Reds Tidbits (2006 Season)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

4/22/06

REDS 3 BREWERS 1

First-pitch home run doesn’t faze Reds’ Arroyo

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Colin Fly
ASSOCIATED PRESS

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>MORRY GASH ASSOCIATED PRESS </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Reds third baseman Rich Aurilia catches a popup by the Brewers’ Prince Fielder in the fourth inning. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


MILWAUKEE — Bronson Arroyo says his first pitch might have been tipped off. No matter, he kept the Milwaukee Brewers guessing the rest of the night.
Arroyo struck out eight in eight innings to outpitch Ben Sheets, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-1 win last night.
Gabe Gross hit Arroyo’s first pitch over the right-field wall, and Arroyo (3-0) said he got a "vibe" when he looked at Brewers third-base coach Dale Sveum, who was in Boston with Arroyo until this season.
"I immediately looked at Dale Sveum and forgot that he was my third-base coach," Arroyo said. "He might have tipped him off or he might have just been aggressive. I don’t know, but I thought it was funny nobody swung at that pitch all year."
Arroyo allowed six hits and retired 10 in a row at one point to pin the loss on Sheets (0-2), who struck out 10 in seven innings.
Arroyo said he has no plans to be Cincinnati’s ace, but he may not have a choice after starting 3-0 for the second straight season.
"The goal is 15 wins, 200 innings, regardless of when you get them," Arroyo said. "I don’t necessarily want to be anybody’s ace unless it comes to playoff time."
David Weathers pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five opportunities.
Brandon Phillips and Felipe Lopez both used their speed to manufacture runs for the Reds, who had been 1-3 when scoring less than six runs.
Lopez led off the fourth inning by striking out on Sheets’ wild pitch. He reached first without a throw and stole his sixth base on the next pitch. Lopez went to third on Adam Dunn’s groundout and scored on Rich Aurilia’s RBI single.
"The ball did exactly what I wanted it to do, make him swing and miss," Sheets said of the pitch that got away from Chad Moeller.
Phillips led off the fifth with a double. Sheets struck out the next two hitters but couldn’t get out of trouble.
Ryan Freel hit a slow bouncer to Corey Koskie, whose throw from third was off target. A stretching Prince Fielder went to the ground to corral the errant throw, but Freel reached on the infield single.
Phillips raced around third and beat Fielder’s throw home to give Cincinnati a 2-1 lead.
"I tried to run as hard as I can, tried to score, tried to make a nice play at home plate and it ended up being the winning run," Phillips said.
The Reds tacked on an insurance run in the eighth. Lopez, who finished 2 for 4 and scored two runs, doubled and scored on Scott Hatteberg’s single.
Gross’ home run off Arroyo was the first of his career leading off a game. He also led off the sixth with a single and reached third, but Fielder struck out. The Brewers also had runners in scoring position in the seventh and eighth but didn’t score.

 

[rhammersmith]

It's this simple: Freel AND Phillips need to be in the lineup everyday.

Phillips on 2nd, 2 out... Freel hits a bouncer to the left side. His speed makes it a base hit, and Phillips scores from 2nd on the infield base hit. I don't see any way you can keep these guys out of the lineup.

Without an outstanding pitching performance from Arroyo, that Phillips/Freel play is fairly meaningless. That's not to say I don't enjoy small ball ( I actually prefer it), but small ball offense needs good pitching as well to produce wins. At this point I'm not convinced yet that we have "good" pitching. It certainly seems better than last year though.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Without an outstanding pitching performance from Arroyo, that Phillips/Freel play is fairly meaningless. That's not to say I don't enjoy small ball ( I actually prefer it), but small ball offense needs good pitching as well to produce wins. At this point I'm not convinced yet that we have "good" pitching. It certainly seems better than last year though.

I don't think there is a Reds fan alive saying we have good pitching.

We have one of, if not the, worst pitching staffs in all of baseball and no real hope for improvement. Its been this way for a very long time so fans try and manufacture a little joy out of watching the offense.

Being a Reds fan is like getting kicked in the nuts 162 times every summer. It makes OSU football all that much sweeter.

 

[Jaxbuck]

OK, it has begun.

Milton went back to Cincy and will miss his next start due to knee "discomfort". What it really means is that his degenerative knee condition, the Reds knew damn full well of before they signed him to a monster contract, is probably going to keep him from ever pitching consistently again. Essentially Dan O has left Krivisky a nice little contract thats about 20% of the total payroll owed to a guy who can't play anymore.

Now the scramble begins to find yet another pitcher. As bad as Milton is, this bumps everyone else up a notch so now sorry ass Dave Williams isn't your #5, he's your #4. This means more and more short outings from the starters and more and more wear and tear on a bullpen that sucks even when fully rested. Of the 12 pitchers we will carry from here on out 6 will be legit ML players and that includes Claussen.

This team may very well allow over 1,000 runs.

 

[jlb1705]

Without an outstanding pitching performance from Arroyo, that Phillips/Freel play is fairly meaningless. That's not to say I don't enjoy small ball ( I actually prefer it), but small ball offense needs good pitching as well to produce wins. At this point I'm not convinced yet that we have "good" pitching. It certainly seems better than last year though.

Execution in "small ball" is not just for teams with good pitching. Arroyo pitched well, but we all agree that that performance was an aberration as far as Reds pitchers go. When the pitching is that bad, EVERY scoring chance is magnified just as it is on a team with good pitching and little hitting. Because the Reds are gonna give up a lot of runs, they're gonna need to seize every opportunity to score runs. That's why the Freel/Phillips play was important, regardless of what Arroyo did.

 

[jlb1705]

The Reds gave up FIVE HR in one inning, and FOUR of them by the same pitcher?!

I'm not sure what's worse - the fact that Claussen gave up that many in one inning, or the fact that Narron left him in there to do it.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

4/22/06

BREWERS 11 REDS 0

Brewers tie mark with five-HR inning

Tough outing for Claussen, who surrenders four of the long balls

Sunday, April 23, 2006


ASSOCIATED PRESS

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>MORRY GASH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Left: Prince Fielder (28) is congratulated by Bill Hall after going deep in the big inning. Hall had homered earlier in the inning. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>

</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Above: Reds starter Brandon Claussen wipes his brow after giving up one of the five Brewers home runs in the fourth inning. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>

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MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers hit so many home runs in the fourth inning yesterday that manager Ned Yost lost track.
"You don’t really sit there and count them down," he said. "There was some confusion on the bench if there were four or five home runs."
There were definitely five — which tied a major-league record — to spark a seven-run fourth in Milwaukee’s 11-0 victo ry over the Cincinnati Reds. Bill Hall, Damian Miller, Brady Clark, J.J. Hardy and Prince Fielder all connected, marking the first time in 40 years that a team hit five homers in one inning.
The last club to do it was the Minnesota Twins on June 9, 1966, against the Kansas City Athletics. Three other teams accomplished the feat: the 1939 New York Giants, 1949 Philadelphia Phillies and 1961 San Francisco Giants — all against Cincinnati, as well.
"I guess it could seem unreal," Reds manager Jerry Narron said.
Miller went 4 for 4 with three doubles and five RBI, and Dave Bush pitched a four-hitter with a season-high nine strikeouts for his second career shutout and fourth complete game.
Bush (2-1) struck out five straight Reds batters in the third and fourth innings and walked only two overall.
For the most part the victim of the Brewers’ onslaught was Brandon Claussen (1-2), who gave up nine runs and eight hits in three-plus innings. He failed to get an out in the fourth while giving up the first four home runs in the inning.
"It happened fast," Claussen said.
Milwaukee sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning. Hall led off with a homer, Rickie Weeks followed with a single to extend his hitting streak to a careerhigh 10 games and Miller hit a two-run shot to left.
Bush singled, and Clark and Hardy followed with back-toback homers, chasing Claussen.
Chris Hammond came on and struck out Geoff Jenkins and Carlos Lee before Fielder homered to right.
Claussen said he will do his best to forget the performance.
"I am not that bad a pitcher," he said. "I am in the major leagues."
Hall, meanwhile, said he will never forget the game.
"We won’t take it for granted," he said.
Miller, a catcher known more for his defense than his bat, matched a career best with four hits. His three doubles gave him eight in his past four games.
His bases-loaded double in the second inning drove in three and put Milwaukee up 3-0.
The loss snapped the Reds’ three-game winning streak, which had pushed them five games above .500 for the first time since July 2004. Claussen tied a big-league record for most homers allowed in one inning by a pitcher. He is the fourth Reds pitcher to do so, joining Mario Soto, Jeff Austin and Jose Acevedo.

 

[jlb1705]

How in the world do the Reds continue to make Bill Hall look like Lance Berkman?

 

[Jaxbuck]

How in the world do the Reds continue to make Bill Hall look like Lance Berkman?

just a wild guess but I'm going with bad pitchers for 1,000 Alex.

Seriously though, I know he tears us up but if you look around the central division there are several guys who have feasted on what the Reds call pitching the past few years.

Thats what I was talking about before regarding Dunn. The poor bastards cursed having to play for the Reds instead of against them 15 times a year.

 

[rhammersmith]

Execution in "small ball" is not just for teams with good pitching. Arroyo pitched well, but we all agree that that performance was an aberration as far as Reds pitchers go. When the pitching is that bad, EVERY scoring chance is magnified just as it is on a team with good pitching and little hitting. Because the Reds are gonna give up a lot of runs, they're gonna need to seize every opportunity to score runs. That's why the Freel/Phillips play was important, regardless of what Arroyo did.

When a team with bad pitching needs to seize every opportunity to score runs, that includes scoring guys from 1st with 2 outs, not just beating out an infield single and scoring the guy on second with 2 outs. For every time they are able to execute with they did on that play, there are far more times where the best they can do is dink a single and move the runner on first to third and they end up getting stranded. If Phillips and Freel aren't guys with the ability to score runners on first, they shouldn't be playing in place of guys who can... unless of course our pitching improves and they can rely on small ball more.

 

[coastalbuck]

You beat us 11-0 we'll return the favor and win the series. Good game Reds. Great outing by Harang.

 

[jlb1705]

When a team with bad pitching needs to seize every opportunity to score runs, that includes scoring guys from 1st with 2 outs, not just beating out an infield single and scoring the guy on second with 2 outs. For every time they are able to execute with they did on that play, there are far more times where the best they can do is dink a single and move the runner on first to third and they end up getting stranded. If Phillips and Freel aren't guys with the ability to score runners on first, they shouldn't be playing in place of guys who can... unless of course our pitching improves and they can rely on small ball more.

Who on Earth do the Reds have that is more capable right now than either one of those two? Aurilia? Womack? Hatteberg? McCracken?

If you're referring to the day when Griffey returns to the lineup, please refer to the lineup posted several posts back - the one with Griffey in LF and Freel in CF and Dunn at 1B. That is by far the Reds' best lineup given their current roster - defensively, at the plate, and on the basepaths.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Nice game for the reds today as they regrouped from the drubbing yesterday. Harang is turning into a very good pitcher. He has a CG shutout and 8 innings of scoreless ball against the Cards earlier in the year.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Cincy

4/24/06

Reds ahead of schedule

12-7 record better than last season

BY JOHN FAY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

<!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->MILWAUKEE - Sunday's 11-0 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers was a nice one for the Reds.
Aaron Harang stepped in for Eric Milton and delivered a five-hit shutout on three days of rest.
Brandon Phillips continues to hit like a star - he was 3-for-6 with a three-run homer and four RBI.
Edwin Encarnacion broke it open with a three-run double and was outstanding defensively.
"It's nice to come in and get three wins in a four-game series," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "To be able to do what we've done - without (Ken Griffey Jr.) - says a lot about our ballclub."
But let's just say it was an odd game Sunday.
Just look at the batting lines (at-bats, runs, hits, RBI) for Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns:
Dunn 2 1 0 0
Kearns 2 2 1 3
Dunn and Kearns played the whole game but had only two at-bats each. Dunn walked four times. Kearns walked twice and was hit by a pitch twice.
"Very strange game," Kearns said. "It wasn't pretty."
The Reds walked 13 times.
Milwaukee starter Doug Davis walked nine to tie a club record.
For the day, Harang threw 120 pitches; five Brewers pitchers combined to throw 210.
Odd or not, the Reds will take this one. They won the series here 3-1 and are 12-7 this season.
They didn't win their 12th game until May 10 last year, and they had 20 losses by then.
Encarnacion and Phillips are two of the big reasons for the turnaround. They are tied for the club lead with 17 RBI each.
But Harang (3-1) was the hero of the day for the Reds. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out four.
From the third to the seventh, he faced the minimum 15 batters.
"I was locating and keeping the ball down," he said. "I was getting them to hit the ball on the ground. Edwin picked me up. He made four or five good plays. Those plays come up key."
The last time out, Harang got lit up for five runs on nine hits in four innings by Florida.
"That's one of the things that is weird about this game," he said. "You come out one week and you don't have it, and the next week you throw well."
E-mail [email protected]

 

[Jaxbuck]

Well with Milton done for the foreseeable,future if not longer, our fate rests in the hands of The Lizard and Belisile.

If they can consistently give us a Reds quality start (6IP 6 Runs or less) we will be ok. JR's coming back soon and the offense can overcome 5-6 runs a game. If they come in and give us the ol' 4 inning beat down special the wheels will fall off within a month.

To go with this Arroyo and Harang need to keep it up while Claussen needs to get it together.

Williams just needs to go away. He simply does not have ML caliber stuff or the extraordinary control needed to get by without it.

Just imagine though, if we had a legit #1 and #2 pitcher on this staff how good we would be with Harang, Arroyo and Claussen as #3-#5. Continue the fantasy a bit further and see that rotation with a legit closer waiting in the pen while this offense continues to mash. Brings a tear to my eye.