April 19, 2010
By
Amanda
Posted at 6:40 am
Last Game
Despite Jay Bruce coming out of his slump in a big way with 2 home runs, the Reds still lost. They ended up being swept by the lowly Pirates, and finished their first road trip of the year going 2-5. And yes, the 2 wins were from the first games of the trip.
Next Game
The Reds have today to think about how badly they’ve been performing. I imagine Dusty Baker will have everyone sitting in various corners of the locker room with dunce caps on their heads. Hopefully, those caps will be laced with the ability to not swing at every pitch, and everyone will be ready to have more patient approaches at the plate when they start a 3-game series at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday. Homer Bailey pitches for the Reds, while the Dodgers send out Chad Billingsley.
Head Hunting
With the recent 5-game losing streak, rumblings are beginning concerning Dusty Baker being fired. Redleg Nation posted about it, and John Fay addressed it in a tweet. I wouldn’t get my hopes up yet. The Reds still simply owe him too much money and will want to see as much return on that investment as possible.
Despite my feelings on Baker’s poor managerial status, I do have to wonder why Brook Jacoby isn’t catching any flack. How long has the guy been with the team? Has anyone–other than Joey Votto, who we all know is intrinsically awesome–improved under Jacoby? Jay Bruce certainly hasn’t. This is a team that no longer has Adam Dunn, but somehow is managing to lead the majors in strikeouts. Methinks Jacoby’s seat might be smoking soon.
What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds have been slightly better at home at Great American Ball Park than on the road. In the 7 seasons there, they have won 284, lost 289, and tied once. The last time they were at or above the .500 mark was at 219-219-1.
April 18, 2010
By
Zeldink
Posted at 9:14 pm
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Reds (5-8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Pirates (7-5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 5 | 5 | 1 |
W: Maholm (1-0)
L: Arroyo (0-1)
S: Dotel (3)
Boxscore
Remember when the Cincinnati Reds embarked on this road trip by winning the first two games against the Florida Marlins? The Reds never won again, losing the final two to the Marlins, and getting swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates today.
All in all, a road-trip that started off so promising got totally Redsed up along the way.
The goat for the final terrible loss to the Pirates was none other than Bronson Arroy. Fresh off of sucking his last time out, he improved slightly by bringing the suck for just one inning. Arroyo went 6 innings, allowing 5 runs–all of them in the 4th–on 5 hits, 3 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Unlike for his last start, there were no late inning heroics to bail him out, and he got the loss he so rightfully deserved.
Paul Maholm started for the Pirates and dominated for much of his time. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, and allowed only 2 runs for the win.
The only good news for the Reds was Jay Bruce. Bruce has been the bad-luck kid all year for the Reds, routinely making excellent contact, but hitting line drives straight at fielders. Today, he hit on the concept of hitting the ball into the stands. No one, except maybe Jim Edmunds, is likely to catch those. And hit Bruce did, launching 2 home runs on the game. They were both solo shots, but that’s more an indictment of the Reds crappy hitting lately than Bruce. Hopefully, the signs of life from Bruce continue after the off-day on Monday.
April 17, 2010
By
Zeldink
Posted at 10:30 pm
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Reds (5-7) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Pirates (6-5) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
W: Taschner (1-0)
L: Cordero (1-1)
Boxscore
Fresh off losing the last two games of the Marlins series, the Cincinnati Reds traveled to Pennsylvania to battle the Pittsburgh Pirates. One might think that the Reds would bounce back. One would be wrong.
After losing the first game thanks to no ability to get hits with runners on base, the Reds actually had a lead and were looking good at the end of the second match-up. Johnny Cueto started and had a rough 1st inning, but settled down and was actually in line for a win. That would have been the first in by a Reds starter this year.
The offense was doing well, with RBIs from the big bats of Jonny Gomes, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, and Brandon Phillips. Votto was 3 for 4, and it is so nice to see him out of his minor slump. I hope Phillips and Bruce follow soon.
But the real villain in this game is none other than Francisco Cordero. Apparently, he listened all to well to Dusty Baker’s wonderful old chestnut about walks clogging the bases. How else do you explain 3 walks in the 9th? Surely he thought no one would be able to score with the bases so clogged.
The Pirates did score. First, they tied the game on Cordero’s third walk. Then they won it when Garrett Jones hit one to the center field wall, giving the Pirates the walk-off win and the Reds their 4th loss in a row.
2 and 3 losses in a row isn’t really a streak. But 4? Definitely. As is 10 years of losing records in a row, which is what I’m fairly sure the Reds are headed toward. And that is Pittsburgh Pirate territory.
April 16, 2010
By
Amanda
Posted at 6:14 am
Last Game
The Reds got mangled by the Fish last night, 10-2. You’d like to blame it on the tired bullpen, or the tired offense, but the Marlins’ bullpen and offense should have been just as tired, because, as you may recall, they played those extra-innings games too. Maybe they, in true Florida style, all go to bed immediately after the game.
Next Game
The Reds travel into Pirate-infested waters hoping Leake won’t sink them. Yar, that sentence be painful to read back over! Mike Leake goes against Zach Duke. Game time 7:10 p.m. at PNC Park.
It’s Going Around
Drew Strubbs sat out for the second game in a row. Dusty Baker says he’ll probably be back for the game on Friday. Meanwhile, Laynce Nix suffered from the dreaded “flu-like symptoms” that took out half the team at one point or another last season. Those guys have got to stop sharing toothbrushes.
What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The difficulty identifying who’s up to bat or pitching in relief will continue. All of the Reds will wear their number 42 jerseys with no names for a second day in a row because the Pirates had an off-day on Thursday, and didn’t get to participate. Or maybe it’s because they’re TWICE as appreciative of Jackie Robinson.
April 15, 2010
By
Amanda
Posted at 10:13 pm
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Reds | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Marlins | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | 10 | 15 | 1 |
W: Johnson
L: Harang
Boxscore
The Reds got their first serious shellacking of the season tonight as they fell to the Marlins 2-10 in a game that made me feel like 2009 all over again. Seriously, I was afraid that if I turned the channel I might hear that Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy or that Heath Ledger had gotten the Oscar.
Aaron Harang took the mound and the loss for the Reds. He lasted four inauspicious innings, giving up 8 runs (earned ) on 10 hits and 2 walks, including a home run. He struck out 4, which might sound OK if it didn’t come after all those other numbers. Owings, Ondrusek, and Masset finished out the game with commensurate performance to what you’d expect in the situation they were going in to.
Chris Dickerson and Johnny Gomes scored the runs for the Reds, knocked in by Orlando Cabrera and Ramon Hernandez. Those four plus Jay Bruce were the only hit contributors and seven were left on base.
Tomorrow the Reds head to Pittsburgh to pick on someone somewhat less than their own size (theoretically, at least; the records are nearly identical so far). Mike Leake will face off against Zach Duke.
