Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds made their first trip ever to HoHoKam Stadium to face the Chicago Cubs Saturday. Although they brought plenty of duffel bags, the Reds encountered a shortage of strikes in the 2nd half of the game.

Things started well for the Reds, with Homer Bailey throwing 3 innings of 1 run ball. Bailey struck out 2 and walked none.

After Juan Francisco hit his 2nd home run of the game, a 2-run shot thanks to Brandon Phillips clogging the bases, Bailey was in line to get the win.

That lasted for one inning. Then Micah Owings fell apart in his 2nd inning of work, allowing the Cubs to tie the game with a 3 run 5th.

Cincinnati next sent out Jon Adkins, who did nothing to out his name in the mix for a relief spot. Adkins threw gasoline on the fire and allowed 5 earned runs in 1 inning. It was ugly.

The good news is that Bailey looked fairly sharp. Hopefully, he’ll pick up right where he left off last year. Owings wasn’t, but I’m still not convinced he’s best used as a pitcher. Also, Juan Francisco is a powerful, powerful man. Is he Wily Mo Peña redux, or will he be able to become a more complete player? I don’t know, but I look forward to finding out.

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First time in Hohokam Park…for us and the Reds. It’s definitely got the Wrigley Field vibe, including the relative oldness of the park.

Here’s a panoramic shot of Wrigley Field during its final game of the 2009 baseball season. Check out those blocked sight-lines! Click to embiggen.

There have been a few big disabled list moves over the past week.

First off, let’s start with the Chicago Cubs, currently stuck in the middle of the division. With Ryan Dempster “struggling”, or “returning to normal” as I like to call it, surely the team doesn’t need any more adversity in their pitching staff. Whoops, too late.

Carlos Zambrano has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain.

Zambrano hurt himself running out a bunt. I do have to wonder if the Big Moose is starting to wear down, though, as he ages. He had injuries last year, too.

Still, Zambrano doesn’t have the worst injury. No, that belongs to St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, who crashed face-first into the wall while making a catch. Hopefully, he’s able to bounce back. However, if the damage to his face is too severe, he should rest assured that modern medicine is now capable of face transplants. All he’ll need is a donor.

Lastly, in the category of “Boy, I didn’t see that one coming,” Cincinnati Reds shortstop Alex Gonzalez has strained his oblique muscle. Having followed the Reds like I have for most of my life, you can bet they’ll do their best to hamstring “manager” Dusty Baker by *not* placing Gonzalez on the DL and having him be day-to-day for a week or two. I think it’s called the GL, the Griffey List. It’s a good thing the Reds didn’t trade away any useful middle infielders during the off-season. They’re going to need them.

Boxscore

Well, that didn’t take long.

In his first appearance of the season for the Houston Astros, Jeff Keppinger drove in the winning run off of Cubs reliever Kevin Gregg. I bet that made the Astros think the trade was worthwhile, regardless of who that player-to-be-named-later is.

Wandy Rodriguez pitched well, going 6 innings and allowing 1 run. Ryan Dempster was good, too, allowing 2 runs in 6 innings. It was the offense that was a no-show last night, at least until Keppinger stepped into the box in the bottom of the 10th. Gotta love those extra innings games. And those Cubbie losses.