offense scored off every Met hurler save for Jorge Sosa's scoreless ninth, and pounded out fifteen hits (the Mets had just 12). The pitching just couldn't get anyone out. Bronson Arroyo gets the ball in the nightcap. His last start was the massacre in Atlanta. He's had five full days of rest between starts, though, and it's a night game, so he got to sleep in today. No excuses and no quarter... let's see the Reds manage a split, eh? For New York, righthander Mike Pelfrey takes the hill. On the year his ERA is 5.27 and he's only struck out 11 in 27 1/3 innings, so he should be hittable. His WHIP is 1.90. Come on.
Game time is 7:30 Eastern, or maybe 7:40, nobody was sure. It'll be three hours earlier here in Chargerland (people are mad about the Padres being so horribly disgustingly awful, so it isn't Padreland anymore). I might be back and I might not be before tomorrow. I'll leave you with some suspense. Peace.
Reds/Mets Double Dip
Apologies for no update on the Reds' 9-0 win over Chicago Wednesday. The Reds and Mets were rained out last night and game one of today's day/night doubleheader gets started in about twenty minutes. Radio only for this one, but I'm ready. Matt Belisle makes his third start in his return to the rotation in the early game, and so far his reviews are decidedly mixed. His first start back was just awful (dare I say it, Foggian) but he was okayish in his last start in Atlanta. He faces Mets ace Johan Santana to start the day/night affair.
Now to lineup construction, maybe the biggest source of handwringing regarding Dusty, and the lineup that was set for last night before the rainout was a doozy:
Hairston 2B
Freel RF
Patterson CF
Votto 1B
Encarnacion 3B
Dunn LF
Keppinger SS
Bako C
Belisle P
Holy smokes that's awful. Here's the lineup for game one today:
Corey Patterson CF
Ryan Freel LF
Ken Griffey Jr. RF
Brandon Phillips 2B
Joey Votto 1B
Edwin Encarnacion 3B
Jeff Keppinger SS
David Ross C
Matt Belisle P
Dusty just said on the pregame he's probably not going to start Phillips or Griffey in game two, so we may still see the first lineup this evening.
YOST TO BE CANNED?
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel speculates that if Milwaukee doesn't get it going soon Yost could be toast. With the way Yost took the Brewers from a laughingstock to a contender last year, I'd think he'd have a little more wiggle room than this, but if there's anything to this it's definitely indicative of their expectations headed into this season. They did get a big walkoff win last night over the Cardinals, so maybe the talk is premature, but their performance coming up will be worth watching.
Now to lineup construction, maybe the biggest source of handwringing regarding Dusty, and the lineup that was set for last night before the rainout was a doozy:
Hairston 2B
Freel RF
Patterson CF
Votto 1B
Encarnacion 3B
Dunn LF
Keppinger SS
Bako C
Belisle P
Holy smokes that's awful. Here's the lineup for game one today:
Corey Patterson CF
Ryan Freel LF
Ken Griffey Jr. RF
Brandon Phillips 2B
Joey Votto 1B
Edwin Encarnacion 3B
Jeff Keppinger SS
David Ross C
Matt Belisle P
Dusty just said on the pregame he's probably not going to start Phillips or Griffey in game two, so we may still see the first lineup this evening.
YOST TO BE CANNED?
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel speculates that if Milwaukee doesn't get it going soon Yost could be toast. With the way Yost took the Brewers from a laughingstock to a contender last year, I'd think he'd have a little more wiggle room than this, but if there's anything to this it's definitely indicative of their expectations headed into this season. They did get a big walkoff win last night over the Cardinals, so maybe the talk is premature, but their performance coming up will be worth watching.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Game 34: Cubs 3, Reds 0
The Reds returned to their light-hitting ways in a 3-0 loss to Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs Tuesday night.
Thanks to the great Cox Cable I missed from the third to the eighth innings, but it didn't look like I missed much. Aaron Harang was okayish, but shakier than usual, and disappointingly gave up a two-out single to Ronny Cedeno to score the Cubs' second and third runs.
The way Zambrano was dealing, that hit pretty much finished the Reds. They did put two on in the sixth on a hit and error, as well as a man in the ninth (Votto's genius bunt single) but it didn't amount to anything but another bad, boring loss for the Reds.
Sometimes aces are just 'on', and maybe tonight was that night for the Reds.
Cincinnati and Chicago end the series, and the homestand tomorrow afternoon at GABP. The Reds throw Edinson Volquez, while Jon Lieber gets the ball for the Cubs. Game time is 12:35 Eastern, 9:35 in Padreland. Peace.
Thanks to the great Cox Cable I missed from the third to the eighth innings, but it didn't look like I missed much. Aaron Harang was okayish, but shakier than usual, and disappointingly gave up a two-out single to Ronny Cedeno to score the Cubs' second and third runs.
The way Zambrano was dealing, that hit pretty much finished the Reds. They did put two on in the sixth on a hit and error, as well as a man in the ninth (Votto's genius bunt single) but it didn't amount to anything but another bad, boring loss for the Reds.
Sometimes aces are just 'on', and maybe tonight was that night for the Reds.
Cincinnati and Chicago end the series, and the homestand tomorrow afternoon at GABP. The Reds throw Edinson Volquez, while Jon Lieber gets the ball for the Cubs. Game time is 12:35 Eastern, 9:35 in Padreland. Peace.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Game 33: Reds 5, Cubs 3
Francisco Cordero made it more interesting than it should have been, but the Reds (13-20) held on to end their five-game losing streak Monday, downing the Cubs (18-14), 5-3.
http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/wrap.jsp?ymd=20080505&content_id=2645804&vkey=wrapup2005&fext=.jsp&team=home
Adam Dunn had a colossal homer to put Cincinnati up 5-1, and Johnny Cueto and the bullpen were able to hold on. Cordero, though, allowed four runners to reach and had to face Derrek Lee with two out before finally getting him to ground out unassisted to first baseman Joey Votto on a play that ended up way closer than it looked like it would be.
Cueto looked good for the first time in a while, enduring a shaky fifth where he gave up two runs and the Cubs were just scorching the ball. He probably could have stood to be lifted after that frame, but Dusty sent him out for the sixth. It was perhaps a necessary move considering how many innings the bullpen had thrown in the last two games in Atlanta.
Mike Lincoln threw a sparkling seventh, and then came another decision I didn't particularly agree with: throwing David Weathers in the setup role in his first game off the disabled list. Again, this may have been a need-based move rather than what he would have preferred to do; the bullpen threw a ton in Atlanta. Weathers proved me wrong, though, getting a huge strikeout
on Mark DeRosa to end the eighth.
With two hits yesterday and a titanic blast today, maybe Donkey is heating up... will be worth watching the next two games of the series.
PLAYER MOVE
David Weathers back off the DL, Bill Bray back to the Bats. Not a move I'm crazy about, but the Reds have to have a long man and Weathers has been too good the last two years to not earn another shot in the bigs. People calling for him getting released are doing so way prematurely. This guy was pretty much the team MVP last season.
CONDOLENCES
To Ken Griffey Jr., who had his best friend pass from cancer at the age of thirty-eight. He nearly had a dinger tonight, too, but Felix Pie robbed him over the fence in a true webgem.
COMING UP
How refreshing it was to jump out to an early lead (3-0 after one, 5-1 after three) and hold on and actually win a game. Now let's show it wasn't a fluke tomorrow night. Should be a good old good one, as it's a battle of the aces: Aaron Harang for the Reds, and Carlos Zambrano for Chicago. Game time is 7:10, 4:10 here in Padreland. Peace.
http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/wrap.jsp?ymd=20080505&content_id=2645804&vkey=wrapup2005&fext=.jsp&team=home
Adam Dunn had a colossal homer to put Cincinnati up 5-1, and Johnny Cueto and the bullpen were able to hold on. Cordero, though, allowed four runners to reach and had to face Derrek Lee with two out before finally getting him to ground out unassisted to first baseman Joey Votto on a play that ended up way closer than it looked like it would be.
Cueto looked good for the first time in a while, enduring a shaky fifth where he gave up two runs and the Cubs were just scorching the ball. He probably could have stood to be lifted after that frame, but Dusty sent him out for the sixth. It was perhaps a necessary move considering how many innings the bullpen had thrown in the last two games in Atlanta.
Mike Lincoln threw a sparkling seventh, and then came another decision I didn't particularly agree with: throwing David Weathers in the setup role in his first game off the disabled list. Again, this may have been a need-based move rather than what he would have preferred to do; the bullpen threw a ton in Atlanta. Weathers proved me wrong, though, getting a huge strikeout
on Mark DeRosa to end the eighth.
With two hits yesterday and a titanic blast today, maybe Donkey is heating up... will be worth watching the next two games of the series.
PLAYER MOVE
David Weathers back off the DL, Bill Bray back to the Bats. Not a move I'm crazy about, but the Reds have to have a long man and Weathers has been too good the last two years to not earn another shot in the bigs. People calling for him getting released are doing so way prematurely. This guy was pretty much the team MVP last season.
CONDOLENCES
To Ken Griffey Jr., who had his best friend pass from cancer at the age of thirty-eight. He nearly had a dinger tonight, too, but Felix Pie robbed him over the fence in a true webgem.
COMING UP
How refreshing it was to jump out to an early lead (3-0 after one, 5-1 after three) and hold on and actually win a game. Now let's show it wasn't a fluke tomorrow night. Should be a good old good one, as it's a battle of the aces: Aaron Harang for the Reds, and Carlos Zambrano for Chicago. Game time is 7:10, 4:10 here in Padreland. Peace.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Game 32: Braves 14, Reds 7
The Reds lost their fifth in a row as the Braves completed the sweep Sunday afternoon at Turner Field. With the loss the Reds are now 12-20, headed back home for a brief three-game homestand against the Chicago Cubs. After that it's on to New York to meet the Mets. Right now these games feel almost like late August, like the season's already lost. This team was 6-4 at one point and now they've lost 16 of 21, and that's with a three-game winning streak in the middle of that stretch. Now even the previously-somewhat-acceptable bullpen looks to be falling back to earth. I'm afraid what intrigue will exist for this team as the rest of the 2008 season unfolds will be more a result of off-field decisions than it will on-field play.
Reds management has to decide on what to do with Dunn and Griffey, first and foremost. The way both are going right now they wouldn't be good trade bait anyway. Griffey, as a 10-5 player, has the right to refuse any trade. Dunn has a no-trade clause in his contract that would have to be waived if he is to be traded before June 15, and then can name ten teams he doesn't want to be traded to. If they trade both guys, obviously the haul they get will go a long way in determining the future of the team. It just comes down to how close management thinks this team is to competing. Castellini seems to think it's ready now, but the results on the field would suggest otherwise.
There are, however, 130 games left in the 2008 season, plenty of time to make up some ground. The Reds and Cubs kick off their three-game set tomorrow night at Great American. Johnny Cueto starts for the Reds and his performance will be even more interesting than usual, given that Reds brass brought mentor Mario Soto on the road trip to work with him. His last few starts have gotten off track, so we'll see how he does against the Cubbies. For Chicago Ryan Dempster gets the ball. He started the 4/15 game against the Reds in Chicago, earning the victory and going six innings and allowing four runs, five hits and five walks. That game was during the "Reds get runners on but can't drive them in" time period, rather than the "Reds never score any runs or get any baserunners" funk we're in now. The results against Glavine on Sunday were fairly encouraging, though, so you never know. Maybe they'll get hot and win a few.
Game time is 7:10 Eastern, 4:10 here in Padreland. Peace!
Reds management has to decide on what to do with Dunn and Griffey, first and foremost. The way both are going right now they wouldn't be good trade bait anyway. Griffey, as a 10-5 player, has the right to refuse any trade. Dunn has a no-trade clause in his contract that would have to be waived if he is to be traded before June 15, and then can name ten teams he doesn't want to be traded to. If they trade both guys, obviously the haul they get will go a long way in determining the future of the team. It just comes down to how close management thinks this team is to competing. Castellini seems to think it's ready now, but the results on the field would suggest otherwise.
There are, however, 130 games left in the 2008 season, plenty of time to make up some ground. The Reds and Cubs kick off their three-game set tomorrow night at Great American. Johnny Cueto starts for the Reds and his performance will be even more interesting than usual, given that Reds brass brought mentor Mario Soto on the road trip to work with him. His last few starts have gotten off track, so we'll see how he does against the Cubbies. For Chicago Ryan Dempster gets the ball. He started the 4/15 game against the Reds in Chicago, earning the victory and going six innings and allowing four runs, five hits and five walks. That game was during the "Reds get runners on but can't drive them in" time period, rather than the "Reds never score any runs or get any baserunners" funk we're in now. The results against Glavine on Sunday were fairly encouraging, though, so you never know. Maybe they'll get hot and win a few.
Game time is 7:10 Eastern, 4:10 here in Padreland. Peace!
LIVE BLOG???
1:22
Atlanta has two on with one out and I'm tired of the live blog thing, so if anyone is reading this I'm sorry. I'll have the usual postgame post after things are wrapped up in Atlanta.
1:08
Cincinnati puts two on in the bottom of the seventh against Braves reliever Will Ohman, but Ohman recovers to get Keppinger to ground out to end the inning. Mid-seventh, Braves 13, Reds 7.
1:00
Atlanta winds up with two on in the sixth but only gets one. After six, Braves 13, Reds 7.
12:53
Run scores on Kelly Johnson's drive over Ryan Freel's head. He doesn't seem to get good jumps and he just isn't tall enough, which is probably why he always gets hurt trying to make circus catches. Even with a 25-game suspension this team would be so much better with Mike Cameron in center, it's ridiculous.
12:53
Sloppy, slow game today. Leadoff grounder to third is thrown away by EdE to put a man on.
12:52
Kent Mercker on the hill for the Reds in the bottom of the sixth.
12:49
Griffey flies out to center. Mid-6th, Braves 12, Reds 7.
12:47
On the strength of a Keppinger single and Freel double the Reds get a run back in the sixth. 12-7 Braves lead with two out and man on second.
12:38
Bray gets the third out as Prado grounds to third and Encarnacion takes it to the bag unassisted. Mercifully, that's the inning. After five, Braves 12, Reds 6.
12:37
Bray strikes out Francoeur, and gets Gregor Blanco to ground out, first to home. Two down, bases still loaded.
12:36
McCann crushes it to right-center, Griffey goes to the wall and can't get it. A run scores and it's 12-6, still bases loaded and still no one out. For the second straight game, the Reds bullpen has the Inning from Hell, and this one isn't over yet.
12:35
Bray walks Teixeira to load the bases. Don't like this one bit...
12:31
Jones singles to left and it's 11-6, two on, none out. Looks like a sweep from here.
12:27
Josh Fogg is done. Mark Kotsay walked, and the bases are loaded with none out. Sir William of House Bray is coming on to pitch.
12:25
Kelly Johnson doubled to right-center, scoring Prado. Atlanta leads 9-6. So much for the comeback, with two on and none out they may not be done.
12:23
After a Martin Prado infield single Brayan Pena singled to right, and the Braves have something cooking in the fifth. First and third, none out.
12:17
In what was possibly the most predictable development ever, Adam Dunn swings at the first pitch from Royce Ring and pops it to shallow left. Way to be patient there.
Mid-fifth, Braves 8, Reds 6.
12:14
EdE walks, and that will bring Bobby Cox out of the dugout. Bases loaded, two out for Dunn, and we have a pitching change. Glavine will not be eligible for the win.
12:12
Votto walks and the goahead run is at the plate in EdE.
12:10
Phillips grounds back to the mound for the second out. Griffey to second for Votto.
12:09
Griffey grounds to first, throw to second erases Freel but the relay throw is wild.. Fogg scores, Griffey on first with one out, and it's 8-6.
Disappointing to see Junior not get better contact there, he got ahead in the count 3-1 and fouled what likely was ball four at the plate to fill the count.
12:06
Freel walks, 2 on, none out, and the Reds are knocking on the door again.. Griffey is up.
12:04
Little baseknock to right from Fogg! He's grinning the whole way up the line. Nice to see someone that's struggled this year have a little fun.
12:01
Atlanta gets a one-out double from Brian McCann but Fogg pitches out of it; after four, Braves 8, Reds 5.
11:52
Bako GIDP and that's the inning, but the Reds get four runs. Last time the Reds scored that many was... a week ago in SF, I believe. Before that, I'm not sure. Will have to look. Nice to see the offense break out!
Just looked, they also had a four-run inning the Tuesday game against LA, Game 21.
Mid-fourth, Braves 8, Reds 5.
11:51
Keppinger rips a single to left and it's 8-5... comeback???
11:49
Dunn doubles to right center plating Votto and EdE.. and it's an eight to FOUR ballgame...
11:44
Votto rips a single to center scoring Phillips, who doubled to left. Reds down 8-2.
Phillips seems to be *maybe* heating up a bit.. I hate to say it, because I said it about Dunn a few weeks back and couldn't have been more wrong. I'll say it anyway.
11:41
Ken Griffey Jr. is maddening to watch hit every day when he's going like this, particularly against lefthanded pitchers. Never before have I seen a hitter completely incapable of hitting the exact same pitch, again and again and again. He is completely powerless against a fastball nipping the outside corner. Can't reach it, can't take it because it's a called strike.. it is the ultimate pitch for getting him out.
11:38
Larry Jones flies out to left; after three, Braves 8, Reds 1.
11:36
I've ragged on Josh Fogg quite a bit, but I have to give him some credit: he made a two-strike pitch to Kelly Johnson that tailed back in to get the inside corner that was just a thing of beauty.
Just as I'm typing that Mark Kotsay hits a little infield nubber that Keppinger can't corral at short. Run scores, 8-1.
11:33
Gregor Blanco reached on a bunt, and Fogg walked Martin Prado. Two on, none out for Glavine. This is going to get worse before it gets better, I'm afraid.
11:27
Mmm.... peppered salame sandwich.
Mid-3rd, Braves 7, Reds 1.
11:22
Being completely honest here: I was going to go to LA for the Monday game, then go to 3 of the four games here in San Diego from May 22-25. Earlier this week LA was out for a variety of reasons. Friday I started thinking maybe I would only go to 2 games here. At this point I'm not sure I want to see any of them; they're playing that bad. I was going to buy the most expensive seats, too, kind of treat myself.. but at this point, why?
Paul Bako just homered, it's 7-1.
11:20
Jeff Francoeur flies out to center and mercifully the inning is over.
After two, Braves 7, Reds 0.
11:18
Brian McCann grounds to Votto and he throws it about five feet over the covering Fogg's head at first for an error. I played on Little League teams that went 2-18 that played better than this.
11:17
Popout to left and there's two outs. One pitch, one out for the Foggman. You know, Dusty et. al were right.. Larry's homer killed that rally. He should have just gotten a base hit and there'd still be runners on.
11:16
MEET ME IN DA MALL.. IT'S GOIN DOWN
11:14
Larry Jones just crushed a hanger into the right field seats, and it is 7 to nothing.
It's sunny in most of metro Atlanta, but over Turner Field there's rumors of Fogg rolling in...
11:12
Base hit to left and it's 4-0, first and third.
Westside walk it out! Southside walk it out! Eastside walk it out! Northside walk it out!
11:11
There is ACTION IN THE REDS BULLPEN. C YOU THERE!!!!!
We are officially watching rap videos on teh Youtubes while this game is on.
11:09
This isn't really meant to be an entry updating everything that happens in the game, but Kelly Johnson's double to right puts men on second and third. So much for Bronson's swimming turning him into Cy Young.
11:08
Sac fly makes it 2-0 AND HOLY CRAP GLAVINE SINGLES TO MAKE IT 3-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
no words.
11:03 AM
So Atlanta gets two on with none out in bottom 2nd, Gregor Blanco hits a sinking liner to center, Freel tries to DIVE FACE FIRST to nab it, which might work one time out of 100, and it smokes him in the forearm he throws up to protect his face, rolls away, a run scores, Blanco ends up on second. Second and third, still none out, a run in. If he just plays it like a normal human it bounces once, maybe a run scores and maybe it doesn't, and worst-case you have first and third instead of second and third. Awful.
After mid 2nd
Number of runs scored in 20 innings in Atlanta so far: 1
Number of runners thrown out on the bases in the first two innings so far Sunday: 2
Terrible. Just terrible.
Atlanta has two on with one out and I'm tired of the live blog thing, so if anyone is reading this I'm sorry. I'll have the usual postgame post after things are wrapped up in Atlanta.
1:08
Cincinnati puts two on in the bottom of the seventh against Braves reliever Will Ohman, but Ohman recovers to get Keppinger to ground out to end the inning. Mid-seventh, Braves 13, Reds 7.
1:00
Atlanta winds up with two on in the sixth but only gets one. After six, Braves 13, Reds 7.
12:53
Run scores on Kelly Johnson's drive over Ryan Freel's head. He doesn't seem to get good jumps and he just isn't tall enough, which is probably why he always gets hurt trying to make circus catches. Even with a 25-game suspension this team would be so much better with Mike Cameron in center, it's ridiculous.
12:53
Sloppy, slow game today. Leadoff grounder to third is thrown away by EdE to put a man on.
12:52
Kent Mercker on the hill for the Reds in the bottom of the sixth.
12:49
Griffey flies out to center. Mid-6th, Braves 12, Reds 7.
12:47
On the strength of a Keppinger single and Freel double the Reds get a run back in the sixth. 12-7 Braves lead with two out and man on second.
12:38
Bray gets the third out as Prado grounds to third and Encarnacion takes it to the bag unassisted. Mercifully, that's the inning. After five, Braves 12, Reds 6.
12:37
Bray strikes out Francoeur, and gets Gregor Blanco to ground out, first to home. Two down, bases still loaded.
12:36
McCann crushes it to right-center, Griffey goes to the wall and can't get it. A run scores and it's 12-6, still bases loaded and still no one out. For the second straight game, the Reds bullpen has the Inning from Hell, and this one isn't over yet.
12:35
Bray walks Teixeira to load the bases. Don't like this one bit...
12:31
Jones singles to left and it's 11-6, two on, none out. Looks like a sweep from here.
12:27
Josh Fogg is done. Mark Kotsay walked, and the bases are loaded with none out. Sir William of House Bray is coming on to pitch.
12:25
Kelly Johnson doubled to right-center, scoring Prado. Atlanta leads 9-6. So much for the comeback, with two on and none out they may not be done.
12:23
After a Martin Prado infield single Brayan Pena singled to right, and the Braves have something cooking in the fifth. First and third, none out.
12:17
In what was possibly the most predictable development ever, Adam Dunn swings at the first pitch from Royce Ring and pops it to shallow left. Way to be patient there.
Mid-fifth, Braves 8, Reds 6.
12:14
EdE walks, and that will bring Bobby Cox out of the dugout. Bases loaded, two out for Dunn, and we have a pitching change. Glavine will not be eligible for the win.
12:12
Votto walks and the goahead run is at the plate in EdE.
12:10
Phillips grounds back to the mound for the second out. Griffey to second for Votto.
12:09
Griffey grounds to first, throw to second erases Freel but the relay throw is wild.. Fogg scores, Griffey on first with one out, and it's 8-6.
Disappointing to see Junior not get better contact there, he got ahead in the count 3-1 and fouled what likely was ball four at the plate to fill the count.
12:06
Freel walks, 2 on, none out, and the Reds are knocking on the door again.. Griffey is up.
12:04
Little baseknock to right from Fogg! He's grinning the whole way up the line. Nice to see someone that's struggled this year have a little fun.
12:01
Atlanta gets a one-out double from Brian McCann but Fogg pitches out of it; after four, Braves 8, Reds 5.
11:52
Bako GIDP and that's the inning, but the Reds get four runs. Last time the Reds scored that many was... a week ago in SF, I believe. Before that, I'm not sure. Will have to look. Nice to see the offense break out!
Just looked, they also had a four-run inning the Tuesday game against LA, Game 21.
Mid-fourth, Braves 8, Reds 5.
11:51
Keppinger rips a single to left and it's 8-5... comeback???
11:49
Dunn doubles to right center plating Votto and EdE.. and it's an eight to FOUR ballgame...
11:44
Votto rips a single to center scoring Phillips, who doubled to left. Reds down 8-2.
Phillips seems to be *maybe* heating up a bit.. I hate to say it, because I said it about Dunn a few weeks back and couldn't have been more wrong. I'll say it anyway.
11:41
Ken Griffey Jr. is maddening to watch hit every day when he's going like this, particularly against lefthanded pitchers. Never before have I seen a hitter completely incapable of hitting the exact same pitch, again and again and again. He is completely powerless against a fastball nipping the outside corner. Can't reach it, can't take it because it's a called strike.. it is the ultimate pitch for getting him out.
11:38
Larry Jones flies out to left; after three, Braves 8, Reds 1.
11:36
I've ragged on Josh Fogg quite a bit, but I have to give him some credit: he made a two-strike pitch to Kelly Johnson that tailed back in to get the inside corner that was just a thing of beauty.
Just as I'm typing that Mark Kotsay hits a little infield nubber that Keppinger can't corral at short. Run scores, 8-1.
11:33
Gregor Blanco reached on a bunt, and Fogg walked Martin Prado. Two on, none out for Glavine. This is going to get worse before it gets better, I'm afraid.
11:27
Mmm.... peppered salame sandwich.
Mid-3rd, Braves 7, Reds 1.
11:22
Being completely honest here: I was going to go to LA for the Monday game, then go to 3 of the four games here in San Diego from May 22-25. Earlier this week LA was out for a variety of reasons. Friday I started thinking maybe I would only go to 2 games here. At this point I'm not sure I want to see any of them; they're playing that bad. I was going to buy the most expensive seats, too, kind of treat myself.. but at this point, why?
Paul Bako just homered, it's 7-1.
11:20
Jeff Francoeur flies out to center and mercifully the inning is over.
After two, Braves 7, Reds 0.
11:18
Brian McCann grounds to Votto and he throws it about five feet over the covering Fogg's head at first for an error. I played on Little League teams that went 2-18 that played better than this.
11:17
Popout to left and there's two outs. One pitch, one out for the Foggman. You know, Dusty et. al were right.. Larry's homer killed that rally. He should have just gotten a base hit and there'd still be runners on.
11:16
MEET ME IN DA MALL.. IT'S GOIN DOWN
11:14
Larry Jones just crushed a hanger into the right field seats, and it is 7 to nothing.
It's sunny in most of metro Atlanta, but over Turner Field there's rumors of Fogg rolling in...
11:12
Base hit to left and it's 4-0, first and third.
Westside walk it out! Southside walk it out! Eastside walk it out! Northside walk it out!
11:11
There is ACTION IN THE REDS BULLPEN. C YOU THERE!!!!!
We are officially watching rap videos on teh Youtubes while this game is on.
11:09
This isn't really meant to be an entry updating everything that happens in the game, but Kelly Johnson's double to right puts men on second and third. So much for Bronson's swimming turning him into Cy Young.
11:08
Sac fly makes it 2-0 AND HOLY CRAP GLAVINE SINGLES TO MAKE IT 3-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
no words.
11:03 AM
So Atlanta gets two on with none out in bottom 2nd, Gregor Blanco hits a sinking liner to center, Freel tries to DIVE FACE FIRST to nab it, which might work one time out of 100, and it smokes him in the forearm he throws up to protect his face, rolls away, a run scores, Blanco ends up on second. Second and third, still none out, a run in. If he just plays it like a normal human it bounces once, maybe a run scores and maybe it doesn't, and worst-case you have first and third instead of second and third. Awful.
After mid 2nd
Number of runs scored in 20 innings in Atlanta so far: 1
Number of runners thrown out on the bases in the first two innings so far Sunday: 2
Terrible. Just terrible.
Game 31: Braves 9, Reds 1
The "lefthander with a pulse" rule reared its ugly head once again as the Reds were spellbound by Jo-Jo Reyes and the Atlanta bullpen Saturday night.
The Reds managed just four hits against Reyes, who struggled in his big league debut last year to the tune of a 6.22 ERA in ten starts, and went hitless against five Braves relievers, losing 9-1.
The game was close through six, with Atlanta holding just a 2-1 lead after six innings. The Reds blew an opportunity to take the lead in the top of the sixth as Adam Dunn struck out to end the frame with the go-ahead run on second. The tight game, however, fell apart in the seventh as the Reds bullpen imploded, allowing six runs and blowing the game open. Mike Lincoln allowed two to reach and Jeremy Affeldt let them score, getting no outs as he allowed a single, bases-loaded walk to Mark Teixeria (when he got ahead 0-2, no less) and a double before exiting. Jared Burton was similarly ineffective relieving Affeldt, allowing an RBI single, double and sacrifice fly before finally ending the inning.
Francisco Cordero allowed a run in the eighth to close out the scoring.
Offensively the Reds now have one run and seven hits in two games and 18 innings of play so far in Atlanta. The loss is the fourth in a row for the Reds, who conclude the series today at 1:35. Bronson Arroyo goes against Tom Glavine (LEFTHANDER ALERT, although lately it really hasn't mattered who the Reds have faced, they aren't scoring).
On the positive side for the Reds, Jeff Keppinger made a couple of nice defensive stops from short, and Matt Belisle pitched well. Paul Daugherty calls out Belisle in a column today in the Enquirer, saying he should be sent down in favor of Homer Bailey if things are still bad in 40 games, but Belisle pitched well enough to win tonight. If the offense can't score more than one or two runs per game it really doesn't matter who starts the game and gets the hard-luck loss every night. The Reds were already burned once by the "let Homer take his lumps in the majors since we're out of it" theory. Best not try it again.
By the way, there are so many things wrong with that Daugherty column it's ridiculous, but this passage stuck out to me...
"There is no way on earth the St. Louis Cardinals have better players than the Reds. Yet after Friday's games, the Redbirds led the division, and Cincinnati, by seven games. Tony La Russa is a tough-minded manager who has imposed his will on his team. Baker should do the same."
Imposed his will? What does that even mean? How are any of the problems with this team the result of Dusty not imposing his will? Look, the middle of the order isn't hitting at all. Hasn't all year. That is the problem. The pitching has been mostly fine. Edwin and Votto are doing what they're supposed to do. Keppinger has been Keppinger. They've gotten more offensively out of the catcher's spot than they probably ever thought they'd get. Dunn and Griffey have been zeroes in the lineup. CF has been a zero in the lineup. Brandon Phillips hasn't performed up to expectations. Add in the pitcher and the Reds have gotten nothing from five out of nine lineup spots. That is the problem.
I don't care who is managing this team, if you take any team in the league and eliminate the three biggest "sure things" in the lineup coming into the year, they're going to struggle. The Cardinals are 19-12 because Pujols has been killing it like always, much of their starting pitching (Piniero, Lohse, Wainwright, Looper) has been excellent, Rick Ankiel has been performing, Skip Schumaker has been making things happen... everyone on that team that they were depending on to carry them has performed at expected levels or better. A lot of that is luck... who thought Kyle Lohse would have a great year? He has so far. Who had even heard of Skip Schumaker coming into the season?
When it's LaRussa all success can be credited to the skipper. Give me a break. I know the Reds have been seeing the Cardinals just dominate them and the division this entire decade, but people need to start looking at the things that ail the Reds on their own, not look at the Cardinals as some kind of distorted reflection of what they could be if only they had the genius of LaRussa, or the best fans, or whatever. The Cardinals are better because they have more money, use the money they do have in more intelligent ways, and have better players. LaRussa doesn't "will" the team to hit. He may or may not be a better tactical manager than Dusty Baker, but players aren't trying harder for St. Louis because LaRussa isn't a "player's manager."
If Dunn, Phillips and Griffey were hitting, the point would be moot. As it is, they just can't score runs. Lineup adjustments need to be made, but the combined genius of Sparky Anderson, Earl Weaver, John McGraw and Casey Stengel couldn't win a pennant with a lineup with five-ninths of the order not performing.
Lost in the Cardinals love is the fact that in 2006 the Cards won just 83 games and barely won a poor division but got hot in the playoffs, and struggled all year last year and didn't even make it to the postseason. 2005 was the last time the Cardinals were dominant, and it remains to be seen whether they can keep the pace up in 2008. They're certainly better than the Reds in recent history, but save the Cardinals lovefest. It gets really tiresome. They have better players, period. They aren't winning because they "want it more" or "do things the right way."
The Reds managed just four hits against Reyes, who struggled in his big league debut last year to the tune of a 6.22 ERA in ten starts, and went hitless against five Braves relievers, losing 9-1.
The game was close through six, with Atlanta holding just a 2-1 lead after six innings. The Reds blew an opportunity to take the lead in the top of the sixth as Adam Dunn struck out to end the frame with the go-ahead run on second. The tight game, however, fell apart in the seventh as the Reds bullpen imploded, allowing six runs and blowing the game open. Mike Lincoln allowed two to reach and Jeremy Affeldt let them score, getting no outs as he allowed a single, bases-loaded walk to Mark Teixeria (when he got ahead 0-2, no less) and a double before exiting. Jared Burton was similarly ineffective relieving Affeldt, allowing an RBI single, double and sacrifice fly before finally ending the inning.
Francisco Cordero allowed a run in the eighth to close out the scoring.
Offensively the Reds now have one run and seven hits in two games and 18 innings of play so far in Atlanta. The loss is the fourth in a row for the Reds, who conclude the series today at 1:35. Bronson Arroyo goes against Tom Glavine (LEFTHANDER ALERT, although lately it really hasn't mattered who the Reds have faced, they aren't scoring).
On the positive side for the Reds, Jeff Keppinger made a couple of nice defensive stops from short, and Matt Belisle pitched well. Paul Daugherty calls out Belisle in a column today in the Enquirer, saying he should be sent down in favor of Homer Bailey if things are still bad in 40 games, but Belisle pitched well enough to win tonight. If the offense can't score more than one or two runs per game it really doesn't matter who starts the game and gets the hard-luck loss every night. The Reds were already burned once by the "let Homer take his lumps in the majors since we're out of it" theory. Best not try it again.
By the way, there are so many things wrong with that Daugherty column it's ridiculous, but this passage stuck out to me...
"There is no way on earth the St. Louis Cardinals have better players than the Reds. Yet after Friday's games, the Redbirds led the division, and Cincinnati, by seven games. Tony La Russa is a tough-minded manager who has imposed his will on his team. Baker should do the same."
Imposed his will? What does that even mean? How are any of the problems with this team the result of Dusty not imposing his will? Look, the middle of the order isn't hitting at all. Hasn't all year. That is the problem. The pitching has been mostly fine. Edwin and Votto are doing what they're supposed to do. Keppinger has been Keppinger. They've gotten more offensively out of the catcher's spot than they probably ever thought they'd get. Dunn and Griffey have been zeroes in the lineup. CF has been a zero in the lineup. Brandon Phillips hasn't performed up to expectations. Add in the pitcher and the Reds have gotten nothing from five out of nine lineup spots. That is the problem.
I don't care who is managing this team, if you take any team in the league and eliminate the three biggest "sure things" in the lineup coming into the year, they're going to struggle. The Cardinals are 19-12 because Pujols has been killing it like always, much of their starting pitching (Piniero, Lohse, Wainwright, Looper) has been excellent, Rick Ankiel has been performing, Skip Schumaker has been making things happen... everyone on that team that they were depending on to carry them has performed at expected levels or better. A lot of that is luck... who thought Kyle Lohse would have a great year? He has so far. Who had even heard of Skip Schumaker coming into the season?
When it's LaRussa all success can be credited to the skipper. Give me a break. I know the Reds have been seeing the Cardinals just dominate them and the division this entire decade, but people need to start looking at the things that ail the Reds on their own, not look at the Cardinals as some kind of distorted reflection of what they could be if only they had the genius of LaRussa, or the best fans, or whatever. The Cardinals are better because they have more money, use the money they do have in more intelligent ways, and have better players. LaRussa doesn't "will" the team to hit. He may or may not be a better tactical manager than Dusty Baker, but players aren't trying harder for St. Louis because LaRussa isn't a "player's manager."
If Dunn, Phillips and Griffey were hitting, the point would be moot. As it is, they just can't score runs. Lineup adjustments need to be made, but the combined genius of Sparky Anderson, Earl Weaver, John McGraw and Casey Stengel couldn't win a pennant with a lineup with five-ninths of the order not performing.
Lost in the Cardinals love is the fact that in 2006 the Cards won just 83 games and barely won a poor division but got hot in the playoffs, and struggled all year last year and didn't even make it to the postseason. 2005 was the last time the Cardinals were dominant, and it remains to be seen whether they can keep the pace up in 2008. They're certainly better than the Reds in recent history, but save the Cardinals lovefest. It gets really tiresome. They have better players, period. They aren't winning because they "want it more" or "do things the right way."
Friday, May 2, 2008
Game 30: Braves 2, Reds 0
Atlanta's Tim Hudson threw a complete game three-hit shutout, giving Reds starter Edinson Volquez a hard-luck 2-0 loss.
The Reds (12-18) saw their offensive struggles continue against one of the National League's better starters. Not many balls were hit hard and there were no rallies to speak of. Edwin Encarnacion reached second on an eight inning infield single and error by Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar, but Cincinnati couldn't drive him in and the Reds were shut out.
Such is life when you're a bad offensive club. On this team, Encarnacion is pretty much the only guy that seems to go to the plate with a plan to be patient. Joey Votto, a guy who walked a decent amount in the minors, never does. Adam Dunn does walk but that has been it as far as his production. He really should be hitting leadoff, as much flak as Bob Boone took for doing that. Brandon Phillips swings at pitches Vladimir Guerrero wouldn't even glance at, and Griffey's bat has looked slow all season. Nearly every Corey Patterson at-bat is a disaster.
TYPICAL COREY PATTERSON AT-BAT
Tapped foul, 0-1.
Bunt attempt foul or missed, 0-2.
Weak groundout.
I can't believe Jerry Hairston Jr. hasn't earned at least more of a look than he's gotten. Patterson even dropped what should have been a routine warning-track fly ball that led to Brian McCann's dinger being a 2-run homer instead of a solo shot. On the positive side, the McCann homer was one of the only mistakes the NL ERA leader Volquez made all night. He was just sparkling and he along with Harang deserve much better than this club playing behind them.
I'm not sure how much of this team's offensive (and rest assured, it is truly offensive) approach at the plate is a result of Dusty Baker's "be aggressive" mantra, but if their approach is his doing it has been truly destructive. Without knowing more it would be premature to assign blame, but the fact is this team had basically the same cast of characters as last year and while that team did struggle against lefties, if the Reds were getting a similar level of production against everyone else, the record would be much better than a 40% success rate.
The first thirty games make it look like Walt Jocketty needs to just blow it up and start over. He's got a great opportunity to change the face of the team after this season, when Ken Griffey Jr. has a $4 million option and they can let Dunn walk. If they were sold on Dunn he would be extended already, and he certainly isn't earning a long-term deal with his play this year.
That, however, is a question for another day. This team is in a major rut but they play tomorrow. Whether that's a threat or a promise I'm not positive, but they definitely will play Atlanta tomorrow night. Game time is 7ish, Matt Belisle goes for the Nasti while JoJo Reyes goes for the ATL. Let's do this.
The Reds (12-18) saw their offensive struggles continue against one of the National League's better starters. Not many balls were hit hard and there were no rallies to speak of. Edwin Encarnacion reached second on an eight inning infield single and error by Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar, but Cincinnati couldn't drive him in and the Reds were shut out.
Such is life when you're a bad offensive club. On this team, Encarnacion is pretty much the only guy that seems to go to the plate with a plan to be patient. Joey Votto, a guy who walked a decent amount in the minors, never does. Adam Dunn does walk but that has been it as far as his production. He really should be hitting leadoff, as much flak as Bob Boone took for doing that. Brandon Phillips swings at pitches Vladimir Guerrero wouldn't even glance at, and Griffey's bat has looked slow all season. Nearly every Corey Patterson at-bat is a disaster.
TYPICAL COREY PATTERSON AT-BAT
Tapped foul, 0-1.
Bunt attempt foul or missed, 0-2.
Weak groundout.
I can't believe Jerry Hairston Jr. hasn't earned at least more of a look than he's gotten. Patterson even dropped what should have been a routine warning-track fly ball that led to Brian McCann's dinger being a 2-run homer instead of a solo shot. On the positive side, the McCann homer was one of the only mistakes the NL ERA leader Volquez made all night. He was just sparkling and he along with Harang deserve much better than this club playing behind them.
I'm not sure how much of this team's offensive (and rest assured, it is truly offensive) approach at the plate is a result of Dusty Baker's "be aggressive" mantra, but if their approach is his doing it has been truly destructive. Without knowing more it would be premature to assign blame, but the fact is this team had basically the same cast of characters as last year and while that team did struggle against lefties, if the Reds were getting a similar level of production against everyone else, the record would be much better than a 40% success rate.
The first thirty games make it look like Walt Jocketty needs to just blow it up and start over. He's got a great opportunity to change the face of the team after this season, when Ken Griffey Jr. has a $4 million option and they can let Dunn walk. If they were sold on Dunn he would be extended already, and he certainly isn't earning a long-term deal with his play this year.
That, however, is a question for another day. This team is in a major rut but they play tomorrow. Whether that's a threat or a promise I'm not positive, but they definitely will play Atlanta tomorrow night. Game time is 7ish, Matt Belisle goes for the Nasti while JoJo Reyes goes for the ATL. Let's do this.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Rotation Change
The plan to skip Matt Belisle to start Johnny Cueto on normal rest went awry with Cueto's disastrous outing Tuesday, and plans have again changed.
Edinson Volquez will start Friday, Belisle Saturday and Bronson Arroyo Sunday in Atlanta. Cueto will be held back until Tuesday's game against the Cubs to allow him to pitch on six days rest, and also allowing an extra bullpen session with mentor Mario Soto.
It'll be very interesting to see if the move pays off Tuesday. Obviously Cueto has gotten off track a bit in the last few starts.
Edinson Volquez will start Friday, Belisle Saturday and Bronson Arroyo Sunday in Atlanta. Cueto will be held back until Tuesday's game against the Cubs to allow him to pitch on six days rest, and also allowing an extra bullpen session with mentor Mario Soto.
It'll be very interesting to see if the move pays off Tuesday. Obviously Cueto has gotten off track a bit in the last few starts.
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