March 19, 2007
3/19 Reds at Tigers
By
Amanda
Posted at 1:29 pm
Much to my dismay, I'm able to listen to the game today from home, thanks to the kid coming home sick from school. You parents can probably sympathize with my feeling that my son has been sick since the beginning of time and my life will never be normal again.
Anyway, C. Trent's got the line-ups:
Redlegs
Chris Denorfia LF
Alex Gonzalez SS
Brandon Phillips 2B
Adam Dunn DH
Edwin Encarnacion 3B
Jeff Conine 1B
David Ross C
Norris Hopper RF
Dewayne Wise CF
Bronson Arroyo P
Tigers
Curtis Granderson CF
Placido Polanco 2B
Ivan Rodriguez C
Gary Sheffield LF
Magglio Ordonez RF
Sean Casey 1B
Craig Monroe DH
Neifi Perez 3B
Ramon Santiago SS
And the Tigers take an early 1-0 lead. What inning is it? I think it’s the bottom of the second, but I can’t keep track between calls to the pediatrician’s office. The line is *always* busy. Gr!
It was definitely the bottom of two, ‘cuz Marty just said that after two the Tigers are up 0-1.
Now I understand that they’re up 0-2 in the bottom of three.
Wait, make that 0-3. Damn, the Tigers must actually be good or something!
I guess Hopper had a costly throwing error. You hate to see that, unless you’re Deno.
Solo shot for Dunner. The shift doesn’t help you when he knocks it over the wall!
Reds still trail 1-3.
EdE flies out to deep CF to end the top of the fourth. Someone on the broadcast–Thom, maybe?–made reference to some discussion about moving EdE from 3B. I’ll be interested to hear what that’s about.
All I heard Thom say was that EdE was asked to change his batting style by Brook Jacoby…. he had too big of a leg kick… I just hope that doesn’t throw him off… this is the kind of thing they do to rookies to try to clean up their mechanics, but has anyone ever seen Gary Sheffield bat? That is not a “quiet” batting stance and it seems to work pretty good for him. My philosophy is “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”… so I seriously hope we don’t see Encarnacion struggle out of the gate so that we have to second guess tinkering with his established mechanics.
Ross bunts for a single.
Nearly a bunt single by Hopper, but it does advance Ross to 2B.
I can see messing with the way a pitcher goes about his business if he’s tipping his pitches, but who cares what your approach at the plate looks like as long as it works?
Denorfia with an RBI double… he’s been on fire lately.
And Sheff with the solo HR to make it 4-2.
If you’ve got to choose between being hot at the beginning of ST or at the end, I’ll take the end. Of course, both is best.
So, Arroyo’s getting the hook in the middle of the fifth inning. Has all that illness put him behind this year?
Marty made reference to it again: he says that he thinks EdE will be playing another position quick if he can’t master the throw to first. It *is* a rather important part of the game.
After five the Reds trail 2-4.
Nah, just a lackluster ST outing… nothing to panic about… just “getting his work in” you know.
The only other position you could consider would be 1B which would be a problem with Votto coming up soon. We have a plethora of OFielders so that is not a viable option. The bottom line is he is young and is bound to throw some balls away… its no big deal, I expect him to improve over time. Most of the errors tend to be on balls he rushes the throw on. Marty can’t stand errors, he always over reacts to bad defense… but I don’t see Encarnacion getting moved.
Encarnacion hits into a double play. BOO!
I’d like to know where he got the idea: is it a scheme that Marty’s come up with himself or is someone on the coaching staff talking about moving EdE?
I’m not panicking about Arroyo, but it’s hard not to notice that he’s hardly been overwhelming this spring. I hope he’s just ramping up.
Wilson’s on. I can’t believe we’re seeing him on the mound again.
Well, its been done before. Tony Perez comes to mind. You can always move a 3B to 1B because its basically a similiar position sans the difficult throw. Thing is EdE has a good strong arm, he just needs more experience, and hopefully he is not listening to Marty rail on him because he needs to just stay focused and calm and go about his business.
Arroyo was actually pretty solid until today, and while his command wasn’t great you can’t expect domination throughout spring when you have nothing to really prove. I honestly think he is just getting his work in and maybe working on various things…
somone is hurt.. Hopper went down on a difficult catch at the wall.
Marty has his own agenda.. he doesn’t need to talk to coaches to reach his own conclusions, you should know that RHM. I don’t think anyone within the organization has said ANYTHING about moving EdE… I am nearly 100% on that, unless their are private grumblings in the background, off the record. But Marty sure hasn’t mentioned that possibility. I am guessing he just hates bad defense and has drawn his own conclusion which is that if he doesn’t make strides he should be moved to 1B. What that would mean for Votto is anyone’s guess, so I think its a terrible idea… he doesn’t look like a lost cause to me, he just needs more experience and confidence. Marty just likes to stir the pot and keep you tuning in.
I wonder how Votto would be at 3B
Reds still down 2-4 at the stretch. I’ve been running up and down the stairs so much, that I’m not in any particular need of a stretch, but I’ll do it anyway. It’s always good to stop and stretch!
After seven, the Tigers lead 5-2. C’mon guys, it’s rally time!
It’s Thom in the booth with Marty today, right? He’s annoying me more today than he has in the past. Is he picking up irritating habits from Brantley?
OK, you know what’s funny about this broadcast… I have heard Thom Brennaman by himself, but the more he talks with his dad, he sounds younger and younger… that last exchange he was like a kid at the ballpark. Hysterical. Apparently he was the quite the fraternity hellraiser back in the day… Marty made allusions to that in their first broadcast but they really didn’t elaborate… apparently Marty has the goods on his son, so Thom better behave. >:-)
The thing is Marty really has a strong opinion.. it can be very intimidating.. Steve Stewart really had to hold back as his partner, and I can see Thom is afraid to debate his dad too much… but someone needs to have the guts tu provide a counterweight to Marty’s biased opinions. Hopefully Thom will get more comfortable the more he gets to know the team.
Did he just say “the Pirates lead it 6-2”?
That’s not something you’re likely to hear too often. 😛
They should put me on as his partner. I’d be happy to disagree with Marty. 😀
Final score 2-6 as the Tigers take it home.
Now I’ll go attend to my sick tot. It was a nice break to listen to some baseball, though!
Well, that was kind of a bummer. Arroyo’s been sick, though. Sounds like the flu is going around the Reds clubhouse.
And the Tiggers are a pretty darned good team.
We got a two-game losing streak going here. Hopefully, they’ll bounce back on Wednesday. Former Yankee Sydney Ponson is starting for the Twinkies, which bodes well for the Reds.
Trent says Love Shack, Salmon, and Janish were sent down today.