Last Game
The Reds took the second of the three-game series against the Pirates last night. The score was 3-5 and it didn’t have to go to extras this time. It was almost like watching the July team again.
- Mike Leake threw a pretty darn good outing, which was a relief after his last, disasterous one,
- Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, and Brandon Phillips hooked up for a sweet defensive play (see video below), and
- Aroldis Chapman sat the bench to rest his tired shoulder.
Regarding that last one, Chapman will be riding the pine for the next few days or more. Fine with me. Whatever we can do to get Chapman back in time for the post-season make sense. Besides, we already have 2 other closers.
Next Game
The Reds go for the sweep tonight. Homer Bailey (RHP, 10-9, 4.03 ERA) has his work cut out for him as he’s facing A.J. Burnett (RHP, 15-6, 3.68 ERA). Burnett hasn’t gotten a win in his last four outings, and, personally, I’m more likely to say, “he’s due” than “he’s done.” Tune in at 7:10 p.m. to see how it works out.
Brandon Phillips patrols his territory between outs in the first inning.
In Monday night’s game, the Pirate’s right hander Jared Hughes hit Brandon Phillips with a pitch. Phillips did the thing no one does and pick up the ball to throw it back. Hughes shouted something at Phillips, and Phillips was visibly agitated. He yelled something that appeared to be a “tell him” message at Andrew McCutchen as they left the field.
Later, Phillips implied in a tweet that Hughes’ comment had been racially charged. It sounds like the word “boy” may have been thrown around, which is just the sort of word that can be seriously offensive to one guy while another guy has no idea that there’s anything wrong with it in any context.
But McCutchen came to the rescue and got the two guys talking to each other before the game yesterday. They apparently hugged it out, because after that, they couldn’t stop telling the media how much respect they had for each other.
Much of this information came from John Fay’s blog, so go check that out for more information.
What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Jay Bruce was named the NL Player of the Week for his performance last week. This is the fifth time he’s been awarded the honor, which ties the Reds’ record for POW honors. One more and he beats Eric Davis. I think that’s pretty likely, seeing as his cold streaks don’t matter when you’re getting a weekly award. Also, he has already won it twice this year.
The more I think about the interchange between Phillips and Hughes, the more I can envision Hughes saying something about how dealing with the ball is a job for the ball boy. With as loud as stadiums can be, Phillips could easily have misheard that.
Regardless, I’m glad they talked. What a responsible, grown-up way to handle a situation like that.
I THINK BP SHOULD GET MVP.THE PLAYS AND HITS HE DO.I THINK HES BETTER THEN VOTTO