Reds gone CRAZY

What has happened since I stopped paying attention to meaningless spring training baseball games? I've missed THE CRAZINESS, that's what. The Reds swept the Twins in their weekend series with scores of 5-2 and 14-1.

That's FOURTEEN. Runs, not hits. Hits were 25, get real.

First up was Reds 5, Twins 2.

Notable things - Pitching: Lohse sucked it up, and hit Torii Hunter in the head. Didn't last an inning. Brian Meadows cleaned up his junk, finishing the first and pitching the second, only allowing a run. Stanton was fine, Bray was fine, Belisle was a little rusty but got the win, The Lizard was nice, and Kershner walked one but got the save.

Notable things - Hitting: Hopper was not a good leadoff, going 0-for-3. Bubba Crosby had a 2-RBI hit, so maybe he makes the team after all. Votto (single, double) and Encarnacion (single, homer) were the stars of the night, and Moeller, yes, Chad Moeller had an RBI!

Notable things - Fielding & Such: Freel has a competitor in Bellhorn for caught stealing. They both have 1 as it stands. Machado made the error for the Reds.

Second up was Reds 14, Twins 1.

Notable things - Pitching: Starters were winners and losers tonight as Harang got the win and Bonser got the loss. Harang was alright, striking out two in 2, and allowing 5 hits and an earned run. Bonser gave up 3, including a 2-run homer to Hatteberg. Bobby Livingston followed and pitched the same 2 innings (well, they were different) and struck out the same numbe of 2 guys, but allowed only one hit. So he is the new #1 starter, ladies & gents! Victor Santos followed, doing almost the same thing, but striking out one fewer. Ligtenberg went the next two and struck out one, and Shackelford was on for the save (hey, the Reds could give up 12-13 runs in the ninth) and walked one and got the heck outta there.

Notable things - Hitting: Where to begin? Probably with Josh Hamilton, the kid that will probably make the team. And rightfully so, thankfully as he went 3-for-4 today (2 dubs) with a run scored. No ribbies, though. Freel, the true leadoff man, went 2/3 and scored. Hatteberg homered and went 2/2. Crosby was 2/3, Phillips the same (with a homer) and Paul Janish was 3/3 with 2 RBI's. The Reds stranded SEVENTEEN baserunners. Holy wow.

Notable things - Fielding & such: Error on Joey Votto tonight. Not the prospect you thought he'd be? He'll be riding the doghouse for weeks now. Right? I mean, because Narron hates fielding errors, right? And he's done everything in his power to correct them, yeah? Come on.

GO REDS (even in meaningless games)