Game 21: Reds 8, Dodgers 1

For at least one night Jerry Hairston Jr. was the solution to the puzzle that has been the leadoff spot for the Reds.

A 3-for-5, 2 RBI night for the Reds center fielder powered Cincinnati to an 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night, earning them a split in the brief two-game soiree at Great American Ball Park.

Hairston set the table in the first with a leadoff single, doubled in the third to create a two-out rally that eventually led to the Reds’ tying score, and doubled in two more in the fourth to break open the game, putting the Reds up, 4-1. Hairston’s only major hiccup came in the field, when his inability to track down a second-inning blast from Rafael Furcal led to an RBI ground-rule double, plating LA’s only run.

While one game is perhaps the puniest of sample sizes, it was refreshing to see some contribution offensively from the top spot of the order. More importantly, though, Edinson Volquez showed great signs of progress, pitching seven innings of sparkling baseball.

The concern coming into this start was Volquez’s inability to pitch deep into games so far this year. Again, three starts isn’t a gigantic sample size, but of his first three starts, just one went into the sixth (his last start at Cubs), and he only got one out in the sixth in that one. In each game he’d exited with an elevated pitch count for that early in the game (to be fair, his second start in Pittsburgh was shortened by a rain delay, but he still had 75 pitches in five innings). Tonight he only really got into trouble in the third, and only allowed one run in that frame. Overall he allowed three hits and four walks (still with the walks…), striking out seven and throwing 105 pitches. Just superb.

BRANDONIE!
The Great Brandonie’s bat even awoke with a big league Jim Jackson to left! If he could get going it would be huge for this lineup. The Reds’ starting eight is a beast ready to strike! Houston had better watch out! Phillips has looked miserable at the plate and even looked awful in his first couple of at-bats tonight, and yes, I’ll concede that maybe it was an Esteban Loaiza lollipop that contributed more to the homer than Brandonie’s re-emergence. Still if he could get going, this offense could really start scoring.

LOAIZA
Isn’t Esteban Loaiza like forty? Why was he wearing like four gold chains outside his uniform shirt? Who does that?

DAVE ROSS
The Reds are due for a player move tomorrow as rehab is over for David Ross (injury rehab, not a twelve-step rehab, although that may have been involved, too, I don’t know). I don’t see Ross taking the starting spot from Bako, at least not now, considering that Bako is really hitting better than I expect Ross to, and the pitching has really been pretty good with Bako behind the plate. Big Dust really seems to favor Valentin as the team’s top pinch-hitter, so will we be seeing the dreaded Threeheaded HydraCatcher? That was supposed to be Narron’s gig, and it got him turfed in the ‘Nasti. Can Valentin really contribute enough (read: get enough pinch hits) to justify his spot? He’s a switch-hitter which ostensibly adds flexibility but he’s so bad from the right side that he’s only a switch-hitter in the same way I’m a switch-handwriter: terrible. The Reds already have a lefthanded bat off the bench in Hatteberg. Assuming HydraCatcher will be a reality, here’s the bench:

Valentin, Ross, Freel, Hopper, CP23, Hairston, Hatteberg

Hate to say it, but see ya, Norris. CP23’s got a big league deal now and is your fourth outfielder, Hairston will likely start in center for at least a few days, Freel’s your supersub and the only guy who can play middle infield if Hairston starts in center, and you have to have a backup 1B and Hat’s not going to the minors anyway. Hopper’s the only guy of the above group with a realistic chance to be sent down... unless the Reds go to eleven pitchers, in which case it could still be curtains for Coffey, but they seem bound and determined to give him as many chances as possible to get his stuff together (he pitched the ninth tonight, walked a guy but didn’t give anything up). This is what happens when you have a 90-plus MPH fastball and have shown potential anywhere, ever.

So Hopper probably goes when Ross comes back, assuming they keep 12 pitchers. What gets really interesting is thinking about what they’ll do when Gonzo comes back. Keppinger is one of the few guys who’s hit consistently since the start of the year. Encarnacion is producing too much to spell very often at third. Kepp has two games career in the outfield and you sure aren’t going to put him in center. The Reds already have one first baseman who can’t get any playing time, and you aren’t going to sit Brandon twice a week to open a spot for Keppinger. The Reds also already have a supersub (Freel) they can’t find at-bats for.

Gonzo, though, doesn’t seem to be getting much better physically. It might be a long time before he’s back, so maybe by then they can swing a trade or this situation will have worked itself out (they usually seem to) and it won’t be an issue. It’s fun to play with the puzzle that is the roster, though, and having too many players deserving playing time is much better than last year, when it was “bring someone up from Louisville, install them into lineup immediately” down the stretch.

UP NEXT
Exit Los Angeles, enter Houston. The Reds (9-12) and Astros (9-12) hook up for the first time in 2008 with a two-game set starting tomorrow at Great American. Bronson Arroyo looks to improve on his first four outings for the Reds, while Chris Sampson takes the hill for the Astronomicals. This three-team, seven-game homestand is starting to seem incredibly brief with one against H-Town tomorrow then the finale Thursday afternoon, then it’s out to the coast to contend with Frisco. Could it almost be the end of April already? Yes, it could.

First pitch tomorrow is 7:10, 4:10 here in paradise. Peace.