The Cincinnati Reds have signed speedy center fielder Willy Taveras to a two-year contract the team is reporting. Taveras has played the last two years with the Colorado Rockies and led the majors with 207 infield hits and as also stolen atleast 33 bases in each of his four seasons in the big leagues.

He will play pretty good defense in centerfield and has the speed to catch those balls that would normally get through the gaps and roll all the way to the wall. We can probably expect Taveras to be the new lead off hitter for the Reds as well.

Tavaras choose the Reds because he has heard good things about manager Dusty Baker and that he is a players manager. He wanted to give it a shot since the team is young and he feels like he could blend in and help this team in the Central Division.

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Finally something to blog about here on the blog! On Tuesday, the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles worked out a four player trade. Ryan Freel and two minor league infieldrs will be going to the Orioles and the Reds will be getting catcher Ramon Hernandez.

The two minor league players are Justin Turner and Brandon Waring.

As part of the deal, Baltimore will give Cincinnati cash to offset part of Hernandez’s contract. He is owed $8.5 million next year.

I personally do not like this deal for the Reds. Freel is a nice player to have in the outfield and he gives it his all on every play. The risk of injury is always there, and I expect that played into the decision a little bit.

What are your thoughts?

The Cincinnati Reds scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning as they came from behind to beat the Florida Marlins on Monday afternoon. The 7-5 victory over the Marlins was a one game makeup game that the two teams had to play on what should have been an off day.

Joey Votto was one of three players to finish the game with two rbi. Votto had a solo home run and a rbi double in the game. The other two players with two rbi each were Jerry Hairston Jr. and Andy Phillips. Ryan Hanigan also chipped in with one rbi as well in the game. Great comeback by the offense in the seventh inning to pick up the pitching staff.

Aaron Harang picked up his sixth win of the season and is now 6-16. Harang tossed seven innings and gave up eight hits and four runs. It was a decent start for Harang but he did allow two walks and two home runs in the game. Reds closer Francisco Cordero allowed one run to score in the ninth inning but was able to record his 33rd save of the season.

The Reds will now head to Houston to take on the Houston Astros in a three game series.

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The Cincinnati Reds ran out of magic against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday afternoon as they were unable to come back after giving up two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The reds lost 4-3, but it was still a winning series for the Reds who took two out of three games from the brewers in Milwaukee.

In the eighth inning, David Weathers allowed three hits and two runs to take the loss. Errors didn’t help out in the inning either as the reds more or less gave this game to the brewers. Bronson Arroyo’s seven innings ended up being worth nothing. Arroyo took the no decision after only giving up five hits and two runs. He shut down a tough brewers offense but didn’t have anything to show for it.

The three runs that the reds did score came in the fifth inning when Jerry Hairston Jr. took CC Sabathia deep for a three run home run. At that time, the reds were up 3-1 and were leading until the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Reds are now off on Thursday and will play the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night.

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Wow what an exciting ending to the game on Monday night! The Cincinnati Reds scored three runs off of Saloman Torres of the Milwaukee Brewers to come back and win by the score of 5-4. Talk about not quitting in the game when the Brewers are scratching for every victory they can come up with. The Reds stole one on Monday night that is for sure!

In the ninth inning with the bases loaded, Corey Patterson reached on an infield single and Jay Bruce scored to make the score 4-2. With the bases still loaded, Jeff Keppinger then doubled to deep left field to score Wilkin Castillo and Chris Dickerson. The Reds also picked up a huge win in the eighth inning when Joey Votto hit a solo home run. That hit gave the Reds a little energy and I feel it really helped them out in the ninth inning. Castillo had the first Reds rbi in the second inning on a single that scored Bruce.

Reds starting pitcher Edinson Volquez lasted just 5 2/3 innings. He gave up five hits and four runs while getting the no decision. Jared Burton earned the victory as he pitched the bottom of the eight inning. Francisco Cordero grabbed his 28th save of the year by closing out the game in the ninth inning.

Great come from behind win for the Reds! Let’s see if the momentum carries over into the game on Tuesday night as they look to take another game from the slumping Brewers.

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The Cincinnati Reds scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as they came from behind to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-6. The Reds avoided a three game sweep by winning on Thursday afternoon. It was awesome to see the team come from behind and pick up the victory.

Jeff Keppinger and Joey Votto both had big days for the Reds at the plate as they both finished with two rbi. Votto had a solo home run to count for one of his rbi’s. Jay Bruce also had a solo home run in the game as he finished with one rbi. Edwin Encarnacion and Brandon Phillips both finished the game with one rbi as well. Votto and Encarnacion both had hugh hits in the bottom of the eighth inning to score two runs.

Nick Masset ended up with the victory after throwing two innings in relief. Reds starting pitcher Josh Fogg pitched the first three games of the game before leaving with a groin injury. Fogg had been roughed up for four hits and five runs as he put the Reds in a big hole. He was lucky not to be charged with the loss. Francisco Cordero picked up his 27th save of the season in the ninth inning.

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The Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros finished up a three game series on Thursday afternoon and it was the Astros coming out on top by the score of 3-2. With the one run loss, the Reds dropped two out of three games down in Houston and dropped their season record to 58-76 but not like it matters at this point in the season.

Aaron Harang tool the loss and is now 4-14 on the year. He didn’t throw the ball that badly as he did pitch seven innings. Harang gave up seven hits and three runs and the Reds offense wasn’t there to back him up.

At the plate, Jay Bruce had a rbi triple in the seventh inning and then Corey Patterson knocked him in with a rbi single. Those were the only two runs the Reds would get on the day as they struggled at the plate and struckout ten times.

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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.

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It was another low scoring game except this time the Reds held onto beat the Cubs by the score of 2-1. Single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, the Reds were able to tie the three game series and will now go for the series win on Thursday afternon.

Bronson Arroyo threw the ball awesome as he pitched seven innings and only gave up three hits and one run. Arroyo picked up the victory and is now 11-10 on the season. Francisco Cordero earned the save with a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth inning.

The first Reds run came on a Jeff Keppinger groundout in the sixth inning that scored Ryan Hanigan. In the seventh inning, Jolbert Cabrera hit a rbi sac fly that scored Edwin Encarnacion for the winning run.

Great win for the Reds. Now do they have what it takes to beat the Cubs and Carlos Zambrano on Tuesday afternoon?

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The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 as the two teams finished up a three game series on Thursday night. The Reds scored single runs in the second, sixth, and ninth innings of the game to beat the Pirates. With the win, the Reds took two out of three games against the Pirates.

Jose Valentin got the Reds scoring started with a solo home run in the second inning. Chris Dickerson then added a rbi double in the sixth inning. Jeff Keppinger added an insurance run with a sacrafice in the ninth inning. That was enough offense support the way the Reds pitching staff threw the ball.

Six Reds pitchers combined to limit the Pirates to only one run. Johnny Cueto pitched five innings to pick up the win and improve to 8-11 on the year. Francisco Cordero recorded his 23rd save of the season in the game as well. All in all, the pitchers did a great job.

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