It is much easier to write about the Reds when they are winning and things are going swell.
Unfortunately they are not, making the job of Reds sportswriters more tedious and less therapeutic.
In the last two games they have averaged one run, and you don’t win many games 1-0.
Even the best percentage in baseball moving runners from first to third is useless if you leave them stranded at the hot corner.
Mike Leake, 5-1, is the latest starter to have a bad night, as he did last night against the Bums. He was roughed up for nine hits and five ER in six IP with three BB and four K’s.
Leake labored the entire time he was in the game, not recording any “three up and three down” innings. The Dodgers left runners on base all night long.
Clayton Kershaw, who is younger than Mike Leake, pitched a dandy last night at Great American Ball Park, as he allowed only seven hits and one run in seven IP, while walking one and notching seven K’s.
Both teams left nine on, but the Dodgers did a much better job of bringing the runners in.
The Reds have officially “lost” this home stand, which certainly makes me uncomfortable with a West Coast sojourn looming past the weekend.
There were two bright spots in the events of the evening. The Seattle Mariners whipped the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing the Reds to hold their share of first place in the NL Central Division.
The second shining moment was Chris Heisey hitting his third pinch-hit home run in nine pinch-hit appearances. Jerry Lynch is the first name that comes to mind when I think of pinch-hit homers. “Lynch in the pinch” is a slogan most fans over 50 will recall.
Rookie Jordan Smith, called up from AA affiliate Carolina the other day, worked the last inning of the game for the second straight night.
I understand that he was basically saving arms and performing mop duties, but who thought his statistics warranted a Louisville bypass and direct route to GABP?
With Carolina this season he was bad, at best. He worked 28 innings and gave up 38 hits and 16 earned runs, walked eight, and struck out 14. His ERA was 5.05, and he was 1-3. Are we to think that the Bats have nobody better than that who can help out?
The Reds are currently mired in the muck of a three-game losing streak, having dropped six of their last 10 games. It is hard to get excited about the chances of avoiding a Dodger sweep since the Reds are only 10-11 in day games this season.
Bronson Arroyo (5-3) will take the hill against rookie John Ely (3-3) today at 12:35.
The Reds leave after today’s game for a weekend set against the Seattle Mariners.
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