OK so I know we don’t have sole possession of first place in the NL Central, but even being in a three way tie for first is something I never thought was going to happen. Not even two weeks ago!

Since the last time I posted alot of stuff has went down. Is that Rosales guy fun to watch or what?? Of course, I don’t think he’ll continue with his .295 average the rest of the year but, at least he would be a good guy off the bench. 15.6 seconds around the bases for a home run.. HAHA! I sure hope, if he continues hitting the way he has, that he stays the starting 3b…I’ve never been a big EE fan.

Besides Rosales, I can’t pick out one particular player that has improved because EVERYONE has! It seems like everyone has started hitting better, which is always fun to watch!

BP has as many RBI as Votto- 26

Willy T is hitting .322

Ramon Hernandez is hititng .279

Votto is hitting .374- highest BA in the NL!

Hanigan is hitting .310

Look at our starting pitching- We could have four 15 game winners! Cueto 1.93 ERA

Even with all the good… there is still going to be somebody that is bad. Take in part, Mike Lincoln. God, I hate him. 13.1 IP 19 Hits and a 9.35 ERA… JESUS thats awful!

PLEASE, OH PLEASE Walt bring up Pedro Viola to replace him. We could add another lefty to the pen and look at his AAA stats… WOW. 14.2 IP 6 hits and a 0.61 ERA. Bring up Pedro!

I apoligize for not posting in awhile, however, I hope people check back more often because I will be posting more frequently.

You hear it folks, the reds actually one a series on the road against a division oppennant. If you have been a reds fan for more than five years, you can contest that a win on the road against a division oppenenant is normally hard to do for the reds. Of course I would of loved a sweep but I knew, going into the third game, that the chance of us winning were pretty slim. Owings hadn’t pitched in two weeks and Looper always pitches well against the Reds.

Some positives about the series:

1. Bronson Arroyo- Dude looked NOTHING like his previous start as he went 6 1/3 giving up only 1 ER and 4 hits. I know the Brewers have a lineup dominated by right handed hitters but if Bronson can do half as good as he did this series the rest of the season it would really help out the reds.

2. Willy T- He went 3-10 in the series with 2 walks and 0 SO. Also, he scored 3 runs and stole 2 bases.

3. A Gon- ALthough I probably shouldn’t include him in the positive categories, I decided to due to the fact that he FINALLY got a hit! Also, he played some superb defense in the series.

4. Edwin Encarnacion- Is this guy clutch or what?! I know he only got one hit in the series but it was a big one- a grand slam. However, he made a bad throwing error at third… hopefully it won’t continue.

Sone Negatives about the series:

1. Edinson Volquez- He looked AWFUL. He gave up 6ER in only 5 IP and also walked 4. Volquez needs to step it up big time.

2. Jay Bruce- Although he hit a home run in the second game, that was his ONLY hit in the entire series. He struck out 4 times and looks completly lost at the plate. Give the man a day off…. PLEASE.

3. Jaret Burton- I hate to put him on the negatives list cuz I like the guy alot but he he single handly blow the game for us on Wednesday or what?! Giving up 4 ERA in 1 inning.

PS Congrats to Mike Lincon from lowering his ERA from 34.71 to 24.30. It’s a big step.

Yesterday, the reds completed their fifth game of the season. Winning 1 out of 3 against the Mets isnt too bad and was what I expected. The mets have one of the highest payrolls in all of baseball, and competing very well in each game says alot about this ball club. Splitting the game with the Pirates was ok as well, considering we had to face Paul Maholhm. A lefty and a damn good one at that. Below I listed some positives and negatives from these two series:

Positives:

1. Aaron Harang- Good Lord! This guy looks nothing like last year. Pitching that complete game, 0er and only 3 hits was an AWESOME thing to see. His line of 14IP, 10 Hits, 3BB, 11SO, and a 0.64 ERA is impresive.

2. Joey Votto- Hard to put this guy second. He has been hitting the SHIT out of the ball. Hitting .400 with 7 RBI and 2 HR!

3. Brandon Phillips- Hitting .357 with 4RBI’s and 5 BB

4. Edwin Encarnacion- Although his average isn’t up to par, he does have 7 walks- the most on the team. Is this the year he has better plate discipline and turns into the player we have been wanting??

Negatives

1. Jay Bruce- hitting .200 with 5SO and only 1BB

2. Ramon Hernandez/Jerry Hairston/Alex Gonzalez- hitting a combined 2 for 29. They all look lost at the plate and swing and very bad pitches. Alex Gonzalez is still waiting to get his first hit of the year. It’s hard to watch these three.

3. Mike Lincoln- 34.71 ERA– IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!?? 2.1 IP with 9 ER. That is NOT GOOD.

The Cincinnati Reds hit two solo home runs but ran into Carlos Zambrano and they lose by the score of 3-2. The Reds just couldn’t get much going against Zambrano even though they out hit the Cubs 7-6 at the plate. Six strikouts and 19 runners on base didn’t help the cause.

Jay Bruce and Joey Votto were the players to hit the solo home runs. Bruce hit his off Zambrano while Votto went deep off of Cubs reliver Carlos Marmol.

On the mound it was Josh Fogg who gave up four hits and three runs in only four inning. Fogg took the loss and is now 2-6 on the year. Nick Masset and Mike Lincoln both pitched two innings of relief after Fogg left the game and both did a very good job.

Reds Baseball

The Cincinnati Reds pulled out a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres in 11 innings on Tuesday evening.  Jeff Keppinger hit a game winning double that scored Jay Bruce for the game winning run as the Reds evened up the series at one game each.

Paul Bako got the Reds scoring started in the 6th inning with a two run single and then Joey Votto added a rbi single in the inning as well.  The Reds didn’t score again until the Keppinger rbi double that was the game winner in the 11th inning.

Red starting pitcher Johnny Cueto got the no decision as he only lasted six innings.  Cueto was pulled after giving up four hits and three runs.  He did strikeout ten batters while nly walking three however.  Mike Lincoln tossed two innings in relief while  Jeremy Affeldt, Bill Bray, and Gary Majewski all pitched one inning of relief.  Majewski picked up the win and is now 1-0.

Good come from behind win for the Reds as they were able to even up the series.  Reds Blog

The wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field and the Cincinnati Reds took full advantage of it as they clubbed the Chicago Cubs 12-7 to avoid the three game sweep.  The bats were swinging well which was a suprise to be honest the way that the players swung the bats that prior two games agains the Cubs.

David Ross had two home runs while five others all had one home run each.  Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Brandon Phillips, Edwin Encarnacion, and Joey Votto all went deep.  The offense hit atleast one home run off of every Cubs pitcher that they faced in the game.  Eighteen hits scored 12 runs for the Reds as they had production up and down the lineup.

Bronson Arroyo only lasted five innings as he had some control issues but he pitched well enough to get the win and improve to 7-7.  Arroyo gave up seven hits and five runs including one home run in the game.  Bill Bray, Mike Lincoln, and Jared Burton, Francisco Cordero all pitched one inning each in relief.  Bray gave up two runs but the rest of the guys did a great job.

The Reds will now head up north to Milwaukee and begin a weekend series with the Brewers on Friday.

Reds Blog

Kevin Youkilis and Coco Crisp hit back-to-back homers in the top of the tenth to beat Mike Lincoln and the Reds, 6-4.  Edwin Encarnacion had sent the game into extra innings with a two-out, two-strike, bottom-of-the ninth homer off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon.  Earlier solo homers by Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips, and a pinch-hit RBI single by Javier Valentin, accounted for the rest of the Reds runs.  Tim Wakefield and Edinson Volquez, the starting pitchers, duelled for seven innings before turning the game over to the bullpens.

Before the game, Danny Herrera was sent back to Louisville when Gary Majewski was reinstated from the bereavement list.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an improvement over OPS.

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

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

Ken Griffey, Jr. got the Cincinnati Reds off to a good start on Thursday night with a two run home run in the first inning but that was all the Reds would get in the entire game off the San Diego Padres pitchers.  Randy Wolf shut down the Reds after Griffey’s home run as the Padres went on to beat the Reds 8-2.

Aaron Harang tossed 5 1/3 innings while giving up ten hits and five runs to take the loss.  Harang is now 2-6 on the season as he continues to throw the ball terribly.  The Reds bullpen wasn’t much better as Bill Bray gave up one run and Mike Lincoln gave up two runs before Josh Fogg finally threw a scoreless inning in the eighth.

Just a bad game for the Reds who could never get the bats going as they only had five hits in the game.  And usually when your bullpen gives up three runs, you are going to lose the game…

Reds Blog