Dirk Nowitzki "Obviously" Watch

"There's really no need right now to make things worse at this point in the season. Avery told me to sit it out so obviously it was killing me in a close game to sit back and watch."

Mavericks 105, Bucks 103

6-0 on the road trip, coming home, relax, and almost lose to the Milwaukee Bucks? You've got to be kidding me, right? Wrong. Gut check time. Thankfully the Mavs pulled it off.

It didn't help having Nowitzki out the second half with an ankle injury. It was scary times, though we have seen it before. He just came out late in the second quarter but eventually returned, so people thought it was okay. But he couldn't get it going in the second half, so people were scared again. Apparently where it stands now is that he is fine and ready to go but his ankle is not good. He's going to play on it regardless. We'll see how they handle him for the rest of the season. And he wasn't the only one, Josh Howard tweaked his ankle late in the game. Aaaahhhhh!!!!!

The good news is the first to 60 wins. Both in terms of the Mavericks are the first to 60 wins, and the team that gets to 60 first wins. Maybe.

After Nowitzki was injured out, the Bucks went on a tear to lead the game at halftime. Even though the Mavs struggled at times late, they eventually closed it out thanks in large part to Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse. Terry ended up with 27 points. He knew he had to lead this team and he did a dang good job of it making many key baskets down the stretch. Stackhouse's 21 points were also crucial and he was 5/8 on 3's. Howard & Nowitzki ended up with 17 a-piece, Howard also getting 9 rebounds.

For the Bucks, Michael Redd took over and it wasn't hard to see coming. He ended up with 34 points, but the great part of that stat was that he scored 0 points in the fourth quarter. The Mavs made it their top priority to get the dang ball out of his hands and it worked wonders. Thankfully. But he still owned the game for the first three quarters, that's for sure.

Dallas launched a lot of 3's and ended up making 11 of them. The free throws weren't great, especially down the stretch. That could have allowed the Bucks to come back and win it, but thankfully there were strong defensive plays late in the game. The best free throw shooting team will have their off nights, but it's still tough to watch clankers late in the game. Once again the Mavs surpass 20 assists and win the game, this time with 24.

The Mavs got outshot, outrebounded, outassisted, outstealed, and outblocked, but they won the game. 60 wins. The first to 60 wins.

Reds 6, Pirates 4

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Harang was the starter and did not look sharp. How many times have you heard that one before? Probably as many times as I am going to say what follows: wouldn't it be nice to see Harang have a dominating performance? He hasn't looked like the #1 all spring. Somehow I don't find it reasonable to just believe he will turn back into the ace on April 2. In fact, history says he will completely suck for the first game. As long as it's just the first game, I'm cool with that. He just doesn't look good. Anyway. This game was 5 innings, 10 hits (!), 2 K's, and 3 earned runs. Santos picked up the win as he pitched the 6th and 7th innings. Very well, I might add. I like the guy and have all spring and still feel he is a dark horse to potentially start. He gave up just one hit, walked 2, and K'ed 2. Majew pitched the 8th, walking 1 and K'ing 1 in his scoreless inning. Nice to see him doing well. Jared Burton got the save in the 9th, although he gave up 2 hits and a run.

Hitting: Hamilton led off and was 1/3. Dunn was 2/3, scoring twice and knocking in one. EdE was also 2/3. These men had back-to-back home runs in the 6th inning which was pretty dang exciting. Dewayne Wise had an RBI hit. Griff was 1/2 and got his first RBI of the spring. Castro & Ross were both 0/3, as was Gonzo. Bottom of the order stuff, baby. Chad Moeller, pinch hitter extraordinairre, knocked in a 2-RBI double for Santos in the 7th inning to break the 3-3 tie. Huge hit. Chad Moeller? Looks like he's in.

Fielding & such: Gonzo had another error. What the???? Granted, it's only 2. But it's 2 in 3 games, and that's just weird. No more, Gonzo. Also, Godwin had an error but nobody cares about that. Dewayne Wise got picked off of first base. Yikes. Also, there were supposedly 2 double plays for the Reds, but I can't decipher what any of it means. The people involved were Javier Valentin, Gonzo, Castro, and Conine. Cool.

Phillies 6, Reds 2

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Lohse went a little over 4 innings and wasn't great. Wasn't too bad either, but nothing to write home about. Gave up 2 homers but only 2 earned runs, so thankfully both homers were solo shots. Still not great. Also mixed in a walk and a hit batter, but had 4 K's. Coutlangus finished out the inning and K'ed both Chase Utley & Ryan Howard. Howard had 3 strikeouts on the day, but still very impressive. I just don't think the kid has a spot on the team. Coffey took the 5th, gave up 2 hits and a walk but managed to escape. Nice to see Rheal Cormier back, but OH NOT REALLY as he took the loss. His inning of damage included 3 hits, 1 walk, and 2 K's for 3 earned runs. Hermanson pitched a useless 8th and looked rusty, giving up 2 hits and a run.

Hitting: Freel led off with a hit, but that was the only at-bat he was going to get as he plated his face into the outfield wall. We know he just got down on himself for not giving it his all thus leading to his latest injury, but how wise is throwing your face into a wall thisclose to Opening Day? Maybe not smart. Hamilton took over and was 1/2. Griffey was 1/3, but you won't believe how he notched his hit. On a bunt. !!!! On a perfectly placed bunt! Haha. It's just unbelievable stuff that you'll only see once in a lifetime. So Griff is on base with a bunt and then EdE comes up and just SMASHES one out of the park, so that's where the runs came from. EdE added another hit later in the game.

Fielding & such: No errors today as Bellhorn was sent down. Ouch! Just kidding...maybe? Two guys caught stealing though. Not great. Freel was a culprit as he is accustomed to. Gonzo was the other guy.

Devils 3, Islanders 2

Whew. And a big whew. So maybe WHEW. And so forth and so on.

On a night where the Devils needed to win to keep pace with the Penguins, they did so. The teams remain tied at 98 points, each snagging a playoff berth last night with their respective victories. This will be a dogfight until the end folks. For team morale and fan morale, it would make sense for the Devils to be the #2 seed. But, like I've said before, it might work in the Devils favor if they were to lose the Atlantic to the Pens and ended up #4 or #5. Granted, it wouldn't be great to face the hot Ottawa Senators, but do you really want to see a matchup against either the Atlanta Thrashers and Tampa Bay Lightning as the #7 team? I know I don't. Either way, I look forward to the playoffs, although I'm not optimistic.

No doubt it helped to have DiPietro on the shelf for tonight's game. I would much rather face Mike Dunham than America's Goalie, but that doesn't mean the Devils were handed the handicap and the win. They still had to earn it, which they did.

Zach Parise scored a career-high and a team-high 30th goal last night. And it was a power play goal on top of that. And it wasn't the only power play goal of the night for the Devils! David Clarkson, who has been far more impressive than I would have imagined, scored on the power play late in the game as well. Gomez had the other goal, and Elias got the assist on his Welcome Back! tour. Very nice. Goals for the Islanders were Yashin on the power play to make it 2-1 Devils and Jason Blake (of course) late in the game to make it 3-2, which was the final margin. Shots on goal were clearly in the Devils favor, as was the hustle factor.

It was nice to see the Devils play like this. Even the victory against the Panthers was shaky, this one was good. Good to see the Devils still have "it" whatever that may be. Also good to see Langenbrunner back in action and he got 20 minutes. Eric Rasmussen is back and got 16 minutes. Madden & Gionta are still out, but hopefully they will be coming back soon so we can put our complete team together. But the people, such as Clarkson, that don't really play much for the team are filling in admirably well.

Gotta keep up with the Pens, that's for sure. Or make them keep up with the Devils. Should be a good race. At least I'm excited about the Devils again, they looked GOOD.

Dirk Nowitzki "Obviously" Watch

"It was really a fun trip, obviously. We're trying to work hard offensively moving the ball, and everybody's making shots," said Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 15 points while shaking off an illness. "It was a fun trip."

Mavericks 105, Hornets 89

The Mavs win again. That makes the Eastern Conference road trip 6-0. 6 wins, no losses. Played some good teams, played some bad teams, all the games were on the road. That's quite a way to turn it around from that heartbreaking loss to Phoenix. But they did it, and they did it well.

As much as it seems the Warriors have the Mavs number, the Mavs REALLY have the Hornets number. As in the number 21. 21 straight victories over the Hornets of Oklahoma City/New Orleans. That's quite a few wins. The last time the Mavs lost to these jokers was back on Nov. 17, 1999. Back when they were the Charlotte Hornets. Oddly enough, the Hornets wore throwback Charlotte uniforms last night. Didn't help. It's also the current longest winning streak of any team against any team in ANY major sport. So, how's that for impressive?

How easy was this one? The Mavs had leads twice of 31 points in the fourth quarter and the Big 3 didn't play any of the fourth quarter. So yeah.

The Warrior Award (not Golden State style) goes to Nowitzki for everyone thinking he wasn't going to play this game due to having the flu. But he played it, he played for 23 minutes and got 15 points. Certainly not typical numbers, but I wasn't expecting his name to be in the box score. Hopefully he gets well soon. Josh Howard was the man last night, scoring 25 points (2/2 on 3's, and making 3/3 free throws) as well as snagging 10 boards. Jason Terry had 19 points, 7 assists, and once again had amazing shot selection. I hope he can keep this up. He is shooting very efficiently right now. Devin Harris was a little sluggish, but had 14 points.

For the Hornets, Chris Paul 2 points. That's right, all of 2 points on 1/10 shooting. Hilarious. Pargo had 23 points, but nobody was a real threat.

The Mavs shot 55% overall to the Hornets 42%. Mavs are still struggling getting to the line, but I'll imagine they will turn that up come playoff time. They need to get to the basket as almost every team, if not every team, this road trip has shot more free throws than the Mavs. When the Mavs get over 20 assists, I think they are undefeated or something this year. They got 22.

Dominating performance in what should have been one, even with Nowitzki at 77% health. Good stuff. Keep the Suns & Spurs away, let them fight it out, and we'll see what we have on the other end.

Bellhorn, Crosby stay - for now

From Rosey Crayons.

Very odd, since I fully expected both of them to be gone to other teams later this week. Thankfully, as far as Crosby is concerned, that's not the case. He'll be sticking around. So will Bellhorn. Interesting stuff, but Bellhorn might not be around for much longer. Can't imagine both guys sticking with the team for very long, but that's the case as it stands right now.

Raiders = losers in free agency

Raider-bashing on display in full force:

It's fair to say that the Raiders just don't get it. Running back Dominic Rhodes is a solid backup, but the rest of the signings were a bunch of flotsam. Center Jeremy Newberry is just about done and fullback Justin Griffith is just a guy. Worse yet, the Raiders were badly snubbed by a series of players such as Garcia and just about any top free agent running back.

In fact, just about any agent you talk to essentially laughed about the notion of signing his player with the Raiders, admitting that Oakland was merely used as a bargaining chip with other teams in hopes of forcing the price up. Most of the time, the strategy failed as teams saw through the ploy.

What the Raiders are left with is a serious problem at quarterback (Andrew "Tree Stump" Walter is all they have right now) and an offensive line that was no better than a year ago. Even with the No. 1 overall pick, the Raiders have a weak foundation to build upon.

Reds 5, BoSox 0

So what happens when I leave? The Reds get hits and score runs. Oh well.

The bottom of the 7th was cool, with some kid named Craig Hansen pitching for Boston. David Ross getting the first hit of the day. Freel & Conine get beaned. Walks to Phillips and Godwin and then Javy Valentin hits a 2-RBI double. That was about it for that.

Majew took the mound for the first time, took the 7th inning, and took the win due to Hansen sucking at the other end. Majew looked alright, walking 1. Burton gave up a walk and a hit in the 8th, but then K'ed 2. Coutlangus closed it out with a hit and a K.

Reds send 4 to the minors

1. Mark Bellhorn, First Base/Second Base (sorry to see a good veteran go, but wouldn't want to watch him play for this team).
2. Ryan Jorgenson, Catcher (duh)
3. Anderson Machado, Shortstop (maybe someday)
4. Dewayne Wise, Outfielder (I'm sure we will see him again)

Next cut -- Jeff Conine?

Reds 0, BoSox 0 (after 6)

The first time in '07 where I get to see my beloved Reds! And my first (and maybe only) attempt at live-blogging!

FIRST INNING

BoSox: First pitch strike. Julio Lugo advances on an error by GASP! Gonzalez. Well, that was a sucky start. I mean, c'mon, Gonzo?? He doesn't make errors. Pop-up by Cocoa Puffs to Brandon Phillips in foul territory. Livingston throws 3 straight strikes at Varitek, and he looked at 'em all. J.D. Drew grounds right to Phillips. Very impressive beginning for Livingston. Can we just get rid of Milton, and have Livingston AND Belisle? Please?

Reds: Watch out, Freel. Apparently Matsuzaka is a god among men. The ESPN guys don't know much about the Reds, thinking how odd it was that Adam Dunn was batting in the #2 slot. Pay attention, fellas. Freel on base with a walk. Not many strikes from the boy wonder thus far. Adam Dunn flies out. No doubt he was thinking homer, but maybe he should have waited on a pitch? Ah well. Phillips falls behind and eventually flies out to shallow center. Freel did advance on a passed ball. Griffey flies out to shallow right.

END 1: 0-0

SECOND INNING

BoSox: EdE gets his name on TV by catching Hinske's pop fly in foul territory. Nice catch. EdE back in action again with a very difficult catch on Pedroia's grounder. Phillips scoops up Cora's grounder and Livingston gets out of there very cleanly. Good luck to you, kid.

Reds: I knew coming into this game that the focus would be on the Japanese pitcher, and more so on the BoSox than the Reds, but it's still annoying. When they finally did a feature on the Reds, I though to myself, "Oh yeah, the Reds are playing too." Anyway. First strikeout of the day for Zaka as EdE was chasing all over the place. Hatteberg was very patient at the plate and took a walk. He's no threat to steal a base like Freel is, though. Gonzo goes down looking, bent over in agony. It looked bad the first time, but it was definitely a strike. The kid can throw. P.S. Why is Gonzo hitting ahead of Ross? I thought Gonzo was our worst hitter. Hmm.....harmless dribbler to the pitcher and Ross is out. Wait! Varitek for interference?? He dropped his glove so Ross is safe. Livingston is up. He's hanging in there well enough, but it seems inevitable. Livingston actually gets a good poke at it, but Ross is thrown out at second, 3 minutes before his arrival.

END 2: 0-0

THIRD INNING

BoSox: ESPN is talking to Harang right now. Very weird voice for such a big guy, but maybe that's just me. Soft-spoken kinda hick guy. But he looks cool with the shades. Scales hits a grounder through the middle and then Livingston walks Zaka of all people. Two on, no out. We'll see what the youngster can do now. Just in time, Livingston gets a double play from Gonzo & Phillips. So nice to see live. Ahh..........so pretty. And Livingston strikes out Crisp for the final out! Very nice battle to get out of that inning. I like this guy.

Reds: Still waiting for the first hit of the game. Freel grounds out. Full count to Adam Dunn and he takes first base. Brandon Phillips has one of the longest and hardest check swings I've ever seen. Must be those huge biceps. He also knows how to fly out, as he skies it to right. Griffey with another wimpy pop fly. Still waiting for the first hit of the game.

END 3: 0-0

FOURTH INNING

BoSox: There's a ton of 0-0 scores in the league right now. What's up with today? Monday, March 26, 2007: no runs in baseball day. Livingston K's Varitek again, always nice to see. Phillips barehands a Drew grounder. Phillips is a sweet defender. I think he gets overshadowed by Castro and now for sure gets overshadowed by Gonzo, but he is dang good himself. Livingston, who by the way looks like a juvenile delinquent who just violated probation, hits Hinske in the arm. No harm, no foul. Ken Griffey gets in the defensive action as Pedroia flies out, the furthest any Red Sock has hit one today. Livingston is a king.

Reds: EdE goes down again. Tough battle. Zaka looks pretty decent to me. He missed three straight identical pitches to Hatteberg, but got him to fly out to left-center at the end of it all. Gonzo takes a walk. So the Reds can't get any hits, but they are walking with good strength. Good eyes, the bunch. Must have some carrots sitting around the clubhouse. Zaka gets Ross swinging and that's that. A hit? My kingdom for a hit?

END 4: 0-0

FIFTH INNING

BoSox: Phillips with yet another great defensive play, throwing against his body to get Cora out at first base. Now it's Gonzo's turn as he throws out Scales on a nice catch, but not a great throw. Hatteberg might have gotten away with one there. Zaka looks at 5 pitches and gets K'ed by the great force that is Bobby Livingston. Great pitching battle going on today.

Reds: Hamilton is now in the game as Livingston is done for the day and I get my first look at the super talent. He harmlessly grounds out to first base. Freel takes three pitches inside to his face and strikes out anyway. Sheesh. Dunn walks again. Maybe somebody can make contact. Phillips is a victim of the strikeout as the Reds keep staring at 0's. Alright, maybe Zaka is good after all.

END 5: 0-0

SIXTH INNING

BoSox: Who knows what will happen now that the big dogs are out? Mike Stanton is in now, somebody I'm not too high on. But let's hope he can be decent. It just bothers me that quality young arms are excluded because of proven vets. But that's why they are proven. Stanton plays the Lugo bunt perfectly. ESPN made a good point, Zaka faced the Reds opening day lineup and destroyed it. Livingston sat down a mixed BoSox team. But don't hate on Bobby, he did a good job. EdE throws out Cocoa Puffs on a rolling grounder. Gonzo throws out Varitek to end the inning. Nice to see Stanton relying on ground ball outs.

Reds: Time to get the bats going with Zaka out of the picture. Ken Griffey Jr.'s song is one by Lenny Kravitz and he is singing, "I want to get away." Funny irony? Maybe. Papelbon is in so we may not see any runs. Maybe a hit, though. Maybe. Griffey's swing is better than I thought it would be. And it was really nice on that last pitch, he just happened to strike out is all. A lot of that today. EdE gets a nice hit, the furthest for the Reds today, but it wasn't enough as Scales puts it in the basket. If I have to see Zaka hobble around like a chicken on the warning track for much longer, I might vomit. Hatteberg hits a chopper/grounder/dribbler over to first base and Papelbon gets there just in time.

END 6: 0-0

I have to go to class now, so I'll miss the end of the game. Too bad I couldn't see any offense today, would have been nice to see the Reds get some runs, or at least some hits. At least Livingston was fun to watch. Will be back later with a recap.

Blue Jays 3, Reds 2

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Matt Belisle, in competition for the fifth spot, started and went 4 innings, giving up 4 hits, 1 walk, and 3 K's for 2 earned runs. Weathers pitched a shaky, but clean 5th. Saarloos pitched the remaining innings and took the hard-luck loss on an unearned run. He gave up 3 hits and K'ed 4. Belisle and Saarloos both looked really good, and I'm not so sure Saarloos is in the competition for the fifth spot anymore, though he probably is. Some people are saying he is making the club no matter what, so really it's Belisle vs. Livingston. Which is a good battle, but you gotta figure Belisle has the upper hand. Though V.Santos is in the mix as well. Livingston throws against the BoSox this afternoon.

Hitting: Dewayne Wise led off and was 1/4. Hamilton was 1/5, but it was a nice triple. He had 2 strikeouts, though. A lot of guys had 2 strikeouts: Dunn (0/3), Votto (0/2), and Cody Straight (0/2). Many others had 1 strikeout. The problem was Toma Ohko, known as a Reds killer, at least to me. He and Zambrano (and probably Maddux) are who I think of as Reds killers, so it's nice to see him playing with Toronto now. But man, he can still shred this team up.

Fielding & such: Error was on Bellhorn. How many more for this guy? Sheesh. The little things, people.

Mavericks 104, Hawks 97

That should have been a little easier.

The Mavs exploded early in the game, leading 39-19 after one quarter of play. But a steamroll it did not turn out to be. They got outscored by 6 in the second and third quarters, and by 1 in the fourth quarter to end up winning by 7. Not bad, but they didn't play very well the rest of the game. Except with about 4 minutes left when Nowitzki and Terry hit some big 3's as the Hawks kept edging closer and closer. But even then the game was still in doubt because the Mavs were fouling Atlanta like crazy at the end of the game, it seemed almost every possession was a trip to the foul line. Which is cheap and easy points, and also a clock killer. Pachulia was the benefactor more often than not, hitting 10/13 from the line, most of them late in the game. This is not a team that you want hanging around and the game should never be in doubt. But at the end of the game, there was a victory.

The Big 3 played like it, with Dirk & Josh leading the way with 28 points, and Terry not far behind with 27. But like I said earlier, it was Dirk & Terry's big 3's at the end of the game that helped ice it. Very big shots. I picked this game to be the one where Nowitzki goes off and gets his first triple-double of his career, but it was not to be. Oh well. Terry turned the ball over many times, but he once again took smart shots and looked very efficient out there. He and Devin Harris had 6 assists, but Harris disappeared with 6 points. He did steal the ball 4 times, though. Dampier had 7 rebounds. Devean George was back in the lineup, but didn't contribute anything meaningful. Stackhouse made use of his time, getting 8 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. Diop had 9 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Mavs hit 7/13 on their 3's and Atlanta only took 3 shots from that far. Very low total indeed. Free throws were nowhere close, however. The Mavs took 30 and the Hawks took 49. This time was more accurate, though. Avery Johnson even applauded the officials. Rebounds were about even and the Mavs had many more assists.

They just beat a better team and have started another mini-streak. Good thing, too.

Devils 4, Panthers 3 (SO)

Wait, the Devils won?

Cool.

It was on my birthday, too. March 24. 1986. Back in the day, you know.

Jim Dowd had a 2-goal night, each goal tying up the score. So they were big. Very big. He played well and he needs to as the Devils have many of their forwards out. Another new forward who is playing simply because there need to be enough bodies, David Clarkson, scored a power play goal, his second of the year. Good for him. Shots on goal were even, faceoffs were pretty even with Florida winning slightly more. New Jersey only took one penalty on Cam Janssen's slash.

The shootout was exciting as both Parise and Zajac scored, Zajac scoring the game winner. Not sure if he is a body I would put out there for a shootout, but again you take what you have and the Devils were and have been shorthanded for some time now. And he ended up winning the game, so that was good.

Devils maintain the Atlantic Division lead over Pittsburgh, 96-94, and now have a couple days off to hopefully get somebody healthy. Islanders on Tuesday in a potential first-round matchup.

Mavericks 109, Celtics 95

The Mavericks did pretty much everything right in this one.

Jason Terry led the way with 29 points, 11/15 from the field including 4/6 3-pointers. He also had 6 assists. Nowitzki had 20 points and that was about it. Would like to see him get to the free throw line more often. Dampier was clueless. Josh Howard was nice with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but his rebounds don't usually come with much effort, but maybe I'm unnecessarily hating on the kid. Devin Harris had 18 points and 6 assists and was playing very smart basketball again. We will need it more and more from this guy, who was the #5 pick in some draft if you'll remember. From Wisconsin. Yuck. But you can't hold a grudge forever. Anyway, that was about it, but it was nice to see Greg Buckner get out and play a little, he got 13 minutes. Hope he stays around now. Diop got 5 blocks. I miss the guy and on some nights, he is clearly better than Dampier but he isn't the starter anymore. Which is too bad because he was pretty decent. Oh well.

On the other side, it was Paul Pierce with 30 points, but only 11 earned. He was 19/21 for free throws. That's right, he shot TWENTY-ONE free throws. The Mavericks shot 17. But that's both to Pierce's credit and the Mavs disdain as well as maybe some unfairness. Overall, it was Celtics - 40, Mavs - 17. So yuck. But yes, Paul Pierce and all that. Nobody else really did anything noteworthy.

Shooting was much better for Dallas who made 56% as compared to Boston's measly 36%. Assists were in the Mavs favor 28-16.

Easy game, good game, and the Mavs are 4-0 on their road trip. Good stuff.

Reds 7, Phillies 0

Jr. is back!

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: The weird thing was I thought about writing a comparison between Arroyo and Harang and how they have done in spring training and how Arroyo is acting like the #1 that Harang actually is. I should have done that, because it happened again last night with this game. Arroyo was the ace, getting the win in 6 innings. 5 hits, 1 walk, 6 K's, 0 earned runs. That's how to do it, folks. Victor Santos pitched a clean 7th, and for me is a sleeper to get the #5. Big sleeper, but it's out there. He has been very solid. Todd Coffey pitched a clean 8th, with a K. Hermanson closed it out cleanly, allowing 1 hit.

Hitting: Ken Griffey Jr. was in the lineup for the first time, playing right field, and he was 2/4 with a double. Freel led off and was 1/4 with a run scored and a strikeout. Dunn was 2/4 with 4 RBI's, most of which came on a 3-run blast of a homer. Very nice day for him. Phillips was 3/4 including a homer, which followed Dunn's blast. EdE was also 3/4 with an RBI. Votto was 0/3 with 2 K's. Gonzalez was 0/1 but drew 2 walks. Chad Moeller hit a home run. Hamilton was 0/2.

Fielding & such: No errors today. Votto stole a base and was also the recipient of a Phillips-Gonzalez double play.

Devil Rays 15, Reds 1

Oof.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Harang started and rightfully took the loss. 6 innings, 8 hits, 6 earned runs, 2 walks, and 6 K's. His K count still remains high so at least he will have that with him. But c'mon, is anybody worried about this guy? Sure, it's meaningless. Spring training means nothing. Blah. But c'mon. This is our ace. He hasn't very good overall this spring at all. Not much to get excited about. He had some good innings and a very bad inning and a bad inning. I would like to see something to get excited about here. It didn't get much better from Harang on out. Burton pitched the 7th, gave up 3 hits (1 homer) and walked 1 for 2 earned runs. That's not going to help his already slim chances. Coutlangus pitched for the first out of the 8th, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks for 3 earned runs. Wilkerson (who?) got the second out, giving up 1 homer and 1 walk for 2 earned runs. He also got kicked out of the game. Flannery (who?) pitched the final out which was a strikeout.

Hitting: The first inning boded well as Freel got a hit, advanced on a hit, and scored on a groundout. Then that was pretty much it for the team. The man mentioned was 1/2 and scored the only run. Hamilton was 1/4 with the only RBI. Juan Castro, as DH no less, was 0/4. Denorfia was 1/2 with a walk. E Cruz, the savior of the last game, was 0/2 with 2 strikeouts.

Fielding & such: Error was on Machado, and that was his FIFTH of the spring. That's not going to sit well with anybody, as he is probably in doghouse-mode right now. Denorfia stole another base, and Hamilton stole his first.

Reds 8, Yankees 7

Now we can talk about meaningless. Considering the "real game" was Yankees 6, Reds 3. Then we throw in the junk, and the Reds win. But at least we see what we are made of.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Nothing to get excited about here. Lohse started and should have gotten the loss, but didn't. He pitched 5 innings, gave up 7 hits including 2 homers, walked 2 and gave up 5 earned runs. He did strike out 6, which was pretty cool. Throw in a wild pitch, and there's his outing. You can tell he's got stuff there. Just needs to put it all together. Weathers pitched the 6th, gave up a walk and a hit but struck out 2. Hermanson looked human, giving up a homer and throwing a wild pitch. He also struck out 1. Victor Santos pitched the final 2 innings, getting the win. He gave up a walk and a hit.

Hitting: Enrique Cruz was the story here. He took over in the 7th inning and was 2/2. He had a 2-RBI triple in the 7th and then scored the winning run on EdE's hit after he doubled in the 9th. Freel led off and was 2/4. Dewayne Wise's RBI double tied the game late in the 8th. Hamilton was 1/4 with a walk and a strikeout. Phillips was 2/3 with a walk and 2 runs scored. Ross was 2/4. Lohse hit one himself, a 2-RBI single. It's a funny story as Janish hit a long ball but was held to a single. Why? From the Reds own site: "Janish was held up by runners Javier Valentin and David Ross on the basepaths." Haha! There it is in the official report, talking about the chunky guys who can't run! Funny stuff. Then Lohse comes in and scores the runners Janish would have scored if they could move. Awesome. Denorfia was 1/2 with a strikeout.

Fielding & such: Janish & Lohse had errors on throws. Freel & EdE grounded into double plays for Pavano, with both going Jeter-Cano-Giambi. Denorfia stole his second base and it turned into a wise move as he ended up scoring.

Griffey to RF -- Who cares?

Yeah, you heard me.

I don't get it. Here's where I am coming from. Ken Griffey Jr., the perennial center field for the Reds, has been officially "moved" to right field. Why? Because he was unable to get going in spring training. He may start the season on the disabled list, and when he is able to play, will play in right field. At the beginning of the year.

Check me on this: the move to right field for Griffey is NOT PERMANENT. This is not worthy of the outrageous media coverage on this, I agree with Ken Jr. on this issue. If it was said that this is it, he is over and done and now must be content with playing right field the rest of his career, that would be an issue. We will see him in center field. This year, even. Get back to me on this.