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May 3, 2010

Mets 2, Reds 3: Winning the Way They Know How

Team1234567891011RHE
Mets (14-12)01000100000290
Reds (13-13)100010000013102
W: Masset (3-1) L: Acosta (1-1)

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds broke their short 2-game losing streak against the New York Mets. And they did it their favorite way: in their last at bat.

Mike Leake started for the Reds and was his usual phenomenal rookie self. Leake went 6 innings, allowing 2 runs, 1 earned. He struck out 4 and walked 1, which is a good sign. At the start of the season, his walks were way up. Leake’s ERA is at a beautiful 2.94. I seem to recall Johnny Cueto starting his big league career with similar success. Hopefully, Leake will be able to adjust once the hitters do.

After Leake, the bullpen took over, and unlike against the Cardinals, actually helped the Reds win. They allowed no Mets runs, which sent the game into extra innings until the offense could figure out how to score.

With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 11th, Laynce Nix stepped to the plate and delivered. He hit a home run just over a leaping Jeff Francoeur and ran around the bases for his congratulation at home plate.

April 30, 2010

Reds 4, Astros 2: Sweep! The Good Way this Time!

Team123456789RHE
Reds (11-11)0000102104100
Astros (8-13)000000200270
W: Arroyo (1-2) L: Oswalt (2-3) S: Cordero (8)

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds finished their sweep of the Astros last night, behind a solid effort from Bronson Arroyo.

Arroyo pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing 2 runs, both earned. He picked up his first win of the year, joining fellow starters Mike Leake and Aaron Harang with victories. At this rate, the entire starting rotation will have victories in a week’s time!

The scoring came from home runs from Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. Bruce has been on a nice little tear lately, and Joey Votto is Joey Votto. Vottomatic, I believe, is the term we’re looking for.

This win gets the Reds to .500. Plus, it marks the second time in history that the Reds have tagged Roy Oswalt with a loss. The only other Reds pitcher to do that? How could you forget the Pickle, Brandon Claussen?

The team is 3-0 since manager Dusty Baker reorganized the lineup into a form much closer to the ideal. It’s probably not just the lineup changes, though, as much as I may want moving shortstop Orlando Cabrera out of the 2-hole to be the sole reason for their success. No, this streak coincided with finally getting good starting pitching and playing the terrible, terrible Houston Astros.

Still, this should give the team confidence as they head to Missouri to face the St. Louis Cardinals. A sweep of them, and the Reds would not only be over .500, but 1 game behind the Cardinals in the standings!

April 24, 2010

Padres 5, Reds 0: Cubs Better than Reds

Team123456789RHE
Padres (11-6)100202000570
Reds (7-11)000000000040
W: LeBlanc (1-0) L: Cueto (0-1)

Boxscore

And by Cubs, I mean my son’s third-grade little league team.

There have been very few bright spots to the Reds season thus far. Today’s game didn’t provide any. Shoddy, unfocused play was the theme for the day. Starting pitcher Johnny Cueto assumed the third out of an inning and jogged into the tag when Drew Stubbs hustled down the line to beat the throw. And then 2 other times, the Reds’ last out of the inning was from a runner getting caught in a rundown. Not to mention the embarrassing scene when Stubbs caught a fly ball to center and threw it into the stands, thinking it was the third out. It was the second.

The Reds never scored, being shutout for the first time of the year. They managed only 4 hits off the San Diego Padres, but their lack of strike-zone judgment got them 7 strikeouts to just 2 walks. Dusty Baker has even called out the team for striking out too much, although his solution seems to be to swing more. “You have no chance if you don’t swing,” he said, upset by a called third strike on Chris Dickerson to end Friday’s game.

Baker’s teams always seem to have problems with strikeouts. I blame his “be aggressive” philosophy that Cubs fans grew to loathe. With the team’s dismal 7-11 start–and given the heroics required for that record, we could very easily be looking at a 4-14 or 2-16 start–broadcasters and reporters seem to be getting more critical of Baker and the team’s approach. We’ll see if that concern ever reaches those that matter and could greatly improve this team by firing Baker.

Until then, we’ll have to suffer through terrible line-ups, tons of strikeouts, and lots of losses. With it being so early, 2010 is starting to look like a very long year.

April 22, 2010

Bats 7, Indians 1: Chapmania Comes to Indy

Team123456789RHE
Bats0012011207111
Indians010000000161
W: Chapman (1-1) L: Karstens (1-2)

Boxscore

Aroldis Chapman and the Louisville Bats came to Indianapolis tonight to face the Indians. There were definitely more Cincinnati Reds fans in attendance than when I last visited on Monday.

Chapman was effectively wild. His raw talent was amazing, routinely hitting the high 90s on the scoreboard pitch speed. His change-up was in the low 80s. That’s a nice speed differential. However, he allowed 3 hits and walked 5 over 5 1/3 innings. That only amounted to 1 run, and the win, thanks to a strong Louisville Bats offense, but I hope he has the time to improve in the minors. I’d hate for him to be called up early and destroyed by the maelstrom that is the Reds.

Wilkin Castillo and Juan Francisco led the Bats offensive charge, both clubbing home runs and driving in 2. Thanks to the Bats’ bullpen, that lead held up, and Chapman received his first professional win.

Aroldis Chapman was the primary reason we made the trip. Below are a few pictures of him in action.

April 22, 2010

Dodgers 14, Reds 6: Reds Suck at Football, Too

Team123456789RHE
Dodgers (7-7)12101431114182
Reds (6-9)300102000690
W: Kuroda (2-0) L: Harang (0-3)

Boxscore

From the start, everyone was afraid that the muffed kick on the point after touchdown would hurt the Reds; however, they never scored again, so the miss was moot. Oh, wait, this is baseball, not football. Cincinnati already has one mediocre football team. No need to add another one to the mix.

Despite the football-style score, the Cincinnati Reds did play yesterday. One wouldn’t typically call it baseball, at least, not good baseball.

Aaron Harang brought his typical F-game, providing the team with a terrible start. He allowed 7 runs–6 earned–in 5 1/3 innings. His ERA stands at 8.31. On the day the Chicago Cubs announced Carlos Zambrano’s move to the bullpen, I’m wondering if the Reds shouldn’t try the same with Harang. His suckitude, for whatever reason, is becoming comical.

Of course, Harang allowed only half of the Dodger runs. For the rest, we turn to the bullpen. Micah Owings couldn’t record an out, but could give up 2 runs. Logan Ondrusek got some outs–6 of them–but allowed 4 runs. And Mike Lincoln pitched the 9th and allowed 1 paltry run, showing that the Dodgers weren’t really trying by that point. The only reliever to escape unscathed was Daniel Herrera, who recorded one out in the 6th. Good job, Daniel! You’re the Reds star pitcher of the game!

The offense for the Reds was good, at least at the beginning. Harang gave up an early lead to the Dodgers, but in the bottom of the first, Joey Votto and Scott Rolen hit home runs, giving the Reds a 3-1 lead. It was the only lead the Reds had, and it lasted all the way from the bottom of the first to the top of the second.

The Reds did come back to tie it once, but it has to engender a feeling of pointlessness when your pitchers continue to make your job harder and harder. I mean, the Reds scored 6 runs. And it wasn’t enough. This is a team with pitching as its strength, right? Ouch.