Two wins, one tie, and no losses so far for the Reds in their series of games against teams. That led them to a 6-4 record, but they managed to come out of PNC Park with a 6-7 record, thanks to a sweep at the hands of the Pirates. The Pirates. Yeah, that happened. So, Dusty is pissed, as are we all. Where are the bats, yo?
Weathers gets Hafner looking!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4-3 Reds!!!!!!!
Homer Bailey is the winning pitcher!!!!!! 1-0!!! Retire while you're on top!
Someone predicted Bailey would go 5 and give up 3, and they're dang close because you can expect he will not be out there when Inning 6 comes a-calling and he will probably be done before then. He maybe should have already been done, but he's out there now nearing 100 pitches.
Sizemore up and Sizemore figured him out. Early. He's on with a single.
Holy balls, Sizemore has 18 stolen bases this year. And appropriately, Bailey makes his first-ever MLB pickoff move. Doesn't work, though. Casey Blake with a nice pop out. Could use more of those. Anything to cut this half-inning short and get this kid to the dugout with a lead. The only problem with that idea is the next 2 batters are Hafner & V-Mar.
You can tell Hafner just wants to crush one. And he's over 100. Pitches, that is. Instead he walks. Getting into dangerous territory again. Can we call on a sac fly DP? Haha, I doubt it.
V-Mar with 2 on and no sign of Narron coming to the rescue. The kid is on his own. It's his game to win or lose and the odds are looking like a big L right now. Holy bazooka, V-Mar threatened with a 3-run homer but Hopper gets it in his mitt AT THE WALL. That would have been a DEVESTATING way to end his first major league outing, but things are looking a little better for the kid. Just one more to go.
You never know what the wily Trot Nixon is gonna do. Better start him off with 2 balls and get him guessing early, right? Hmm......or 3 balls. Might as well load 'em up to get some real nerves and some real adrenaline flowing.
Delluci is up and crazy things happen when this guy bats. 2 walks, 110 pitches, and he's still in? Hard call to make, but dang, Narron is not only overworking the arms of his trusted vets and aces, but he's overworking The Savior in his first outing! That's Narron for you, though.
Alright Homer, you got into this mess, not get out of it! It's only the top team in the ALC.
AND THE STRIKEOUT SEALS THE DEAL!!!!!!!!!!
You couldn't call it any better than that, folks. The bases loaded, the kid working out of the jam, and he throws the K to Delluci. Unbelieveable stuff. I am sure GABP is going nuts right now. Well done, kid, well done. That's bigtime heat right there and he got through it alright.
A solid outing for The Savior. He's done, right? He has to be.
5 innings, 5 hits, 3 Ks, 4 BBs, 1 HBP, 2 runs.
Getting no help from his teammates tonight. In fact, outside of the whack Phillips put on the ball, Bailey probably had the best at-bat of anyone else on the team thus far. Sad or impressive? Both?
The big bad V-Mar up to bat, the RBI man of the night. Bailey is again working his favorite corner, down-and-away. It got him 2 early strikes. Followed up by two high fouls. Sprinkle in 3 balls and you've got yourself a full count. He's all over the zone, where will he go next? Right down the middle for another foul. Martinez knocks one Griffey's way and he's 2/2. That's 70 pitches already, only 3.0 innings in the books. This'll be interesting.
Nixon doubles and we've got trouble brewing my friends. If Bailey escapes this jam, that would be pretty awesome and would give some hope for the future. Not that he will dash hope with his outing tonight, no matter how ugly it ends up. He's still The Savior.
Delluci wastes no time in swinging at the first pitch and it turns into one of the weirdest plays I've ever witnessed. A sacrifice double play??? Who knew that existed???? Anyway, Delluci flies out to bring V-Mar home, and V-Mar scuttles home. Hopper throws to Conine who promptly throws to EdE for the double play, Nixon out at 3rd. What an odd sequence of events. Well, the bases are cleared and only one run scored so we've got that to be thankful for. Not sure what Trotty was thinking.
Barfield takes Bailey long and he's just throwing too many pitches on every batter. Barfield gets beaned and he's on base. One of the many HBP's that Bailey is going to throw in his lifetime. Barfield advances on a balk. Does Homer know all the rules?
Rouse gets the intentional walk, I'm sure he's feeling like a big man now. The pitcher Cliff Lee up next.
Lee puts it in play as Conine throws to Bailey at the bag on first.
Whew, what an inning. An interesting experience.
1 inning, 2 hits, 1 HBP, 1 BB, 1 run. Only 1 run out of that.
4 innings, 4 hits, 2 Ks, 2 BBs, 1 HBP, 2 runs.
He's already thrown 48 pitches.
2 balls again. At least it's Sizemore this time. Haha and again!!! Sizemore with the 2nd K after there were no more balls to be given. Thanks buddy.
2 balls again. Casey Blake with the groundout. I'm surprised Cleveland is being so aggressive with their swings after the initial 2 balls. I'd sit around and wait for the other 2. But Bailey is getting bailed out a little bit.
Now back to the guys with the hits. Again with 2 outs. We'll see what happens this time around.
Hafner looks at a first-pitch strike. There's something new. Good tactic. Hafner with the groundout to Gonzo. Looking good.
1 inning, 1 K, 0 runs
3 innings, 2 K, 1 BB, 2 hits, 1 run
The Reds got him a run back so we're all even.
A leadoff walk to Delluci on 5 pitches. Not pretty. If there's one thing you can give Bailey it's that he challenges hitters and goes right at them, throwing strikes. Not in this case, though I guess we can let The Savior allow a guy a base-on-balls every now and then. Would like to see another K, though. Get Sizemore back up here.
Barfield comes precariously close to the wall, but Adam Dunn makes the snag and keeps Delluci at first base.
2 balls to Rouse and it's becoming habitual. Does the strike zone shrink from Triple A to the props? You'd think not. Full count now and Rouse mercifully flies out to Hopper right in the middle of the field.
Bailey is working the down-and-away corner like a madman and he's been throwing a lot of balls because of it, but he throws 3 straight nice looking strikes down in the corner, forcing Lee to swing at a grounder that is played by Gonzo.
1 inning, 1 BB, 0 runs
2 innings, 1 K, 1 BB, 2 hits, 1 run
Man, I wish I could be there. It must be electric right now. Or at least I wish I could watch it on TV instead of following on the Interwebs. Ah well.
First batter - STRIKEOUT!!! Doesn't get much better than that. He was just fooling with Sizemore, Grady's got no game.
Bailey gets the crafty vet Casey Blake to ground out to EdE after he fools with him a little bit.
Watch out, here comes The Big Hurt2. And a single. I thought Bailey had him, he was doing what he wanted, but Hafner is a heckuva hitter and he drops one in there to spoil the no-hitter. At least we got that out of the way.
Dang, didn't realize the Indians lineup was so STACKED. Any team in the league save the Yanks/BoSox would pay top dollar to have this lineup 1-4. Anyway, Victor Martinez is up and he's looking at 2 balls. Well....alright, never mind. Is Hafner going to steal his first base of the season?
Ouch. V-Mar rips the double, scoring Hafner and sending Bailey's ERA through the roof. It was a likely scenario, but do we really need any more bad news for the Reds? I think we would have been satisfied if Homer would've taken a no-hitter through 7. But it was not meant to be.
Two more balls and now he's just got to get out of the inning. I have a feeling he'll get a standing ovation no matter what happens, unless it's just downright awful. I hope nobody boos the man. And Trot Nixon lines out to Griff.
1 inning, 2 hits, 1 run
He's wearing my number, baby! 34 to the bank!
His miraculous first outing is mere minutes away....
Well, no. Not really. But it is clearly the single biggest highlight of the year since Opening Day. I'm pretty excited. Chances are he'll do poorly, he'll do average, or he'll do a dang impressive job. Chances are 50-50-50 across the board. They do add up to 150%, I am aware of this fact.
What's interesting to me is the kid's name is Homer. He's a PITCHER. His name is Homer. Not a great connotation. Better than Grant Balfour, I guess.
Remember when we thought the Reds were going to be good? Or at least average. Do you remember this? I remember the blogger roundtable, the first one I was part of. The sense of optimism that is only natural every spring. But dang. There go the Reds again. Once again, they are not good. They almost made it to .500 last year, and you have to wonder how they did it, especially coming back with a better team (supposedly) and sucking it up. They might get close to average, but they sure won't be good. Sorry to hear it.
Is there any doubt that the actions of the Reds winning two straight and me coming back to blog action are beyond coincedence? You can thank me later. Or now.
I hear it, a voice from the distance. It's Kelly Clarkson. What the flip? Wait......she's singing. What's the song? I think it's called "Since You've Been Gone." I think, yes, she must be, asking me via song. I think it's a personal message directed towards me. How odd.
Hmm.........what's happened since I've been gone? What's happened in the span of a month?
Well..............
The Mavericks blew one of the best records in the NBA by losing in the first round to the Golden State Warriors. #1 losing to #8 had NEVER happened in the history of a 7-game series. That was painful.
Three days later, the New Jersey Devils lost to the Ottawa Senators, who I proclaimed would be the next Stanley Cup Champions. They got off to a bit of a bumpy road, losing the first game of the Finals to the Anaheim Ducks, but I still believe they are the better team. If Ottawa prevails, it will be the second year in a row that the Devils have lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. Not an encouraging stat, but it does soften the blow a bit.
The Reds, since I posted, have been downright awful and it's a new problem all the time. Hitting goes flat, defense goes awful, pitching goes softball. You name it, it's happened. Sitting at 19-33 is not a pretty sight, that's for sure. They returned basically the same ballteam as 2006, although probably a little improved. Who would have guessed? Well, they are right where many pundits predicted, in dead last. Sad to see it happen like that.
Thankfully, the Raiders haven't played any games, so they haven't had a chance to go awry.
But dang, do I not deserve some love? I'd like to think so, after having 3 of my 4 teams crash and burn so badly in such a short span of time. Being such a diehard fan, I thought I'd be losing my mind, wallowing around in depression, but thankfully I'm doing a lot better than I thought I would be. Not sure how, but that's how it goes. I guess life > sports. Or something like that. That's what we tell the grandkids, anyway.
Well, if there isn't some good news out of the whole Ryan Freel Tries to Kill Himself thing, it's that Tim Mo is back to blog a little bit. I don't know why, but seeing the story/video of Freel's suicidal dive for the ball all over news outlets (including the almighty Drudge Report) just sort of made me want to blog again.
Not that it really matters. It doesn't. I'll be doing things quite differently this time around. I got caught up in the game too much. Trying to blog a substantial amount for 4 different sports teams is very difficult, that's why you don't see it too much. But it killed me. At the same time, school was getting crazy and I just had to quit whenever it was, at the end of April or so, because I couldn't do it. In coming back, I am blogging more for myself and doing what I want to do. So less news reports, less game recaps, less of everything pretty much. Fewer posts for sure, probably more insight (however inaccurate) and more fun. It won't be journalistic excellence, that's for sure. But it will be something. Although I've probably lost all the readers (all 3 of you!) that I had before, but then again, I'm doing it more for myself this time around.
Glad to see you again. It's only been less than a month. Come on people. Thanks be unto Ryan Freel and his death-defying collision.
This was a fun one to watch. Once again you are reminded of the kinds of things the Reds could do if they were able to put it all together on a consistent basis.
NOTABLE THINGS
Pitching: The starting pitching, even throwing Milton in there, has been dang dang good this far in the season for the Reds, and they can't even remain above .500. When the starers go sour, it will be a long season. Until then, enjoy the 2nd-finest performance by a Reds starter this year (after Lohse's outing against the Cubs). Matt Belisle started and ended for the Reds, giving up 5 hits and a run while K'ing 5. Extremely well done. He had a perfect game going until the 6th inning where he gave up a double and a single which scored the only run. From there, he got a little weaker but still finished out the game. He didn't look as dominating in the lateer innings, giving up more hits but getting fortunate double play balls in the 7th and 8th innings to kill off any threat and then went 1-2-3 in the 9th. What a game. Great stuff. A ton of strikes and just having the attitude, he was very mentally keen.
Hitting: Ryan Freel led off and was 2/4, scoring twice. It was a perfect game pitchers duel through 3 innings but the Reds scored in the 4th on a Hamilton walk and a Conine double. Then Cincinnati does what it does well and that's have the occasional breakout inning, which was the 5th. Belisle started it, oddly enough, with his crazy sac bunt attempt where a lot of weird things happened. Ross & Dunn were on the corners with 1 out and Belisle bunted into the ground. He got tagged out and then the catcher threw to 2nd base when he Ross go there. Wilson tagged the BASE and not the player, so Ross was safe because it was no longer a force out, because Belisle was already out. Dunn saw all that and ran across home plate. Then 2 singles and a double later, the Reds had some more runs and they weren't finished until Gorzelanny mixed in a balk, scoring Phillips from 3rd base. The Reds tacked one on in the 8th on another Conine double and an EdE single. Then Conine threw in 2 more RBI's on a bases-loaded single. Phillips was 2/5, Conine was 3/5, EdE & Ross were both 2/4. On the other end of the totem pole was Hamilton, who had a double but then K'ed 3 times which was pretty nasty. Adam Dunn was 0/3 with a K and a grounder that went for a double play.
Fielding & such: Dunn stole second base in the 5th inning. I think he's 5 for 5 now, a very opportunistic stealer. Did he steal any last year? I think maybe 1 or 2. Good stuff from him. Freel got caught stealing in the 7th. You'll have that with Freel. Not sure if he's given the wrong signals or if he gets bad jumps or reads, but he'll get caught a few times before the year is out and he will have more bases than not, but it's something to improve. Do what Dunn does, dang it. 2 double plays with Phillips in the mix, one from EdE, the other from Gonzo.
Reds already got one of their 2 PTBNL's in a guy named Marcus McBeth. Looks decent. Hopefully he will have more success than the Shakesperean character.
Also, in a much-anticipated move, Rheal Cormier has been DFA'd. Let's hope we never see him again. Brad Salmon has been called up and we can probably expect to see him pretty soon.
It started with a 7-5 loss to the Cardinals, one of the many losses this year when the Reds had a healthy lead. This time, the bullpen didn't blow it. Lohse blew it, giving up 3 runs in the 5th and two others in different innings. It's a sad feeling when you're pleased by the fact that, well, you lost, but at least the bullpen didn't blow it. But they sort of did because if they don't let 2 more runs score, then Freel's wild pitch run score ties the game. But it wasn't meant to be. A lot of people are getting on Jerry Narron for screwing things up, and that's true to a certain extent. He's having trouble pulling some pitchers too early and letting others stay in when it's too late. Case in point - pull Lohse after his disastrous inning, or maybe even take him out during the 5th. But no, he went in to start the 6th as well. I know he would be cautious about starting the bullpen too early, but at other times he is confident in the bullpen when he pulls the starter (usually Harang or Arroyo) too early. Ah, it just sucks right now. I don't think there's been a time where both cylinders are running at the same time, or when the whole team is in sync. It just doesn't last very long.
After that loss, the Reds extended Coffey's contract out another year. That's not really a woe, but it might be. I like the guy a lot, he's been struggling early, but I think he'll be fine. He better be.
The big news, at least to me, is the Reds letting Chris Denorfia go. For nothing. Nothing at all. Some cash and 2 Players To Be Named Later. We all know how those deals work out. What makes it slightly easier to deal with is the fact that Denorf wasn't going to be able to play at all this year, so we won't see him flourish in Oakland until 2008. But he will do a fine job. What's the rationale? I don't get it. Somebody will need to explain it, and I'm sure they will at least try. When I heard he had been traded, I thought it was for bullpen relief as I always do, but this was for nothing and is hard to comprehend. I'm going to miss the guy because he was good, is good, and will be even better.
Ken Griffey Jr. continues to be as fragile as the wind. Broken bones started it off, then he had some infection of the colon, then he had stomach & chest pains, and now he has been diagnosed with pleurisy, which is an inflammation of some type surrounding the lining of the lungs. Who is this guy? Yikes, man. Let's hope he heals up from all of this nonsense, this is quite ridiculous. So that's a problem we're dealing with right now.
And the latest woe, if we needed any more, was the loss last night to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates, who aren't all that lowly anymore. Reds lose 3-1. It was a Guaranteed Loss Night, as Milton picked up the tab like he so often faithfully does. You know the story, he wasn't great, he was maybe even mediocre, didn't pitch well enough to inspire confidence, and the Reds' bats didn't want to seem to wake up to prove him wrong at any time. Adam Dunn blasted a solo homer in the 9th, but that was all the fun these Reds have. Let's hope they start learning how to play baseball fairly soon.
Guaranteed Loss Night. Just after you witness what a great team the Reds could be after they put a win together like last night, they go out and do the usual: solid starting pitching, not enough hits, shaky defense, and a give-it-up bullpen.
NOTABLE THINGS
Pitching: Bronson Arroyo goes 7 innings, giving up 5 hits and a walk, K'ing 2, and ends up with an earned run, bringing his ERA further down to 2.86. What more do you want from the guy? And yet, you know the Reds will lose when he pitches. It's been done all 5 starts, while Arroyo personally remains at 0-3. Hard to be that man, but hopefully it won't get to him. Just sad is all. A great effort. SaarLOSE came on in the 8th and didn't get anybody out, walking 2 and allowing 2 hits, giving up 4 runs, 2 of them earned. Once again, I ask if you remember how we wanted this guy to be our 5th starter and were pumped up to have him in the bullpen. Do you remember? I do, because I was excited. Not anymore. Coutlangus came on and got his out, then Santos got the remaining two outs, giving up a walk.
Hitting: Hamilton was pretty much the only highligh, leading off and going 1/3 with his 6th homer of the year. Dunn hit a double and Hatteberg knocked him in for a single in the 9th. Alez Gonzalez had the most hits with 2, but they didn't amount to anything. Good to see him doing so well, though. The Reds didn't put up much of a fight offensively, but they leave their fair share of men on base. That's a stat that I haven't looked through. Most times a man has been left on base. I am sure the Reds are pretty dang high in that category, due to a fair amount of hits but not a lot of RBI's. Somebody should check that out.
Fielding & such: Gonzo was the culprit again, and now I'm REALLY not buying into the defense only approach from this guy, just like Narron, who tells people constantly he wasn't signed only for his defense, but you can tell with his offense that Gonzo is a good player. And that's been true, but now he's all about offense, as he makes his 3rd error of the year, and maybe the most costly one of the season. His bad throw allowed a run to score on the actual play and prolonged the inning, adding another run on a sacrifice fly that would not have happened if the throw was made. Score could have been 3-1 Cardinals, and sure the Reds only got one run but maybe mentally they would have been ready to get 2 runs instead of having to get 4. It's hard to get on a guy like Gonzo when he has been swinging the bat very well and had some great moments in defense, but I'm pretty sure we signed him to be flawless defensively and he hasn't been that. Maybe that's a high standard, but he was treated like a god so maybe he should act like one.
The Reds sit at 10-10, good for 2nd place in the division, three games behind the Milwaukee Brewers at 13-7. The record is the 7th-best in the National League and tied with Toronto & the Los Angeles Dodgers for 14th overall. Most of us expected a .500 season, give or take, and that's exactly what the Reds have given us thus far. The pace will leave them at 80-80.
The rest of the NL Central is as follows:
Houston: 9-10
Pittsburgh: 8-10
St. Louis: 8-11
Chicago Cubs: 7-13
You have to love it when the Cubs & Cardinals are in the bottom of the division.
TEAM STATS
HITTING
The Reds have 84 runs scored, tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for 9th in the NL and tied with Arizona & the Chicago White Sox for 17th overall. The Florida Marlins lead the NL with 113. The New York Yankees lead the majors with 120.
The Reds have 81 RBIs, once again tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for 9th in the NL and tied with Arizona & the Chicago White Sox for 17th overall. The Florida Marlins lead the NL with 107. The New York Yankees lead the majors with 116.
The Reds have a collective batting average of .240, tied with the Washington Nationals for 14th in the NL and 25th overall. The New York Mets lead the majors with .294.
The Reds have 157 hits, 12th in the NL and 22nd overall. The New York Mets lead the NL with 198.
The Reds have 20 home runs, tied with the New York Mets and San Diego Padres for 4th in the NL and tied with those teams, along with the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers for 9th overall. The Milwaukee Brewers & Atlanta Braves are tied for the NL lead with 26. The New York Yankees, thanks in large part to A-Rod, lead the majors with 27.
The Reds have drawn 74 walks, good for 9th in the NL and 11th overall. The Atlanta Braves & Philladelphia Phillies are tied for the most in the majors with 93.
The Reds have struck out 138 times, 9th-fewest in the NL and 20th-fewest (bad verbiage) overall. The Los Angeles Dodgers have struck out the least in the NL, K'ing 100 times. The Seattle Mariners have struck out the least in the majors, K'ing 82 times.
The Reds have stolen 17 bases, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 2nd in the NL and. The New York Mets lead the NL with 21.
The Reds success rate of stolen bases to caught stealing compared to overall attempts (17/20) is 2nd in the NL and 5th overall, with an 85% success rate. The San Diegro Padres lead the NL with an 87.5% success rate (7/8). The Baltimore Orioles lead the majors with a 100% success rate (10/10).
The Reds have an on-base percentage of .319, tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for 11th in the NL and 20th overall. The New York Mets lead the majors with .370.
The Reds have a slugging percentage of .379, good for 10th in the NL and tied with the Los Angeles Angels for 22nd overall. The New York Mets lead the majors with .470.
PITCHING
The Reds have a collective ERA of 3.74, good for 5th in the NL and 7th overall. The New York Mets lead the NL with 2.46.
The Reds have 5 saves, good for 7th in the NL and 17th overall. The Milwaukee Brewers lead the majors with 9.
The Reds have allowed 17 home runs, tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for 8th-fewest in the NL and tied with Milwaukee, the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Angels for 12th-fewest overall. The San Diego Padres have allowed the fewest in the majors with 9.
The Reds have allowed 45 walks, good for 1st in the NL and 1st overall. BEST IN THE MAJORS
The Reds have struck out batters 148 times, 4th in the NL and tied with the Minnesota Twins for 5th overall. The Chicago Cubs lead the majors with 160 K's.
The Reds have a WHIP (walks + hits divided by innings pitched) of 1.22, tied with the New York Mets for 1st in the NL and 4th overall. The Oakland Athletics lead the majors with 1.16. BEST IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE
The Reds have allowed the opposite team's batting average to be at .306, good for 1st in the NL and 4th overall. The Oakland Athletics lead the majors with .291. BEST IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE
DEFENSIVE
The Reds have committed 18 errors, 2nd-worst in the NL and 2nd-worst overall. The Washington Nationals lead the majors with 23.
The Reds fielding percentage is .976, 2nd-worst in the NL and 3rd-worst overall. The Washington Nationals have the worst in the majors with .970.
The Reds have turned 14 double plays, 15th in the NL and 27th overall. The New York Mets lead the majors with 26.
The Reds have allowed 10 stolen bases, tied with the Chicago Cubs and Florida Marlins for 9th-fewest in the NL and. The Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Francisco Giants have allowed 5, fewest in the NL. The Minnesota Twins have allowed 4, leading the majors.
The Reds success rate of catching runners to allowing a steal compared to overall attempts gives them a 28.57% success rate (4/14). The St. Louis Cardinals lead the NL with a 54.55% success rate (6/11). The Minnesota Twins lead the majors with a 63.64% success rate (7/11).
INDIVIDUAL STATS
HITTING
Adam Dunn leads the Reds with 12 runs scored, tied with many people for 44th overall.
Josh Hamilton leads the Reds with 11 RBI's, tied with many people for 67th overall.
Jeff Conine (of all people) leads the Reds with a .303 batting average, tied with Carlos Guillen and Scott Podsednik for 108th overall.
Adam Dunn leads the Reds with 20 hits, tied with many people for 69th overall.
Ken Griffey Jr. leads the Reds with 5 doubles, tied with many people for 51st overall.
Josh Hamilton leads the Reds with 5 home runs, tied with many people for 9th overall.
Adam Dunn & Ken Griffey Jr. lead the Reds with 11 drawn walks, tied with many others for 26th overall.
Adam Dunn once again has an early lead for Strikeout King, leading the Reds and the majors with 27. Four others are tied with 24.
Brandon Phillips leads the Reds in stolen bases with 5, tied with a few others for 10th overall.
Josh Hamilton leads the Reds with an on-base percentage of .404, tied with Geoff Jenkins and Placido Polanco for 67th overall.
Josh Hamilton leads the Reds with a slugging percentage of .682, good for 17th overall.
PITCHING
Aaron Harang leads the Reds in wins with 3, tied with many people for 3rd overall. Only Josh Beckett and Dontrelle Willis have won all 4 of their starts.
Kyle Lohse leads the Reds in ERA (!!!) at 1.91, good for 7th in the NL and 11th overall.
David Weathers leads the Reds in saves with 5, tied with Armando Benitez for 15th overall.
Kyle Loshe has given up the most home runs for the Reds (what, not Milton??!!??) with 3, tied with many people for 37th overall.
Bronson Arroyo leads the Reds in giving up walks with 8, tied with many people for 69th overall.
Aaron Harang leads the Reds in strikeouts with 27, tied with C.C. Sabathia for 10th overall.
Kyle Lohse leads the Reds in WHIP at a rate of 1.02, good for 15th overall.
Kyle Lohse leads the Reds in opposing team batting average with .236, good for 35th overall.
DEFENSIVE
Edwin Encarnacion leads the Reds with 3 errors, tied with many for 22nd overall.
Juan Castro at shortstop & Josh Hamilton lead the Reds in fielding percentage, both at 1.00. The three lowest figures are all for third basemen, with EdE being the worst in regular duty at .930, and Castro & Freel worst overall in spot duty, with both at .750.
Brandon Phillips has been involved in the most double plays for the Reds with 13, tied with many people 28th overall.
Almost as good as the Reds winning and the Cubs losing is the Reds winning and the Cardinals losing. Did anybody see the same team that played at home? What are they, the ultimate road team?
NOTABLE THINGS
Pitching: The ace back on the mound. Harang pitched very well and got way too much run support, therefore he leads the club with 3 wins. He almost got out of the 8th inning, but had 119 pitches and a man on second base. Stanton allowed that run to score, so Harang was charged with 2 earned runs when it could have been just the solitary 1. As it stood, with those 2 ER's, Harang allowed 5 hits, 1 walk, and 5 K's. Well done. Stanton allowed that run and got a groundout on Edmonds' ball. Todd Coffey came in to do the 9th and was pretty sloppy, allowing 3 singles to lead things off. Bases loaded, nobody out. Only ends up with 1 run out of the deal due to a double play ball and another grounder, so thankfully that was all the damage.
Hitting: Nice to see some bats woken up out there. Interesting how the bats come alive when the pitching is pretty dominant as well. I wish they could figure out when to save the runs for the times they actually need them. Anyway. Did anybody catch Gonzo last night? The man was on fire, starting the scoring off in the 2nd inning with a 2-run homer. Then he did the same in the 5th inning, this time a 3-run blast. He also had a double and a single, going 4/5 with 4 runs scored and 5 RBI's. An awesome display out there. Hamilton & Phillips both got 6 at-bats at the top of the order, and both had 2 singles. None of those scored a run, nor did they score themselves. Adam Dunn seems to have fallen on hard times as of late, going 0/3, but did take 2 more walks. Welcome Back Ken Griffey Jr. He had a 2-run home run for his first of the year, passing Reggie Jackson and taking sole possession of #10 in the all-time homer list. Pretty impressive stuff. EdE was 1/4, but got hit with a ball and scored both times he was on base. Hatteberg was 3/5. Even David Ross got in on the action, going 2/5 with a late RBI. More from this guy would be good. Jeff Conine had a pinch-hit RBI, the guy is a beast, I must admit. Even Harang got in on the action, hacking a flyout just far enough that it counted as a sacrifice fly.
Fielding & such: Phillips got picked off first base, which is worse than getting caught stealing in my opinion, but was also a part of a double play with Gonzo. Rolen got caught stealing on Harang & Ross.
