I am happy to write on this late Friday / really early Saturday that my Cincinnati baseball team managed it's third straight victory in a rain-delayed game with the Pirates. When the game was finally played, the Reds dominated offensively from the opening, leading 5-0 through the early going before the pitching started to show some cracks.
Starting pitcher Eric Milton had a very solid outing, pitching seven strong innnings with only two earned runs allowed on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts. In typical Milton fashion, the only offense came on a home run by ex-Red Sean Casey in the sixth inning, which brought the score to 5-2. The Reds would stretch the lead back to four with Felipe Lopez's second homer of the game in the bottom of the seventh, making the score 6-2.
The bullpen looked to be inheriting an easy win in this one, as Todd Coffey took over for Milton in the top of the eighth. Coffey had a fair outing, allowing a run on two hits in his single inning of work, bringing the margin back to three at 6-3. The Reds would push the margin back to four, with a Dave Ross homer in the bottom of the eighth, making it 7-3.
The usually dependable Chris Hammond came in for relief in the top of the ninth in a non-save situation. Unfortunately, Hammond didn't record an out, with a little help from an error by Adam Dunn out in left. Dunn misplayed a routine single off the bat of Ryan Doumit, after the first batter Jose Castillo had walked, which allowed Castillo to score a run and Doumit to get to second. Hammond was then removed in favor of the default closer, David Weathers. Although Weathers had been dependable in the previous two games, this wasn't his night.
Inheriting the runner at second, Weathers promptly allowed a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Craig Wilson, tightening the margin to 7-5, the smallest margin since the third inning of the game. Nate McClouth struck out as the next batter, the first out of the inning, before Jose Hernandez was walked by Weathers. Jack Wilson pinch-ran for Hernandez while Weathers then proceeded to walk Sean Casey, the next batter. With the tying run (Casey, pinch-run by Chris Duffy) at first and the go-ahead run at the plate (Jason Bay), Weathers had some work to do. Bay is Pittsburgh's biggest offensive weapon, but Weathers managed to get him to ground to third. Rich Aurilia stepped on the bag for the second out, but the relay throw to first, which would ended the game in a double play, pulled first baseman Scott Hatteberg off the bag to continue the inning. Kent Mercker relieved for Weathers, to match-up a lefty versus lefty on the mound and at the plate. Mercker delievered with a game-ending strikeout of Jeremy Burnitz (which was completed with a throw to first on a dropped ball by catcher Ross).
All in all, this was a well-deserved win for the Reds that would have been a crushing blow if it had been blown at the end. Eric Milton (1-0) was the deserving winning pitcher, while his opposing number, Paul Maholm (0-1), suffered the loss. Kent Mercker recorded a solid first save of the season by facing a single batter but in a pressure situation.
With Weathers showing some vulnerability, the Mercker-Weathers tandem may be setting itself up yet again in the bullpen closer-by-committee approach we have seen over the past year. As an aside, I truly hope that Ryan Wagner, the hard-throwing righthander now down in AAA, gets his pitching mastery together to make it back to the big club and help solidify the closer's spot before the season progresses too far. Wagner has the capability to be this team's closer (I have no doubt as one of his biggest supporters) despite falling apart to some extent last season. He was untouchable in the spring and has shown great strikeouts to innings pitched performance in the past. My fingers are crossed to see him back to make for a better duo with the lefty Mercker than does fellow righty Weathers (in this author's humble opinion).
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Reds Notch Two Straight, Knock Off Pirates in Series Opener
My synopsis of this game can be summarized in a few words: offense overcomes offense. The Reds had to come through with another gut-wrencher win in this one, winning for the second straight day, but this time the opponent was different. Unlike the day before, this game was tied late until the Reds managed a 6-5 win over the Pirates.
Starter Brandon Claussen delivered a quality performance, if not stellar, by pitching five innings, allowing only three runs on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He did show a bit of erratic control by plunking three batters in that span. His major mistake came in the fourth inning, by allowing a three-run homer to former Red Joe Randa with two on and one out. Claussen had allowed only one hit in the previous three innings of work and was seemingly on cruise control until that fourth inning. The Reds' offense gave enough support of Claussen to put him in line for the win after Edwin Encarnacion pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the fifth with two outs and drove in Scott Hatteberg from second base with a single to center. The score was 4-3 at that point through five innings.
The Reds added an insurance run in the bottom of the next inning, as Reds' slugger Adam Dunn crushed a blast to deep center field with two outs to bring the score to 5-3. The Reds' bullpen seemed to have things under control with scoreless innings by Mike Burns and Rick White in the sixth and seventh innings. Unfortunately, White wasn't so lucky in the eighth inning. After getting the first two batters out with routine ground outs to third, Jose Castillo reached on a single, and the next batter, Ryan Doumit, brought them both home with a game-tying, two-run home run to knot the score at 5-5.
The bottom of the eighth provided the greatest drama in a controversial call on an Adam Dunn single that almost wasn't. With two outs and two runners on, Dunn hit a sinking liner to center that Pirates' centerfielder Chris Duffy caught on a hop while diving, but the second base umpire singled the out, meaning the inning was over. Manager Jerry Narron came out to argue the call as the umpires then huddled but quickly retreated to the dugout as the umpires corrected the errant call. Pirates' manager Jim Tracy argued the overrule to no avail and was ejected for his arguing, but even he would later admit the changed call was the right one. With Dunn's single being credited, Chris Denorfia scored from second on the play, and the Reds retook the lead at 6-5.
The ninth inning was marked by another quality closing effort by David Weathers, shutting the Pirates down in order to mark his second save in as many days. Reliever Rick White, who had blown the lead one inning earlier, was credited with the win (1-0), and reliever Mike Gonzalez (0-1) took the loss after his giving up Dunn's run-scoring single in the eighth.
The series with the Pirates continues on Friday night as Pittsburgh's Paul Maholm opposes Cincinnati's Eric Milton. Maholm was 3-1 in limited work in 2005 (his first year in the big leagues) with a 2.18 ERA in only 41 1/3 innings of work. Milton had a dreadful 2005 campaign (8-15, with a balloonish 6.47 ERA), but he hopes that 2006 will bring a return to his numbers of the past (like his 14-6 record in 2004 with the Phillies or 15-7 record in 2001 with the Twins). GABP is problematic to a home run pitcher like Milton has been, so keep your fingers crossed (as a Reds fan) that Milton can keep the ball down on Friday night.
The weekend will conclude the series with two afternoon games on Saturday (Oliver Perez versus Aaron Harang, two opening day starters return) and Sunday (Victor Santos versus Dave Williams, making his first Reds' start). The Reds are now at 2-1 on the season, while the Pirates fall to 0-4 for only the sixth time in their long history.
Starter Brandon Claussen delivered a quality performance, if not stellar, by pitching five innings, allowing only three runs on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He did show a bit of erratic control by plunking three batters in that span. His major mistake came in the fourth inning, by allowing a three-run homer to former Red Joe Randa with two on and one out. Claussen had allowed only one hit in the previous three innings of work and was seemingly on cruise control until that fourth inning. The Reds' offense gave enough support of Claussen to put him in line for the win after Edwin Encarnacion pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the fifth with two outs and drove in Scott Hatteberg from second base with a single to center. The score was 4-3 at that point through five innings.
The Reds added an insurance run in the bottom of the next inning, as Reds' slugger Adam Dunn crushed a blast to deep center field with two outs to bring the score to 5-3. The Reds' bullpen seemed to have things under control with scoreless innings by Mike Burns and Rick White in the sixth and seventh innings. Unfortunately, White wasn't so lucky in the eighth inning. After getting the first two batters out with routine ground outs to third, Jose Castillo reached on a single, and the next batter, Ryan Doumit, brought them both home with a game-tying, two-run home run to knot the score at 5-5.
The bottom of the eighth provided the greatest drama in a controversial call on an Adam Dunn single that almost wasn't. With two outs and two runners on, Dunn hit a sinking liner to center that Pirates' centerfielder Chris Duffy caught on a hop while diving, but the second base umpire singled the out, meaning the inning was over. Manager Jerry Narron came out to argue the call as the umpires then huddled but quickly retreated to the dugout as the umpires corrected the errant call. Pirates' manager Jim Tracy argued the overrule to no avail and was ejected for his arguing, but even he would later admit the changed call was the right one. With Dunn's single being credited, Chris Denorfia scored from second on the play, and the Reds retook the lead at 6-5.
The ninth inning was marked by another quality closing effort by David Weathers, shutting the Pirates down in order to mark his second save in as many days. Reliever Rick White, who had blown the lead one inning earlier, was credited with the win (1-0), and reliever Mike Gonzalez (0-1) took the loss after his giving up Dunn's run-scoring single in the eighth.
The series with the Pirates continues on Friday night as Pittsburgh's Paul Maholm opposes Cincinnati's Eric Milton. Maholm was 3-1 in limited work in 2005 (his first year in the big leagues) with a 2.18 ERA in only 41 1/3 innings of work. Milton had a dreadful 2005 campaign (8-15, with a balloonish 6.47 ERA), but he hopes that 2006 will bring a return to his numbers of the past (like his 14-6 record in 2004 with the Phillies or 15-7 record in 2001 with the Twins). GABP is problematic to a home run pitcher like Milton has been, so keep your fingers crossed (as a Reds fan) that Milton can keep the ball down on Friday night.
The weekend will conclude the series with two afternoon games on Saturday (Oliver Perez versus Aaron Harang, two opening day starters return) and Sunday (Victor Santos versus Dave Williams, making his first Reds' start). The Reds are now at 2-1 on the season, while the Pirates fall to 0-4 for only the sixth time in their long history.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Reds Gut Out Series Split; Arroyo and Aurilia Shine
As bad as the Opening Day game may have been, the second game of the year was that much more redemptive for the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds gutted out a much better performance against the visiting Chicago Cubs to split the short two-game series. The final score in this one: 8-6, in favor of the home team.
Bronson Arroyo, the recent acquisition from the Boston Red Sox for former outfielder Wily Mo Pena, brought hope to a team that his addition couldn't have been better. The musician-on-the-side starting pitcher proved his worth with this reasonably impressive first game in front of the home crowd at GABP. Arroyo's line score was 6 2/3 innings pitched, 6 hits, 5 runs (only 3 earned), no walks (most impressive), and 7 strikeouts. Possibly more impressive, Arroyo was 1 for 1 as a batter with a walk -- oh, by the way, that one hit was a home run, the first of his career. Granted, Arroyo hasn't had many hitting opportunities as an American League pitcher in recent years, but this was a special moment he would likely not soon forget. His offense started off the third inning for the Reds, a game-tying shot that invigorated the team to score twice more that inning.
The first run of the game was driven in by Rich Aurilia, an oft-forgotten cog in this Reds' machine, on a single to center. Aurilia not only drove in Ryan Freel in the first inning but also with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third, following Arroyo's heroics earlier that same inning. The Reds 4-2 through three innings with the combined offense of Aurilia, Arroyo, and Freel.
In the fifth, Ken Griffey, Jr., made news of his own. Although Arroyo would certainly grab the spotlight this day, Junior hit career homer number 537, a solo shot to deep left center, that also accounted for career RBI number 1,538. Those two stats are significant because the home run allowed Griffey to pass Mickey Mantle on the all-time list and the RBI allowed him to pass Joe DiMaggio on that list as well. Two legends of the game passed with one swing of the bat reminded baseball fans everywhere how great a career this future-Hall-of-Famer has had.
The scoring continued after Junior's homer in the fifth with two more runs scoring on a combination of a sacrifice fly from David Ross to plate Adam Dunn and an Edwin Encarnaction run scored on a passed ball to catcher Michael Barrett. The Reds led 7-2 at that point and would not look back.
The Cubs did challenge late in this one, thanks in part to an error in the sixth inning on a foul ball from Derek Lee that turned into a two-run homer only a couple of pitches later and a two-run shot by John Mabry an inning later. The margin was cut to 7-6 through seven innings, but it got no closer. Felipe Lopez drove in run-scoring machine Freel with a groundout in the bottom of the eighth to provided an unneeded but beneficial insurance run, making the score the final of 8-6. David Weathers closed out the game 1-2-3 in the ninth for his first save, and Arroyo (1-0)claimed his first win as a Red.
Additional news tidbit from the game: Aramis Ramirez hit his career 10th homer at the GABP, tying for most by a visiting player at the stadium with Geoff Jenkins.
The Reds are now back to .500 on the season, 1-1, with the Pittsburgh Pirates coming to town for a four-game series on Thursday night. Brandon Claussen, the Reds' second-best pitcher in 2005, takes the mound against his opposite number, Ian Snell (a second-year player), from the Pirates. On paper, I like the Reds chances in this one, but it will be interesting to see Sean Casey face his old team in his first visit to GABP as a visiting player. Casey may help motivate his new teammates to victory, but I think I like the offense of this new collection in town (including his replacement Scott Hatteberg) as well.
Go Reds!
Bronson Arroyo, the recent acquisition from the Boston Red Sox for former outfielder Wily Mo Pena, brought hope to a team that his addition couldn't have been better. The musician-on-the-side starting pitcher proved his worth with this reasonably impressive first game in front of the home crowd at GABP. Arroyo's line score was 6 2/3 innings pitched, 6 hits, 5 runs (only 3 earned), no walks (most impressive), and 7 strikeouts. Possibly more impressive, Arroyo was 1 for 1 as a batter with a walk -- oh, by the way, that one hit was a home run, the first of his career. Granted, Arroyo hasn't had many hitting opportunities as an American League pitcher in recent years, but this was a special moment he would likely not soon forget. His offense started off the third inning for the Reds, a game-tying shot that invigorated the team to score twice more that inning.
The first run of the game was driven in by Rich Aurilia, an oft-forgotten cog in this Reds' machine, on a single to center. Aurilia not only drove in Ryan Freel in the first inning but also with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third, following Arroyo's heroics earlier that same inning. The Reds 4-2 through three innings with the combined offense of Aurilia, Arroyo, and Freel.
In the fifth, Ken Griffey, Jr., made news of his own. Although Arroyo would certainly grab the spotlight this day, Junior hit career homer number 537, a solo shot to deep left center, that also accounted for career RBI number 1,538. Those two stats are significant because the home run allowed Griffey to pass Mickey Mantle on the all-time list and the RBI allowed him to pass Joe DiMaggio on that list as well. Two legends of the game passed with one swing of the bat reminded baseball fans everywhere how great a career this future-Hall-of-Famer has had.
The scoring continued after Junior's homer in the fifth with two more runs scoring on a combination of a sacrifice fly from David Ross to plate Adam Dunn and an Edwin Encarnaction run scored on a passed ball to catcher Michael Barrett. The Reds led 7-2 at that point and would not look back.
The Cubs did challenge late in this one, thanks in part to an error in the sixth inning on a foul ball from Derek Lee that turned into a two-run homer only a couple of pitches later and a two-run shot by John Mabry an inning later. The margin was cut to 7-6 through seven innings, but it got no closer. Felipe Lopez drove in run-scoring machine Freel with a groundout in the bottom of the eighth to provided an unneeded but beneficial insurance run, making the score the final of 8-6. David Weathers closed out the game 1-2-3 in the ninth for his first save, and Arroyo (1-0)claimed his first win as a Red.
Additional news tidbit from the game: Aramis Ramirez hit his career 10th homer at the GABP, tying for most by a visiting player at the stadium with Geoff Jenkins.
The Reds are now back to .500 on the season, 1-1, with the Pittsburgh Pirates coming to town for a four-game series on Thursday night. Brandon Claussen, the Reds' second-best pitcher in 2005, takes the mound against his opposite number, Ian Snell (a second-year player), from the Pirates. On paper, I like the Reds chances in this one, but it will be interesting to see Sean Casey face his old team in his first visit to GABP as a visiting player. Casey may help motivate his new teammates to victory, but I think I like the offense of this new collection in town (including his replacement Scott Hatteberg) as well.
Go Reds!
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