The Reds squandered chance after chance, snatched life from lifelessness, then lost in the end anyway, dropping a 3-2 extra inning decision to the Brewers Tuesday night.
In what is perhaps most important long-term development out of this one, Johnny Cueto was excellent again. 6 1/3 innings, five hits, two runs, eight strikeouts. Milwaukee made more contact off him than Arizona did, but this was in the dome instead of a cold drizzle and Milwaukee is a better-hitting team than Arizona anyway. He still didn't walk anyone although he did (gasp!) hit three-ball counts a couple of times. I just checked the numbers... yes, it was twice all night. He's thrown 16 1/3 innings in the majors, allowed two runs and six hits, and run to three balls on TWO batters.
Early on, you got the feeling it just wasn't the Reds' night. Adam Dunn was robbed of base hits twice by -- get this -- Prince Fielder. The plays were nearly identical. He continued to hit the ball hard off a pitcher he's hit .550 off of career, and had nothing to show for it. Cueto's first big-league run allowed came on the littlest of little flares off the feeble bat of Jason Kendall. Keppinger timed his jump as well as he possibly could have, and just couldn't quite get it. A deep drive to right by Phillips in the sixth was caught in an area where, if it had been five feet to the right, it would have been gone.
But after a night of every little break seemingly going wrong, CP23 tied it up with a baseknock to right just out of Weeks' reach in the top of the 7th, driving home Joey Votto and knotting it at one. Surprisingly, Big Dust let Cueto hit with Votto on, and he did manage to move the runner from second to third with a ground ball to the right side. Then CP23 got jobbed on the call trying to steal second, ending the inning and bringing out Big Dust to give blue a piece of his mind. Yeah!
After about four replays I'm still not sure if he was safe or not. Honestly, if the ball gets there ahead or at the same time as the runner, I think the ump is going to call "out" most of the time, regardless of the tag. One angle made it appear Patter's body was blocking the umpire's view of the tag to begin with.
Milwaukee took the lead back in the bottom of the inning. Leadoff batter Bill Hall made it 2-1 with a solo dinger to right. Cincinnati had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the following frame. With two out and Griffey on first, Dunn and Encarnacion drew walks, leading to Ned Yost lifting reliever Guillermo Mota and bringding on sidearm left Brian Shouse. Big Dust countered with Norris Hopper. Nothing like a game-deciding situation and having a guy at the plate you're almost certain has no shot at getting a hit. He took a strike then tapped out to Fielder at first.
There was still hope headed to the ninth; Gagne isn't the closer he was with LA. Understatement of the year, I know. Freel strikeout, Valentin takes two very hittable pitches then feebly grounds out on a two-strike pitch far worse than either of the pitches he just took (and the strike one pitch was nearly identical to the strike three pitch to end the game Monday; may want to start swinging at that one, Javy). And then, on a 2-2 pitch, CP23 takes Gagne deep to right. Amazing.
After Kep singled, Griffey struck out to send it to the bottom of the ninth. Plate umpire Laz Diaz was giving Gagne the outside corner so wide it was ridiculous, and it led to Griffey getting a called strike he shouldn't have and swinging for strike three on a ball that, in the words of one of my Little League teammate's dads Officer Schoolcraft, "he couldn't have reached with a telephone pole."
Stormy Weathers got Milwaukee 1-2-3 in the ninth. The Reds couldn't score in the tenth. Dusty surprisingly stayed with Weathers instead of going with Cordero, who was ready to go and hasn't pitched since Saturday, and Weathers ended up getting the loss when Bill Hall singled past a drawn-in infield to drive in J.J. Hardy with the game-winner. Hardy led off the inning with a hit, was sacrificed to second, then JASON KENDALL GOT HIS THIRD HIT OF THE NIGHT to move him to third, forcing the Reds to bring the infield up, and that was that.
The loss drops the Reds to 4-4 on the season. Milwaukee is now 6-1.
PROPS TO BIG DUST...
... or whoever was responsible for playing the outfield up in the fifth with a man on second and Kendall up. Griffey playing so close saved a run when Kendall again got a base hit off Cueto. Props again in the tenth when JASON KENDALL GOT HIS THIRD HIT OF THE GAME. I mean, are you serious with this? Really?
I'M CONCERNED ABOUT EdE...
Encarnacion's struggled continued early as well. He came into tonight with a .100 average and honestly, lightning strike me down, I feel maybe he should start being a little more aggressive at the plate. He looked like he was hoping for a walk in his first at-bat off Suppan, and that is a true sign of a guy that's struggling. In the sixth he popped out on the first pitch he saw with men on first and second and two outs. The first eight have been truly disappointing for EdE, whom many people thought was poised for a breakout year.
Jared Burton was lights-out again, going 1 1/3 innings, relieving Cueto and getting the last two outs of the seventh, and getting the first two of the eigth. After walking Gabe Kapler he was pulled in favor of Kent Mercker to face Prince Fielder. A scary matchup espectially after he ran the count 3-0, but Fielder fouled out to EdE to end the inning.
Extra inning games are weird; you feel so elated with a win and it feels like such a waste of time with a loss. The Reds left 11 runners on base tonight, so they had their shots at runs. It just wasn't happening. Besides Patterson no one could come up big. Edwin is a big zero in the six spot right now. Twice Milwaukee was able to pitch around Dunn with no fear of EdE hurting them. The Reds lineup is highly dependent upon him getting it going, and right now they're getting nothing.
The loss puts the Reds behind the 8-ball in the series, because tomorrow it's getting Foggy in here. Josh Fogg was terrible in his first start against Philadelphia in the Friday loss. His performance was so bad there was talk on the radio broadcast Saturday that Belisle had looked good in his single-A start and could be called upon already if Fogg has another bad outing. I'm not sure if this start is do-or-die for his future in the rotation, but he definitely has to strap it down if the Reds are going to have a shot tomorrow. Unfortunately Weathers' two innings of work likely deprives us of the most-anticipated moment of the season, when Stormy Weathers follows Foggy Weathers on the hill.. Milwaukee's hurler tomorrow also had some issues in his first start; Dave Bush, owner of the Brewers' only loss, gets the ball for the Brew Crew.
Game time is 8:05 eastern, 5:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment