Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds (10-15-2) stopped their losing streak, thanks to another great pitching performance by Mike Leake.

Leake continues to battle against Travis Wood for that 5th starter spot, and it’s going down to the wire. Against the Oakland A’s (11-15-3), Leake went 6 innings, 1 more than originally scheduled. He allowed 2 runs, both of them earned, and struck out 2. Thanks to the miracle of the B-team exploding on offense, Leake even picked up the win.

On the offensive side, it was a miracle that any runs were scored, let alone 8. Most of the primary players were making the trip to Las Vegas to play the Dodgers, Drew Stubbs, Scott Rolen, and Ramon Hernandez as the regular starters. However, Stubbs and Rolen were all that were needed, with both driving in 3 runs. For Stubbs, one of those was a solo homer, his 5th of Spring Training.

After Leake left, Aroldis Chapman took the mound. (Incidentally, anybody else not really down with him being called the “Cuban Missile” on the radio broadcast? Surely there’s a better nickname out there. Of course, all I can think of is Aroldis “Cane Sugar” Chapman, so what do I know.) Chapman pitched well, allowing 1 run over 2 innings. More importantly, he struck out 3. He did walk 3, which is the most in an outing all spring. Hopefully, he’ll get to work on that in the minors.

Micah Owings pitched the 9th inning, but did not bat.

Boxscore

Aaron Harang made his last start before Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds (9-16-2). And he was bad. Again.

Harang has been good for the Reds, and he’s one of the few players I’ve considered purchasing a jersey of, but he is not ending Spring Training in good shape. Against the San Diego Padres (17-10), Harang lasted just 4 2/3 innings, allowing 5 runs, 4 earned. He did strike out 6, which is good, but those 5 hits and 2 walks kinda negate that, not to mention the throwing error.

The Reds actually scored some runs behind Harang, but the hole was too deep. Ryan Hanigan drove in a run, as did Paul Janish on an automatic double.

The game was an ugly one, with both teams committing 3 errors. In addition to Harang’s error, Drew Sutton misplayed two balls.

With this loss, the Reds have now dropped 6 in a row.

I’m still amazed when people say, without a hint of irony, that they think that Dusty Baker is the best manager in the league. Personally, I think Baker is a hell of a human being but one seriously shitty manager, and I can list off the specific reasons why I think so:

• He builds his line-ups based on field position. The center fielder leads off, followed by short stop. Wouldn’t matter if the center fielder were Prince Fielder, he’d be leading the damn game off.
• He has a serious love of the veterans. The closer a player is to his own age, the better, and he’ll make the young’uns sit the bench and think about what they’ve done until they get older enough to know better.
• He prefers strike outs to walks.
• He screws up pitchers.
• He makes the stupidest in-game decisions anyone has ever seen. More than once I’ve suggested that he put his ideas to a vote of the 5 closest fans in the stands before he puts them in play, since he’ll be overridden 90% of the time by anyone who isn’t under the constant care of medical professionals.

However, in this interminable spring training, I don’t get the resolution to see how his in-game decisions are screwing the team, and none of the pitchers have really had the chance to get hurt yet. In three games, I saw Brandon Phillips take TWO walks, and Dusty hasn’t made any infuriating public comments on the matter in the longest time.

That leaves the veteran love. I contend that the team has managed not to stock the team with old farts, and thereby set Baker up for better success than he would have otherwise had. On the other hand Red Reporter points out that the team isn’t exactly the 2003 Florida Marlins. Either way, there aren’t any frustrating platoons being proposed and the blockers number few.

So, the only thing left to keep my anti-Baker ire up is the line-up thing, which is–wow–so stupid, but only a fraction of the stupid that I’m used to.

I understand some analysts are picking the team as the sleeper despite their uninspiring cactus league performance, which might put some pressure on the team to actually perform and not just turn in the same losing season we’ve seen for so many years in a row now that I’ve lost count.

But even if the team is slow out of the gate, I’ve got that sinking feeling that they’ll find some injury or weather condition or phase of the moon to blame it on and extend Baker’s contract. If the team gets off to a hot start, I’m afraid we’ll be stuck with him until the Cubs win it all.