ByA little part of me thought that there was no way the shutout would last, or at least that the last at-bat would take 25 pitches. But no.
This is a freakin’ hot team, and after an off-day tomorrow, they’re going to have a well-rested bullpen for the Cards. Ought to be a hell of a game.
ByLast Game
Johnny Cueto pitched the best game by a Reds pitcher this millennium last night when he shutdown the Pirates for 9 shutout, 1-hit innings. It was a sight to behold, not that you would know it from Reds TV broadcaster Paul Keels’ flat, emotionless delivery. The guy would have trouble making the first human walking on Mars sound exciting.
Next Game
Assuming the rains stay away, the Reds will go for the sweep of the Pirates this afternoon. That would be nice retribution for when the Pirates swept the Reds earlier this season. Homer Bailey hopes not to be a starting pitcher combo breaker as he faces Zach Duke at 12:35pm EDT.
Heisey’s Night Overshadowed
Dusty Baker has few options at the lead off spot, and with both Drew Stubbs and Orlando Cabrera getting a game off–Paul Janish started! Can you believe it!–Baker turned to rookie Chris Heisey. Heisey had no hits in 7 at-bats going into last night’s game, but Baker’s move paid off. Heisey had his first hit and later, his first home run. If Cueto hadn’t been so magnificent, everyone would have been talking about Heisey. As it is, his performance gets overshadowed a but.
Reds beat reporter John Fay helps in that regard, though. Heisey had an amazing game, but neither his mother or father were present to see it.
Chris Heisey got choked up in the ninth inning Tuesday.
He had just hit his first big league homer. He had taken the field for the ninth when he thought of his father, Craig, who died in October of 2007 of Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Here’s to many more games like last night for Heisey.
What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds are now 18-15. The last time they were 3 games over .500 was June 11, 2009, when they were 31-28.
By| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reds (18-15) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 0 |
| Pirates (14-19) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Now that’s what I call pitching!
Johnny Cueto threw a beautiful game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, tonight, providing a glimmer of hope that his pitch-inefficient days may be behind him. It took Cueto 102 pitches to get through all 9 innings. He allowed 0 runs, just 1 hit, 0 walks, and struck out 8. It was beyond awesome, and I hope he can pitch like that more often than not in the future.
The game was close through the first 6 innings. The Reds took an early lead, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Joey Votto and an RBI double from Scott Rolen.
The Reds really broke it open once they got to the Pirates bullpen, with 2 runs in the 7th and 4 in the 8th. Joey Votto may have had his hitting streak snapped in the first game against Pittsburgh, but he hasn’t slowed down. In addition to his sacrificial fly, he also collected 2 hits, another RBI, and scored twice. Rookie Chris Heisey also had an outstanding game, collecting his first hit and his first home run. He had a 3-4 day at the plate.
It sure is nice to see the Reds playing so well lately. They’re now 18-15, 3 games over .500 for the first time all season. And with how good the starting pitching has been lately, they may have a chance against St. Louis this weekend.
By
At long last, I return to the final part in the series of requirements I would use to screen candidates for the Reds’ managerial position. It’s been a while, so in case you’ve forgotten what this is all about, here’s a recap:
Back on April 26th, the Reds were looking pretty sad and even Dusty Baker was wondering how much longer he’d be with the club. Since the Reds’ last manager search happened in the time it took to write “I don’t know what’s so great about on-base percentage” on the back of a place mat at the local Skyline, I thought I’d get ahead of the game and let the team know what I wanted from the next manager before they ordered their three-way with extra onions.
To this point, it’s gone a little like this:
Around this point, it was beginning to look like either this exercise was entirely unnecessary or Dusty Baker was actually tuning in to Red Hot Mama for some valuable tips, because the team was starting to win. And that being the case, I see no reason to stop now.
So now that you know the rest of the back story, I’ll wrap up my list with the job description line item about how a manager needs to be ready to stand up to and for his guys on the 25-man.
These requirements are generic and are not intended to endorse or condemn any particular candidate. Any resemblance to recent player-treatment inconsistencies are purely coincidental.
Requirement #5: Standing Up To and For Your Guys
In the great cosmic pre-game setup, during the part where you allocate your points to different player attributes, you can end up with guys who are more work-ethic-y and guys who are more flash and talent. Not to say that your flashy guys aren’t good fellas, but they may need a kick in the pants sometimes to keep their head in the game. It’s for their own good.
Not to say that you always want to come down on everybody who doesn’t have Aaron Holbert-style determination, but a manager’s got to know when to tell the media to back off and when to tell a guy to have a seat for failing to leg out a grounder.
Interview question to check for Standing Up To and For Your Guys:
Question: How do you help a player keep his concentration when the team is in a lull?
Good answer: I keep a close eye out for signs that someone’s losing their drive and align incentives with his desired outcomes.
Bad answer: If we lost the game, I’d hold a closed door meeting and then hint at it in the press. If we won, I’d shrug and forget about it.
So there you have it: my five simple requests for the next Reds manager. Hopefully no one in the front office will be needing to refer to them again till after the NLC is firmly in Cincy’s possession.
ByLast Game
The Reds pinned another loss on the Cubs and Ryan Dempster, thanks to awesome efforts from Mike Leake and Joey Votto. The win gave the Reds the series over the Cubs. As for Dempster, he continues to be winless in Great American Ball Park. It’s like he’s the anti-Roy Oswalt.
Next Game
The Reds go on the road to face the Pittsburgh Pirates, confident after a solid home stand that saw them go 4-2, winning both series against the Mets and the Cubs. Bronson Arroyo takes the mound against Ross Ohlendorf at 7:05pm EDT.
Chapman Update
Aroldis Chapman continues to pitch for the Louisville Bats. He won his third game yesterday, allowing 1 run, 4 hits, and 5 walks over 5 2/3 innings, while striking out 6. On the season, he’s allowed 10 runs in 31 2/3 innings, walking 18 and striking out 36. He continues to be effectively wild, but he’s never made it past 6 innings because of pitching inneficiently. Yesterday, his outing took 111 pitches.
What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Joey Votto currently has an 8-game hitting streak, which ties him with Orlando Cabrera and Scott Rolen for the longest streak by a Red this year.
