Ken Griffey Jr. hit a pitch hit walk off home run on Monday night as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates by the score of 4-3.  The dramatic win was very big for the Reds as they were behind the entire game until Griffey Jr. took one swing and ended the game with the two run shot off of Matt Capps.

Jerry Hairston Jr. also added a solo home run in the game and Jay Bruce added a rbi with a fielders choice in the sixth inning.

Aaron Harang started the game for the Reds and threw six innings while giving up seven hits and three runs.  Harang was on the line to take the loss but got saved with the Griffey home run and instead got a no decision in the game.  Francisco Cordero picked up the win for the team and is now 3-1 on the season.  Jeff Burton also tossed one inning of scoreless relief in the eighth inning.

We will have to see if the Reds can carry any momentum over into Tuesday nights game against the Pirates.

Reds Blog

Hey Reds fans, Cliff here filling in for Dave who wasn’t able to watch the game last night.  The Cincinnati Reds had problems with the St. Louis Cardinals last night as they lost 7-2.  The Reds were behind 5-2 after four innings and did not score the rest of the game as they lost the first game of three against the Cardinals.

Reds starting pitcher Homer Bailey was roughed up for eight hits and five runs in only 3 2/3 innings.  Bailey is now 0-2 on the season with a 6.30 era.  Bailey gave up two home runs in the third inning which pretty much forced him to leave the game.  He walked three batters and just didn’t have good control of the ball.

Relief pitcher Mike Lincoln tossed 2 1/3 inning of scoreless baseball before he turned things over to David Weathers who allowed one run.  Jeremy Affeldt pitched the final two innings of the game and also gave up one run.

The two runs that the Reds did get came in the fourth inning when Joey Votto went deep for a two run home run.  Adam Dunn scored on the home run by Votto.  The Reds offense only had five hits on the game while striking out five times and leaving 16 runners on base.

The same two teams will battle it out again on Wednesday night and it will be Johnny Cueto on the mound for the Reds and Braden Looper on the mound for the Cardinals.  Reds Blog

Phillies right-hander Adam Eaton frustrated Reds hitters for six and two-thirds innings, Chase Utley drove in yet another run, Pat Burrell hit his 14th homer of the year, and Brad Lidge earned his 15th save as the Phillies beat the Reds for the second night in a row, 3-2.

Aaron Harang pitched credibly for the Reds but was once again the victim of poor run support.  Edwin Encarnacion appeared to have finally hit his way out of his extended slump, hitting a solo homer and a triple, and scoring both Reds runs.  Ryan Freel singled, stole a base, made a run-saving catch, threw a bat into the crowd, and suffered a hamstring injury.  Diminutive screw-balling lefty Danny Herrera made an impressive debut for the Reds, striking out Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell with the bases loaded.  Herrera was called up before the game, when Kent Mercker was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day DL.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

Bronson Arroyo threw batting practice to the Phillies for four and one-third innings, giving up five earned runs on ten hits, suffering his fifth loss of the season.  Kyle Kendrick  wasn’t much better for the Phils, giving up four Reds runs on five hits in five and one-third, but neither bullpen gave up a run the rest of the way, with Brad Lidge closing it out for his 14th save.

Jay Bruce and Edwin Encarnacion hit solo homers for the Reds, and Adam Dunn had a clutch two-out, two-run double to draw the Reds within one, but that was all they would get.  Encarnacion got the Reds out of a bases-loaded jam with a tag-em-out, throw-em-out double play.  Ryan Freel, Brandon Phillips, and David Ross hooked up to nail Chase Utley, who had run through a stop sign, at the plate.  (Freel was in center because Ken Griffey Jr. sat out the game due to soreness.)  It was Utley’s only misstep of the night, however.  He had three hits, including his 21st home run of the year, and made diving catches of two Reds line drives.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

Johnny Cueto got his fourth win of the year, dominating Braves hitters through six innings but running into a little trouble in the seventh, when he gave up back-to-back solo homers by Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann.  By that time, however, the Reds had built up a 3-0 lead on solo shots by Adam Dunn and Jay Bruce, and an RBI double by Brandon Phillips.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Reds scored three more runs, one of them on a suicide squeeze by Jerry Hairston Jr., and coasted to a 6-2 win.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

Jay Bruce hit his first major-league home run, a solo shot off Manny Acosta in the bottom of the tenth, to give the Reds a thrilling come-from-behind extra-inning victory over the Atlanta Braves, who are now 0 and 20 in their last twenty one-run decisions.  They were almost 1 and 19.  It took a daring play by pinch-runner Ryan Freel, who dashed home from third on a tapper back to the mound in the bottom of the ninth, to send the game to extra innings.  Pitcher Rafael Soriano fielded the ball and looked at Freel, who stopped but then broke for the plate when Soriano turned to throw to first.  Freel slid headfirst across home plate ahead of the first baseman’s throw.

Earlier in the game, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 599th career home run.  Brandon Phillips also homered for the Reds.  Mark Teixeira and Greg Norton hit home runs for the Braves.  Starting pitchers Jair Jurrjens and Josh Fogg both struggled, each giving up six earned runs in less than five innings.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

Jay Bruce led off the eleventh inning with a single to left, his fourth hit of the game, and consecutive ground balls by Ken Griffey Jr. and Brandon Phillips, both of which appeared to be within the reach of Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones, plated Bruce with the winning run as the Reds beat the Braves 3-2.  Griffey’s grounder was ruled a hit, but Jones was charged with an error on the game-ending play.  It was a miserable night all the way around for Jones, who came into the game batting a league-leading .420 but went 0 for 5 including grounding into two double plays.

What began as a pitcher’s duel between Edinson Volquez and Tom Glavine had developed into a battle of the bullpens by the seventh inning.  Volquez struck out seven and walked three, giving up two runs in six-plus innings.  Jared Burton pitched two stellar innings before turning the game over to Francisco Cordero and, eventually, lefty Kent Mercker, who got credit for the win, his first of the year.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.  

Ex-Red Phil Dumatrait struck out a career-high nine of his former teammates, giving up only one unearned run in seven innings (also a career high) as the Pirates beat the Reds 7-2, snapping a nine-game home winning streak by the Reds.

Aaron Harang, coming off his masterful emergency-relief appearance in Sunday’s game, struggled with both his velocity and his location, giving up six runs on ten hits in only four innings, the big blow being a two-run shot by Jason Bay, his 13th of the year.  Harang’s successor, Jeremy Affeldt, was greeted rudely by Xavier Nady, who hit his ninth on the first pitch of the fifth inning.

Jerry Hairston Jr. celebrated his 32nd birthday with a bunt single, a double and a run scored, but was doubled off second in the ninth inning on a line drive to the right fielder, a base-running mistake that was magnified when Brandon Phillips followed with a solo home run, his tenth of the year, off Matt Capps.

Andy Phillips made his first start for the Reds, playing third base in place of the slumping Edwin Encarnacion.  Phillips made a nice defensive play in the fifth, ranging into foul ground and firing across the diamond to nip Jason Michaels at first.

Before the game, Matt Belisle was optioned to Louisville and Kent Mercker came off the DL. Mercker pitched an inning tonight.

Josh Fogg is scheduled to make Saturday’s start in place of Belisle.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

The Cincinnati Reds knocked out Pittsburgh Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny in the first inning as they scored six first inning runs and then went on to beat the Pirates by the score of 9-1.

David Ross went 2-4 with a two run home run and four rbi in the game.  Joey Votto had two rbi in the game as well as he continues to swing a good bat.  Jerry Hairston Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Edwin Encarnacion all had one rbi in the game to help out.

Bronson Arroyo improved to 4-4 on the season as he pitched six innings to pick up the win.  Arroyo was very good as he only gave up three hits and one run in his six innings of action.  Mike Lincoln, David Weathers, and Bill Bray all pitched a scoreless inning of relief behind Arroyo.  Great job by all four pitchers!

We should also mention that Corey Patterson was sent down to Triple A before the game.

Reds Blog

Centerfielder Jay Bruce has been called up by the Cincinnati Reds.  Bruce will get most of the playing time in centerfield GM Walt Jocketty said.  I would imagine taht Corey Patterson will be released or demoted to Triple A.

It is now time for Bruce to show what he can do.  Can he hit the ball well enough at the big league level?  It looks like the Reds will give him that chance and they are hoping he won’t have any problems.