March 11, 2006
By
Amanda
Posted at 3:50 pm
The Reds rallied in the ninth to win over the group of scrubs posing as the Yankees yesterday. The Reds walked off with a score of 5-4 in Sarasota.
Phil Dumatrait got the start and allowed one run on four hits during the course of three innings of work. Kent Mercker held the Yankees scoreless in his one-inning long first appearance. David Weathers allowed a run in an inning of relief, and Elizardo Ramirez allowed two runs in two innings. Chris Hammond and Ryan Wagner contributed scoreless innings, with Wagner getting the win.
Rich Aurilia, Tuffy Rhodes, and Austin Kearns each contributed an RBI. Guy-Whose-Name-You're-Probably-Beginning-to-Remember Dewayne Wise had a hit and a run scored. Chris “Heartthrob” Denorfia put the ball into play that, after an error, allowed the winning run to score.
The win brings the Reds record to 6-5. Today the Reds host the Blue Jays at 1:05 p.m.
March 11, 2006
By
Amanda
Posted at 11:52 am
BRADENTON, FL -- After the 2-1 loss to the Reds on Thursday, the Pirates were quick to blame their poor luck on Mother Nature.
The Reds score came on a two-run home run from Reds' third baseman, Edwin Encarnación. The home run was the 23-year old's fifth in six games in the 2006 spring training season. By comparison, slugger Adam Dunn hit four home runs in 23 games in last year's spring training season.
Nevertheless, Pirates pitcher Ian Snell credited the 20-27 mph wind, not the baseball prodigy, with the home run he allowed.
“You just laugh when one goes out like that. I thought Chris Duffy actually was going to have to come in on it, and he ended up at the wall,” said Snell. “I also laughed when the bright sun caused me to walk Dunn twice, as well as when a lower-than-usual dew point limited me to a single strike-out against a team that features Wily Mo [Peña].”
Snell was so pleased with his loss that he couldn't stop smiling.
“Oh, man, it felt great out there,” Snell said, smiling. “Everything was working.”
Asked about his pitcher's befuddling happiness about defeat, manager Jim Tracy was understanding.
“Go easy on the kid,” said Tracy. “He just lost to the Reds.”
March 10, 2006
By
Amanda
Posted at 3:47 pm
A story in the Washington Times talks about Nationals' general manager Jim Bowden's extreme frustration with his team's performance this week. The Nats lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 on Wednesday, to the Florida Marlins 12-22 on Tuesday, and to the Houston Astros 11-1 in a split squad affair on Monday.
To be fair, the Nationals do have seven players away for the WBC and even more who are injured. Nevertheless, Bowden expected more:
“I don't want to be embarrassed, that's the only thing I ask,” general manager Jim Bowden said yesterday after his Nationals fell to 1-6-1 in spring training. “I don't have any criticism about effort. I have no criticism about the work ethic. I just don't want to be embarrassed, and I've been embarrassed the last two days.”
That's right; the guy who is responsible for the continuing career of Ramón Ortiz is tired of his team embarrassing him. So much so, that he's going to get rid of a bunch of them:
“There's going to be major cuts in the next 48 hours, dramatic numbers,” Bowden said. “We'll start to get serious here. I mean, you've got to get people opportunities and at-bats and innings and try to do what you can that way. But it's got to end because we don't want to be embarrassed anymore. It's time to step it up to the next gear.”
I'm not exactly sure what this is going to accomplish. Getting rid of a bunch of crappy players isn't going to make the rest of the crappy players any more talented. Maybe some new blood would be in order. I hear Luke Hudson is available.
