Boxscore

As has been well documented, Dontrelle Willis has been searching for a win for a long time.

And in his last start for the Cincinnati Reds in the 2011 season, he finally got it, with very little thanks to closer Francisco Cordero.

Willis turned in his customary 6 innings, 3 runs start, and this time it was enough.

The Reds scoring started in the 1st, when Jay Bruce drove in Brandon Phillips. In the 2nd, Devin Mesoraco drove in Juan Francisco. And then Paul Janish sacrificed a fly to plate Mesoraco.

Willis struggled in the bottom of the 2nd, allowing the Pittsburgh Pirates to tie it 3-3, but he soon took matters into his own hands. In the 6th, Mesoraco singled. Janish doubled. And Willis added his own double to bring both runners in, making it 5-3.

Cordero was brought in to close out the game in the 9th. Like so many previous times, the bullpen allowed some runs. Cordero allowed a run-scoring double to Neil Walker, and with a runner on second base, it looked like Willis’ win was in jeopardy. But Cordero was able to strike out the final two batters to end the game.

The win makes Willis’ record 1-6 on the season, over 13 starts.

Today the Cincinnati Reds announced a new 3-year contract for General Manager Walt Jocketty that will keep him with the Reds through 2014.

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Reds President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Castellini today announced the signing of President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Walt Jocketty to a 3-year contract extension through the 2014 season.

Jocketty’s original contract was to have expired at the end of the 2011 season.

“Since he’s been here, Walt has vastly improved our baseball operations within the organization,” Castellini said. “You can’t develop a winning tradition without stability. Walt and his staff are doing good things here. We want to keep that momentum going.”

Jocketty joined the organization in January 2008 as a special advisor to Castellini, and three months later he was named to his current position. In 2010, in just his third season at the helm of the club’s baseball operations department, Jocketty led the Reds to the National League Central Division title by 5.0 games with a 91-71 record and their first appearance in the Postseason since 1995.

The 2010 Reds club was the eighth led to the playoffs by Jocketty and, including his time in St. Louis, his seventh to win the NL Central outright. His 2006 Cardinals team won the World Series.

After the Reds’ 2010 championship season, Jocketty was recognized by his peers and Sporting News as Major League Baseball’s Executive of the Year. He also won that prestigious award in 2000 and 2004.

In four years as the leader of the Reds, Jocketty has had exactly one winning season. Granted, the team won its division then, but it sure would be nice to see better results. I’m optimistic that his next 3 years will see at least 2 winning years.

You might remember the lackluster off-season for the Cincinnati Reds of 2010. Coming off their first winning season in a decade and their first division title in more than that, the team lost big in the playoffs. The weaknesses were obvious: left field, shortstop, and a top-of-the-rotation starter.

Instead of doing anything about it, Reds General Manager Walt Jocketty spent his time signing players who were already under club control to long-term contracts.

But 2012 is going to be different. John Fay interviewed Jocketty about next season, and the GM made Reds fans a promise.

Jocketty promises that this offseason will be busier than last.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” he said.

Time will tell if “busier” will actually mean improving the team or just keeping more of the players that lead the team to a 3rd place finish.

When the Cincinnati Reds began their season, they were faced with a lot of injuries.

Johnny Cueto missed the first month, Bronson Arroyo had mononucleosis, and it felt like every other member of the team was dropping every other game.

Now that the 2011 season is wrapping up, the injury monster is hungry again.

Today it took a bite out of Dontrelle Willis’ back, making him unable to make his scheduled start Sunday.

In addition to Willis, the team also has several other players in a day-to-day state.

Cincinnati catchers Ramon Hernandez (bruised lower left leg) and Ryan Hanigan (back spasms) are banged up. Miguel Cairo has a sore shoulder. Johnny Cueto was knocked out of Monday’s start by a strained right lat.

And that neglects to mention infielder Chris Valaika who will have season-ending surgery to repair a torn ACL on Monday.

It does bring a certain sense of circularity to the season, though. The Reds are limping towards the finish line, much like they limped out of Spring Training.

Boxscore

Saturday night’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers was unfortunately a bit of a snoozer. The Reds lost 10-1, with the only offense being a solo shot from Yonder Alonso.

The game was fun, though, despite that, with some great tweeting going on via all the Reds Tweetup guests. You can view the tweets here.

Before the event was also the unveiling of the new Johnny Bench statue. Bench spoke to the crowd before the game.

After that, Edinson Volquez took to the mound. He started well, but was probably left in too long and fell apart in the 7th. (No thanks to his bullpen, who allowed all inherited runners to score.)

The Reds’ batters had no luck either, aside from Alonso. The heart of the lineup was quiet, with Joey Votto and Jay Bruce combining for zero hits.

Yovani Gallardo was on his game for the Brewers, and the game was effectively over when Volquez and the bullpen imploded.

Volquez got the loss and Gallardo took the victory. It was a far cry from last September’s Tweetup, when the Reds clinched the division. And from the last Johnny Bench night, when Bench homered to lead the Reds to a win. Sadly, there were no fireworks from Reds catchers tonight.

Still, it was a fun event, and I’m looking forward to next year’s.