Boxscore

Bronson Arroyo started for the Cincinnati Reds, but Aroldis Chapman again drew the attention.

People crowded underneath the stands behind home plate–yours truly included–to get an up-close look at one of those rarest of wonders: a left-hander with a 100 mile per hour fastball. Unfortunately, the bare-bones Dodgers spring training facility had no pitch-speed on the scoreboard, and I had left my radar gun unpurchased at the store. So I could only guess as to the speed of Chapman’s pitches. He threw hard and fast, though.

Chapman’s off-speed stuff was fast, too. And he had all of the hitters swinging late. He ended up striking out 2 and allowing no runs over 2 innings.

Jonny Gomes provided the offense for the Reds, hitting a two-run shot in the 4th. That would have been all Cincy needed, if not for a late rally by the Dodgers in the 9th. Thankfully, Chris Heisey had hit a solo shot in the 6th, insuring the Reds lead and keeping pace with Gomes in the race for left field.

[slide]