Raiders release Badger, Johnstone

From Scout:

The Oakland Raiders released defensive end Lance Johnstone and offensive lineman Brad Badger on Friday. They also signed defensive back Kris Richard and defensive tackle Josh Shaw.

I know neither one produced as much as the Raiders would have liked, but does this surprise anybody like me? Particuarly Badger, who had been a serviceable backup for a long, long time. Well, I guess Kiffin is making the team his own. Which could be good, but who knows for sure? I think we are all prone to inordinate amounts of optimism for the product we have seen on the field for so many years, but that's just me right now.

Devils 3, Lightning 2 - Devils host Senators

This one was fun to watch, as it was actually on TV.

Although he let in two goals as opposed to shutting them out, Brodeur was the man in this game. Sure, Gionta got two goals and huge ones at that. But Brodeur made the difference and should have been the first star of the game, stopping 32 of 34 shots. He was dang good. Richards had his number, twice turning 2-goal leads into a single goal difference, both times on the power play. That is one aspect that the Devils will have to clean up. They took way too many penalties, and it cost them twice in this game and it could have been even more times, but thankfully that was all they were allowed. Still, this is a problem area. A lot of the time they were just skating around and poking at pucks instead of attacking the puck or at least the puck-carrier. Way too much time spent in the Devils zone.

As for the positive things, the Devils got a lot of rushes. They were content to play in their zone or in neutral ice, but recognized when they had the opportunity and took advantage of it. Elias had a nice pass to Gionta and Gionta was able to rip it past Holmqvist. Looked like a basic shot, but Holmqvist didn't square it up and he paid the price. That was a power play goal, as was the next one as Rafalski slammed one in there at the beginning of the 2nd period to make it 2-0. Richards came back with a goal. Then Gionta got his second one of the day on an extremely easy play. He and Elias were in front of the net and Kuba crashed into Holmqvist while Gionta was plenty patient with the puck, finally putting it past the goalie when he had no chance to stop it. Richards then got another power play goal and that was it for the scoring. No scoring in the third period, but still intense action. The Devils actually looked better at the end of the game when Tampa pulled the goalie. That was pretty weird. But they were able to control the final few minutes and celebrated the moving on to the Eastern Semis to face the Ottawa Senators.

It's weird because I watched the game, and I've hardly seen any Devils games this year, and I don't have much to write about. It was cool. It was very nerve-wracking at the end of the game, when I was waiting for the inevitable tie game because the Lightning always get 3 goals. But not this time. 12 goals the first 4 games, and 2 goals the next 2.

A winnable, but hard series is coming up with Ottawa. Due to re-seeding, the #1 Sabres will face the #6 Rangers while the #2 Devils will face the #4 Senators. I was very nervous about this series with Tampa Bay and their offense, but the Devils were able to roll off 3 straight wins and they looked decent at times and very good at other times. I am particularly glad to see Brodeur back on top of things, he seems to be in the zone. Ottawa has a very capable offense as well and a goalie who doesn't mind dropping the gloves and decking somebody in the face. Should be a good series. Rock on.

Warriors 97, Mavericks 85

Wow.

One of two things will happen next.

1) The Mavericks will find themselves in a dog fight, slugging it out until late in the series where they will either barely lose or barely win.

2) They find some motivation, some desire, some sense of shot-making ability and slap themselves in the face and win the next 4 games.

This was a sad state of affairs, but that's why they play a 7-game series, I guess. Though if the Mavs keep playing like this, they won't last that long.

This was a game where everyone was giving little advantage to Golden State. Sure, they had beaten the Mavs 6 out of the past 7 times, and now 6 in a row. Sure that happened, but let's give you some excuses as to why none of it mattered. Well, it mattered last night. This team has figured the Mavs out, and they were the better team the entire way through. Nowitzki was a non-factor at best, nobody could make a shot, they gave up on defense far too quickly, and walked away with a deserving loss. On the other end, the Warriors were flying, grabbing tons of rebounds, making little plays and big plays, scoring like crazy, and letting Baron Davis take over in the late stages of the game. He ended up with 33 points to lead all scorers. He also had 14 rebounds and 8 assists. He could not be stopped. He hit three 3-pointers at the late stages of the third quarter to put just enough distance between the Warriors and the Mavs to allow them to win it. Stephen Jackson had 23 points.

For the Mavs, team shooting was 35%. Howard led the way with 21 points, most of those coming early in the game. He was only 8/21 shooting. He did snag 13 boards, though. He also played a ridiculous 43 minutes. Nowitzki had 14 points and and 12 rebounds, and was 4/16 shooting the ball. The Mavs actually had more success when he was on the bench. Terry and Harris were cold for sure. Stackhouse played 20 minutes and missed all of his shots. Dampier only played 2 minutes.

Stats don't really paint as clear of a picture as watching the actual disaster, but here they are nonetheless. Team shooting for the Warriors was only 43%, so the damage could have been much worse. Both teams were awful at the beginning of the game. The Warriors attempted 11 more 3's than the Mavs and made 4 more. Free throw shooting was about even, Mavs with a slight edge, but misses are a concern. Dallas actually ended up outrebounding Golden State, which is hard to figure out, because it didn't appear that way. Must have been late in the game. Assists were tied up at 16 a piece, Golden State had one more turnover, Dallas had 3 more steals. Blocks were even at 6. So stats paint a better picture for the Mavs, but the paintbrush was sweeping toward Golden State's direction.

You can expect Dallas to come out on fire next game. They better.

Reds lose back-to-back games to Phillies, drop below .500

Sadness.

First was Guaranteed Loss Night, as Milton dropped his 3rd. Yet again, he pitched like a mediocre pitcher. He's done decent work, but he and other things happen to make sure the Reds lose. Like Cole Hamels, Phillies pitcher, lighting up the scoreboard with 15 K's, most of any pitcher this year. Or David Ross grounding into a triple play, first of the year. Those types of things. Multiple errors by the Reds, small ball and all that. Costly errors. Biggest crowd of the year and first sellout for Cincy and they suck it up. Did the fans know Milton was pitching? What gives? First sellout and Milton is on the mound against the worst team in the majors? Go figure. The game sucked. Conine hit a homer, though.

Second was Ryan Howard Welcome Back Night and Please Don't Forget to Hit a Home Run. Freddy Garcia came over from the White Sox and got the win, Belisle pitched 5 innings, allowing 8 hits, 1 walk and 6 K's for 4 earned runs and the loss. Phillips got hit by pitches twice times. Freel got a triple. Hamilton stole his first base. Little things. A sac fly and an RBI double for some runs, but not nearly enough. Errors killed again in this game.

Devils 3, Lightning 0

There it was. The game we've all been waiting for.

If you look at the stats, particularly the 31-14 shots on goal in favor of Tampa Bay, you never would have guessed that this was the game the Devils win 3-0. It just didn't look like it. But it was all about Martin Brodeur, and to a lesser extent, about the multitude of blocked shots by the Devils defensemen.

It's hard to complain when you win 3-0, that's for sure. The extremely low shots on goal tally was a nuisance, though. But you can't say the Devils didn't play smart hockey. They did. They contained and were physical. The defense had lapses as they always do, and some of them almost cost the Devils, but Marty was there making 31 saves on 31 shots. It's about dang time. That gets everybody pumped up, and a huge win to push the series in the Devils favor. They will be riding the momentum high tomorrow afternoon as they try to wrap it up in Florida. Andy Greene got the scoring going midway through the first, Gionta had a nice goal on a very nice play midway through the second period, and Gomez threw one into the empty net in the late stages of the game.

Not much else to say, it was beautiful. The energy was definitely there, and the intellect as well. What was annoying happened at the end of the game when Torterella thought it appropriate to rack up as many game misconducts and fighting penalties as possible, sending out the goons to rough up the Devils players. It was a classless act, and one that hopefully not only gets the Lightning revved up, but also gets the Devils ready to deliver some punishment. I understand he needs to send a message to his team, but that was pretty dumb. Other than that, no complaints about the game. A good one, a truly good one.

The Devils are the only team left in the East still battling in a series and that outcome will decide many things in the East due to re-seeding. Either the Devils will host the Senators or the Sabres will host the Lightning.

Reds 2, Phillies 1 (10 innings)

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Does it get any better from Kyle Lohse? This man is simply a beast, ladies and gents. I have no doubts he'll have a rough outing sooner rather than later, but what a workhorse. I don't think anybody called this, though I may have been the closest. 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 unearned run, mixing in a walk and 4 K's. Beautiful stuff. It almost wasn't enough, either as Lieber on the other side was shutting the Reds down in a similar fashion. Lohse didn't get the win, though. That was given to little ole' Jonny Coutlangus, pitching the top of the 10th for a K, hit batter, and a double play. In between was Stanton with a clean 8th, nearly identical to Coutlangus' inning, with a pop-up, hit batter, and double play. What's up with the Reds pitcher hitting guys? Is that some newfound fetish? Hard to say for sure. Coffey got the 9th and gave up a single, but K'ed 2. Nice effort from top to bottom tonight with 0 earned runs among 4 guys.

Hitting: The good news for the Reds is that, even though they were getting mowed down by Lieber, he left the game in the 6th inning after only throwing 77 pitches. Not sure what the rational behind that was, but it helped though not quite as much as I had been hoping. Lieber gave up a hit and a walk, and that was it. Nothing too dangerous. He was pulled in the 6th after Freel got on and advanced on two different errors. Bases were loaded for the Reds, but EdE grounded out to end the threat. And so the end of the game, or so it seemed. But in the bottom of the 9th, with 2 outs, the legendary comeback scenario, Hatteberg hit a home run off of Tom Gordon and we go to extras. Phillies go 1-2-3. Reds load the bases on a walk, a single, and a walk. Phillips up to bat and he puts a single past the infield. Game over, Reds win.

Fielding & such: Wasn't great for anybody, really. Nunez & Lieber had back-to-back errors that allowed Freel to get to third base and may have taken Lieber out of the game, helpful to the Reds. The only run the Phillies got was on a double error by Hatteberg and Phillips, oddly enough the two guys who would tie and win the game for the Reds. So you roll the bad karma with the good karma and that's what you get on this day. Phillips also stole a base, and was involved in 3 double plays with Gonzo. Good stuff there. Not a bad game, actually. Just this sinking feeling the entire time and then the heroic situation for Hatteberg. Good stuff. Phillies are the worst team in the league, keep in mind.

Astros 8, Reds 6

Not again.

These losses are the hardest ones to take.

Bronson Arroyo is getting more and more similar to Eric Milton all the time, while at the same time they are growing more and more apart. The similarity exists with the idea of Guaranteed Loss Night, and that's just about where it ends. For whatever reason, when Arroyo pitches, he has a hard time picking up the win and even when he does everything to deserve it, he still doesn't receive. He has clearly been our best pitcher (ahead of Lohse, lest ye forget who is #2) and has nothing to show for it. On a night where the offense is bailing him out, it still doesn't work. Now the bullpen, along with the defense, is out to undo him. I'm sorry, Bronson. It shouldn't have happened this way.

It all started so well. You had another Brandon Phillips homer, Adam Dunn striking out left and right, and Josh Hamilton hitting yet another homer. Before you know it, it's 6-1 Reds and then Arroyo gives up another run before his exit, trotting to the bench, savoring his first victory. And then, much like the other night, it all goes to hell in the 8th inning and another solitary run in the 9th just to rub it in a little bit. Instead of Todd Coffey being the scapegoat, it was much pretty much everybody else. Saarloos (remember when we thought he was good?) started it off and gave up a single and a walk. Couldn't throw a strike. He's out, Stanton is in. Berkman switches from the right side to the left side, Stanton still in. Gives up one of Saarloos' runs on a single. He's out, Weathers is in. 6-3 Reds. Carlos Lee grounds out, NO WAIT, Gonzo bobbles the ball and everybody is safe. Luke Scott doubles to straightaway center, almost a homer, and everybody scores. Phillips makes the error this time and Scott is on third, in perfect position to score on Ensberg's sac fly. Astros 7-6 after that disaster. Then they get one off of Coutlangus in the 9th. And Arroyo just sits there and shakes his head, and everyone gets pissed.

Seriously, what the flip? How annoying, how frustrating. It shouldn't happen like that, especially in back-to-back winnable games. Everyone was all excited about the bullpen, a good mix of young and old, and it was that way the first 10 games or so. It was fly for a white guy. Now there's nobody you can really count on, except probably Stanton.

Maybe next time. Sorry Mr. Arroyo, it shouldn't have gone down like that.

2nd Round Pick Important, Too

Jon Elliott has a good point:

Amid the rumors circulating and all of the so-called "experts" weighing in with their opinions, it has been lost in the mix that the Raiders will have the first pick of the second round, too. While that choice obviously isn't nearly as dynamic as No. 1 overall, there are several positions that need addressing, and the 33rd pick could certainly help.

Nobody is thinking too much about the first pick of the 2nd round, but they should be. I have selected Michael Bush as the man to pick up there, but wouldn't be surprised if he was taken in the first round, and not surprised if he wasn't picked until the third round. In other words, he could go anywhere. But he would be a great pick there, perhaps not a true needs pick right now, but he will be the man years from now. Also, many people predict Dwayne Jarrett of USC will be taken there, due to needs at wide receiver if Calvin Johnson is not picked as well as the Lane Kiffin ties. Either of those picks would be just fine.

The interesting thing about Elliott's article is that he doesn't advocate either of these positions - instead, he argues for the Raiders to maybe look at QB with that pick, getting a sleeper pick. It's an interesting possibility, but he is clearly in the minority in that regard.

Mock Draft

Derek Harper (wait, wasn't he jacking up 3's for the Mavs in the 90's?) picks JaMarcus for the 5.0 version of FOX Sports:

Calvin Johnson remains a strong possibility if the Raiders can land a veteran quarterback to compete with Andrew Walter. Josh McCown skipped the Lions' minicamp and reportedly wants out of Detroit. But the Lions are highly unlikely to ship McCown to the Raiders, only to watch Oakland pick Johnson and hurt Detroit's chances of trading out of the No. 2 spot. The Raiders bolstered their offensive line by signing OG Cooper Carlisle last week. The bet is still that they take the big-armed Russell unless they deal WR Randy Moss in the next two weeks.

Devils 4, Lightning 3 (OT)

With the Devils up 3-1 during the 2nd period, I jokingly made a comment that the game would go into overtime. When that happened, I was a little surprised. When overtime started, I made the comment (again, somewhat jokingly) that the Devils were guaranteed the win since Tampa Bay only scored thrice a game. Once again, I was right. Very weird. There it is again. Tampa Bay scored 3, the Devils just need to find a way to get more goals. They have done that twice out of the four games thus far and hopefully can find two more times in their soul.

Those self-seeking comments aside, just a HUGE sigh of relief right now. With the Devils up 3-1 and looking alright, goals in middle-to-late stages of the second period for Tampa Bay made it seem like the inevitable loss was coming. Brodeur was able to batten down the hatches in the third period and in overtime as the Devils got the overtime goal to even the series. What a huge goal. What a huge game. It just had to happen, and it did. There is quite a difference between a series being at 2-2 as opposed to 3-1. And we find ourselves tied, quite luckily I might add.

Even though they got the win, the Devils still did not inspire me. They just happened to win. They didn't quite accomplish many of the things they set out to do, namely being more physical as well as keeping St. Louis & LeCav in check. But they did win, and that makes it all the more better. If they would have lost, I would be harsher, it's true. As would we all. But I don't see much in the win to get excited about, it was the same story, just ended up with New Jersey scoring more often this time. Not anywhere as promising as Game 1, but that doesn't mean we can't get back there. I think it will help going back home, but maybe not. Nobody goes to watch.

It started off promisingly enough. There was no real fire from the Devils, but they caught a break and Oduya made a sweet play to get Gionta the puck and he was able to score early. Tampa Bay was able to get a goal not long after that, but then Zach Parise scored his 5th late in the period for a 2-1 Devils lead. The second period was just the reverse with 1 Devil goal and 2 Lightning goals. Parise started it off with a power play goal midway through the 2nd for his 6th of the playoffs (most of any skater). That was followed by the inevitable goals from St. Louis & LeCav back-to-back to tie things up. The third period was a stalemate, 10-7 in shots on goal favoring Tampa Bay as Broduer was able to stop them all. Overtime was fairly even, though the Devils finally looked awoken for a moment: realizing they were able to weather the storm through regulation, they knew there was a big difference between a loss and a win and they went after it in overtime. Brodeur stopped all 5 shots he faced, most of which came on an early power play. That could have been disastrous, but Marty was there to answer the call. Holmqvist stopped the first 7 until Gomez caught a nice bounce off a blocked puck and raced down the length of the ice, shooting it past Holmqvist for the win.

Not sure how the Three Stars system works, but Parise is nowhere to be found. In scoring two goals, his 5th & 6th of the playoffs, most of anyone (all things I've already said), his name is nowhere to be found. Gomez is the first star, because he won the game, so you give him that. Martin St. Louis had a goal and an assist, so maybe. And Holmqvist found his name there again, with 33 saves. Sad to see Holmqvist on there twice during the series and Brodeur not once. But that's how it goes sometimes. I think this game, particularly the late stages where Brodeur stopped all 15 late shots, will help him immensely heading into Game 5. That's the idea, anyway. Still didn't see a whole lot to get excited about, though the overtime was pretty decent. More of that mentally would be helpful, as well as even more physicality. And maybe some way to stop the two best shooters in the game? It's a tough task, but it can be done. Go Devils.

Mavericks 106, Sonics 75

As much as the Warriors game was a meaningless loss, this was as meaningless win against the Supersonics tonight. The Mavs played all their stars in a "tune-up" game for the playoffs and showed their dominance, which I think helps going into the playoffs after playing weak as of late. Good to see this outcome. But also easy to see because the Mavs have dominated the Sonics over recent years, and I doubt much was on the mind for Seattle players except for ending their dang season and taking some vacation.

Apparently there isn't going to be a team in Seattle next year. How did I miss that? Did you miss it? Let me know. If so, sad to see it end after such a horrible season and a horrible final home loss. That won't leave a good taste in the mouths of Seattle's fans, especially since they won't be able to redeem themselves. Better turn to the Mariners or college sports instead.

Hard to understand such domination when the leading scorer for the Mavs had 20 points. That would be Nowitzki, who ends another year without a triple-double, but is leading the pack of MVP candidates according to the world. He also had 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Josh Howard had 15 and will need to pick it up if the Mavs are to have any chance of winning during the playoffs. Nothing else very noticeable, just that the Mavs took 81 shots which is a lot, and made 43 of them, so they were shooting smartly. On the other end, Seattle only shot 69 times and made only 29 of them. Yikes. Superstar Rashard Lewis had a team-high 14 points for Seattle. Team-high. 14. Yuck. They were interested in making free throws, grabbing rebounds, or recording assists. It was pretty obvious.

So there it is, folks. The end of the regular season 2006-07. The Mavericks tied for the sixth-best record in NBA history at 67-15. That's pretty sweet stuff. They will play the Golden State Warriors, and like I said, I'm worried that they will take them lightly. I don't think they will, but there's a chance. It's sort of like the Devils with the Tampa Bay Lightning right now, #2 vs. #7 but the Lightning knew how to beat the Devils up. This could be similar, but let's hope not. It's playoff time, so maybe another first-round sweep is in order, which would be amazing. Clippers are out and the Lakers stay in #7 although they tried desperately to fall to #8. So here we go. Good stuff. See you when it counts.

Astros 7, Reds 2

The bullpen, oh the bullpen. What has happened to thine bullpen?

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Harang pitched well enough to get the win and was on his way to doing that very thing, but it wasn't meant to be. He went 6 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 walks, and 8 K's for an earned run. Very well done. He got 2 strikeouts when the bases were loaded in the 4th, that was very awesome. Nothing quite as cool as that, just like Lohse the other day. Then he gave up a run in the 6th, but it was earned through effort on their part. Santos came on in the 7th and did his magical thing, going 1-2-3. Then the trouble started in the late innings and it was Todd Coffey as the culprit again, though not as much as Rheal Cormier. The first guy he hit, and he's been doing that lately. Very odd. He got the next two guys, and then it was an RBI single that tied the game. Coffey then walked Lee and in came Rheal Cormier to give up an RBI single and a 3-run homer to Jason Lane. That about ended it on this day. But then he got the final out of the 8th and did so well that Narron gave him the 9th to work and he gave up another run there as well. Does anybody like Cormier? Does anybody want to see him pitch? He is clearly the weakest link right now and thankfully we haven't seen him that much. This is the most we have seen him and that's about enough for me. Gotta get the guy out of here. Any thoughts on Coffey? Where is his edge? Wasn't he pretty dang good the past couple years? That's what I thought anyway. Tough stuff. He didn't do that badly, and probably would have done a much better job than Cormier in finishing that inning.

Hitting: Freel & Hamilton did not have the type of success they enjoyed last night, but that's to be expected. Freel had a single. Hamilton had a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 4th which was pretty awesome. The guy is just cranking out homers left and right. That was all those guys did though. Dunn was 0/4 with 2 K's. Griffey was 0/3, and I don't know about putting them back-to-back, especially when they become such black holes offensively. Phillips had a home run of his own, and those two homers were the only runs of the day. Hatteberg had 2 singles, and that was all for your hitting, folks. Sampson & Wheeler pretty much shut us down on this night.

Fielding & such: Freel had another error at 3rd, and one that let in a run. Not sure what that means for EdE. Some are speculating that he is on the trading block, but I find that difficult to believe. He does find himself in Narron's doghouse easily, and the big talk is how Narron holds him to a different standard of hustle than anybody else. If Krivsky is a big EdE fan and Narron does something else that displeases him, Narron could be watching his back pretty soon. Phillips & Gonzo turned a nice double play after Freel's error.

Mock Draft

Murphy goes for 6, comes up with JaMarcus again:

The Raiders will hear plenty of trade proposals in the next 10 days, but they are putting on a strong game face by letting observers believe they are committed to Russell. Any potential deal likely would not occur until teams are on the clock.

You can bet that the closer we get to Draft Day, that the rumors of a trade for the top pick will pick up steam and then go through the roof. Anybody excited to hear, "The Oakland Raiders are on the clock?" I know I am.

Reds with/without Hamilton

It's early, but here's a key stat:

The Reds are 4-1 when Hamilton starts and 4-5 when he doesn't.

Chew on that for a bit.

Mock Draft

#8 from Pat Kirwan sticks with Russell:

The Raiders have lots of needs, but as long as quarterback is one of them, they have to respond by selecting the guy with the great deep ball, JaMarcus Russell. As I said previously, the Raiders are pushing forward to trade for Josh McCown. The compensation the Lions rejected was a fifth-round pick, but it appears they could move up a pick in the first round to close the deal. The Lions aren't going to give McCown away, but a quarterback that has one year left on his deal and didn't play a down last year can't be worth more than a fourth-round pick. I'm sure the Raiders would love to have McCown in a Raiders uniform to start the season until Russell is ready. The biggest point about the Raiders' intentions to use the mobile McCown until Russell is ready and then make the switch is that Oakland is not looking to renegotiate McCown's $2 million salary to make the trade happen.

Warriors 111, Mavericks 82

What did you expect? No Nowitzki, Howard, Stackhouse (or Dampier). Avery was resigned to lose this game, which is sad in a way. I am not so sure it's wise to take the Golden State Warriors lightly. They swept the regular season series, although this game doesn't really count. But this is the team that can give the Mavs problems. I wouldn't much want to see the Lakers in the #8 seed either, but the Warriors are scary and have lights-out shooters that when they get hot are hard to stop. The Warriors could be the #8, that's the most likely case. The Lakers could fall to #8 and the Clippers could rise to #8. We'll know soon enough.

Hard to draw much from this game, though. When the leading floor players are Buckner, George, Ager, and Barea, you know that's not the usual Mavs out there. Moe Ager actually didn't perform all that poorly and ended up with a team-high 20 points, along with 6 rebounds. He made all of his free throws, too. Harris & Barea got 13 points apiece, and little Barea got 10 rebounds somehow. Must have come right to him. Devean George had 12 points.

For the Warriors, just like the Mavs, only one guy scored 20 or more. That guy was Mickael Pietrus of all people, with 22 points. Superstars Richardson & Davis had only 14 and 12, respectively. Barnes got 19. Weird game.

What did it was the poor shooting. The Warriors were consistently better on overall shooting, 3's, and free throws. They also killed on assists and had far fewere turnovers. Nothing to get excited about here.

Reds 11, Brewers 5

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Belisle started and wasn't terribly effective, starting and getting the first out in the 6th before sitting down. He left with 8 hits, 2 walks, 1 wild pitch, and 2 K's for 5 earned runs and the Brewers lead. He would not end up with the loss on the day, however. The day after the bullpen was the goat, the bullpen was the saving grace. That's how it goes sometimes in baseball, but this was good to watch. Excluding Rheal Cormier, who hit the only batter he faced, the bullpen was quite solid. Saarloos came in and got two groundball outs, one of which scored a runner, but that was attributed to Belisle. Not much Kirk could have done in that situation. It was lights out from there. Stanton pitched the 7th and 8th and was simply the man. Only one man was allowed on base and that was due to error. Stanton had 3 K's. And a good turnaround from Todd Coffey as well, pitching a clean 9th with a strikeout mixed in for effect.

Hitting: Well, it's about dang time. This is what it was supposed to be, let's put it that way. The big story was Freel signing a new 2-year deal with the Reds and how the focus of his press conference wasn't himself but Hamilton as Freel keeps gushing over how incredible Hamilton is and says that he, Freel, needs to play less. So Narron wants to play them both, doesn't want to play EdE, so he moves Freel over to third base for the first time in a while and Hamilton goes to center field. Aside from Freel's error at third, the move works out masterfully as they batted in the top two spots in the order. Freel & Hamilton led off the first inning with singles and scored, and led off the 7th inning with singles and scored. Well done from those lads. Freel ended up being 4/5 with 3 runs scored and his first RBI of the year, clearly one of his best games in a long time. Hamilton followed him with a 2/4 evening, 2 runs scored. Dunn was 1/5, getting an RBI on a fielder's choice and scoring on Griffey's double. Griffey had another double, making him go 2/5 on the day with 2 RBI's. Phillips was also 2/5 with 3 RBI's, one of the hits was a sweet triple, the first of the year for the Redlegs. Gonzo, who everybody counted out because he would be too emotional, was smart enough to go 1/2 along with drawing 2 walks, including an RBI walk. Valentin was 2/4 with a bases-clearing single in the 7th. 15 hits on the day. Great stuff to watch.

Fielding & such: Mentioned in the first two sections is the error on Freel on a routine groundball. It's bound to happen, especially since the guy is new. He made some stops out there as well. Adam Dunn, newschool baserunning phenom, stole his 4th of the year in the 5th inning.

Brewers 10, Reds 6

Guaranteed Loss Night. Therefore, a loss was to be had.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Eric Milton was the starter, therefore nobody showed up to watch the Reds lose. And although, yes, he was the losing pitcher, that honor should have gone to Todd Coffey, who blew chunks. Milton would have gotten out of the first inning were it not for Griffey's error. Milton did give up a homer as he is prone to do, but it was a solo job. Then he settled down, gave up a double in the 6th and was pulled. That was enough for the loss. 5 innings, 3 hits, 2 walks and 4 K's for 2 earned runs and the loss. Not that bad, all things considered. Todd Coffey, as mentioned, was the goat today. Was he on crack? It's possible. After Santos was relatively inefficient in the 6th, Coffey got into the 7th inning, hit two batters, and gave up a single to load the bases. Narron played it smartly (not really) by leaving him in there to give up the grand slam to Bill Hall. Coffey then got an out (yay!) and gave up a single to Mench. That was it for him. Coutlangus was in for Coffey, picking up the rest of the 7th, giving up a a run. It was unearned though, on EdE's error. He got out of the 8th, but wasn't all that great. His line looks better than what he pitched: 1.2/3 innings, 1 hit, 2 K's, 0 earned runs. He also hit a guy. Saarloos has lost his edge, as the 9th wasn't great. 2 doubles and a walk for an earned run. Nothing to get excited about today, the bullpen was not ready to play. I almost feel bad for Milton.

Hitting: Freel led off and was 1/5. Phillips was 2/5, Dunn was 3/5 with a double. David Ross got a hit. Reds were making Capuano look like an ace until the 6th inning, when things got interesting. An error and a couple singles and the Reds were in business with no outs. Conine got royally SCREWED as he hit an infield pop fly that went past the 2nd baseman's glove. The umpire somehow called the infield fly rule, even though Freel scored. Narron was rightfully upset on that call. EdE got a 2-RBI single, his only hit of the day but a big one. Score was 4-3 Brewers until Coffey's fateful inning. Griffey hit a nice RBI double. The real story was Josh Hamilton, as it always is. Bottom of the 9th, for those lucky handful of fans that stuck around, saw Hamilton rip a pinch-hit 2-run homer.

Fielding & such: 3 errors, 2 big ones. Griffey misplayed a ball in right field in the first inning, which set the tone for the game. An unearned run for Milton, but a run for all the rest of us. An error on EdE would have saved another run in the 7th inning. The new guy, in for Gonzo, E Cruz had an error in the 9th that could have turned disastrous, but didn't. A double play was turned in the 9th inning, which if not turned, would have turned out far worse for the Reds. Saarloos to Phillips to Hatteberg. Sloppy game overall.

Lightning 3, Devils 2

The Devils cannot afford to hand the Lightning 3 goals every game.

Have you ever felt so little faith in a goaltender who broke the single-season winning record?
Have you ever felt so little faith in a #2 seed?

Do you remember the Devils teams of old, especially come playoff time? Could you perchance round those Devils up and get them in uniform, preferably before the next game? Thank you, sir/ma'am.

Freel signs 2-year deal with Reds

That's my guy.