Friday night's game against Philadelphia came just a day after Johnny Cueto's gem Thursday afternoon, but the starting pitching performances the Reds received couldn't have been more different. After Thursday's too-good-to-be-true gem , Reds fans were subjected to a sight all too familiar: the starter being lifted after four innings, having given up six runs, in a vain effort to keep the team in the game.
Josh Fogg was predictably awful. His numbers last year in Colorado were not good. He won some big games for them down the stretch, but some people overlooked the fact that his numbers were really terrible, and it wasn't beacuse of Coors Field. That ballpark has a reputation for being a hitters' paradise, but in recent years it has actually not been a particularly high-scoring ballpark. Whether due to the humidor, more athletic players making it easier for the Rockies to cover all that ground in the outfield, or Colorado just plain not being as good an offensive club, Coors isn't a horrible place for pitchers anymore.
Nibble, nibble, nibble, gopher ball. That's basically what you missed from Fogg if you skipped this one. It's clear he's not dealing the best stuff in the world out there, and his location isn't perfect. He's just... bad. People had expressed concerns before the season even started about Fogg going against the Phillies, and their fears were definitely realized. You can't go up and nibble, nibble, nibble and not throw something up there someone in that lineup isn't going to crush. Jimmy Rollins made it look like BP in his ABs off Fogg, and Pat Burrell and Chase Utley's bombs were the definition of no-doubters. It's going to be difficult watching all his starts this year. The big problem is that the most obvious alternative for the rotation, Jeremy Affeldt, didn't look good in his inning of work, either, allowing Chase Utley's second homer of the night.
The poor pitching early obscured a nice effort from Jared Burton. He looked to be in 2007 form again, throwing the heater with authority in two scoreless innings.
Offensively, Griffey had a couple of good swings off Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick. He did an excellent job staying alive and protecting the plate in the first until he got something he could go the other way with, driving in the Reds' first run. Later he added a double to drive in Jeff Keppinger (who continued to hit, by the way) to pass Reggie Jackson on the all-time RBI list. In the "mixed-bag" department, Edwin Encarnacion showed great discipline in his two walks, although ball four on one of them could easily have been strike three, but he looked awful in his eigth-inning AB against Rudy Seanez. Joey Votto had a hit and absolutely scorched a ball Jimmy Rollins had to leap for a nifty grab on in the eigth as well.
Curious to see the Phillies bunting Shane Victorino with men on first and second with none out in the fourth inning, considering the Phils hadn't had any issues scoring or getting solid contact off Fogg up to that point in the game. Even stranger to see Dusty pull the infield in that early when they were already behind. I didn't particuarly agree with either move; why would you bunt your number three hitter, and why would you run the risk of pulling the infield in that early in the game? It's not like it was the tenth inning.
But in the end, with a loss like this, a complaint like that is just picking nits. The starting performance was just too bad for the Reds to overcome against a good team like Philadelphia. The Reds won't have much time to dwell on this one, either; Game 2 of the series and Game 5 on the season starts tomorrow at 1:10. Aaron Harang goes for the Reds against Adam Eaton for Philadelphia. Not sure how much I'll have to say about this one; it's one of the few this season that won't be on Extra Innings (thanks, Fox), so I'll be in the dark save for radio.
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