Game 25: Reds 10, Giants 9

The Reds held on to win a back-and-forth slugfest Saturday night, 10-9 over San Francisco.

Cincinnati was paced by a three-RBI night from Brandon Phillips, who went 2-for-6 with a double. Paul Bako had the Reds' lone homer, and Joey Votto had three hits. The action largely came against San Francisco's bullpen after starter Kevin Correia left after a third of an inning with a strained muscle in his left side. Brad Hennessey, Keiichi Yabu and Jack Taschner gave up a combined nine runs in six and one-third innings, giving the Reds a 10-5 lead headed to the top of the ninth. There, Todd Coffey immediately gave up two hits and eventually was charged three runs without getting an out. Francisco Cordero gave up a run making it 10-9 before nailing it down for his third save.

For the Reds, Matt Belisle was better than his first start in the sense that he didn't get completley bombed, but he still was somewhat short of good, allowing four runs in five innings. He still got way too much of the plate at times, but it was closer to acceptable than his last start. Mike Lincoln allowed a run in two innings and Jeremy Affeldt pitched a scoreless inning before the ninth.

Todd Coffey is so unreliable, and was so unreliable last year that it's hard to see him staying up much longer. There has to be someone in AAA who can get outs with some level of consistency. He came in tonight and almost blew a five-run lead singlehandedly. It's just ridiculous. There are way too many black holes and guys the Reds can't count on with this roster. Coffey can't be trusted with anything but a five-run or more deficit. There is one too many catcher and a first baseman who isn't particularly skilled at pinch-hitting. The center field options are all disasters and getting any playing time for Hairston if he isn't in center involves benching a key cog of this team's offense (Keppinger, Encarnacion, Phillips). Walt Jocketty is apparently going to meet with key members of the front office in St. Louis. Changes might be coming.

Cincinnati (10-15) and San Francisco (11-14) lock up in the rubber game of their three-game set tomorrow. Edinson Volquez gets the ball for the Reds, while Barry Zito starts for the Giants. Tomorrow's game will perhaps be the ultimate test of the Reds' ability to hit lefties; Zito has been awful his entire Giants tenure. If the Reds can't get anything going against him, they may not hit anyone. Game time is 4:05 Eastern, 1:05 here in paradise. Peace.