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Reds Tidbits (2006 Season)

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Dispatch

7/23/06

REDS 8 BREWERS 7

Freel’s winning HR in eighth caps big night

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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CINCINNATI — Reds fans always have loved a hustler whether he showed up coiffed in a 1960s flat top like the young Pete Rose or wearing the buzz cut favored by the 21 st century blur named Ryan Freel.
A sold-out crowd of 41,915 stood to cheer every move Freel made last night during an 8-7 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Great American Ball Park.
Freel hit two home runs, was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into double and somehow managed to get a baseball stuck inside his uniform shirt after being hit by a pitch.
"I thought it was my dip can," Freel said, laughing.
Each moment drew an ovation. The last, a homer in the eighth inning that decided the seesaw contest, rated his first career curtain call. He savored each.
"When you go in the outfield after you do something, they applaud you," Freel said. "These fans know how the game is played, and we want to bring that back. I know we’re not the Big Red Machine, but we are the Cincinnati Reds. It means a lot because every- thing I was doing out there, it seemed like there was extra applause."
The Reds needed all the offense they could muster because both starting pitchers struggled out of the gate. Freel started the ball rolling for the Reds in the first inning with a homer off David Bush. Scott Hatteberg followed with a two-run shot to hand a 3-0 lead to Joe Mays.
The Brewers roared back in the second behind a three-run homer from Damian Miller and the race to the finish line was on. Freel returned the advantage to the Reds in the bottom of the second with an RBI hit. He was gunned down at second after he tried to stretch it into a double. Even that drew a roar.
"You make mistakes trying hard," Freel said. "They know how that’s played. It was an RBI and I got caught trying to get to second. But they appreciate that kind of play. A lot of people compare you to Pete Rose the way you play the game. It seems like they like that style of baseball.
"You don’t have to be a superstar to play the game hard. Playing the game hard, you’re going to be more successful in situations than not. This game is all about inches and it’s all about where you’re heart is."
The Reds took a 7-5 lead into the sixth before reliever David Weathers surrendered a two-run homer to Bill Hall. Freel untied it in the eighth against Geremi Gonzalez (2-2) with his second homer of the game.
Todd Coffey (6-4), the fifth of six Cincinnati pitchers, picked up the win. Eddie Guardado pitched the ninth to post his fifth save of the 7-2 homestand.
"We’re playing some good baseball, no doubt," Guardado said. "We’re down by three and we’re coming back. It’s unbelievable. But things like that you build on. Things are going our way right now. Hopefully, they’ll continue going our way until October. We just got to ride it."
Freel hopes the fans come along for the ride.
"It’s a lot more exciting when you’ve got a lot of fans out there hooting, hollering and raving," he said. "It’s great to see a sellout crowd and put on a show like we did for them. I think it means a lot for this baseball team to get these guys out here."
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Dispatch

7/24/06

Reds’ run at home plenty to build on

Team leaves on roll despite losing final game to Brewers

Monday, July 24, 2006

Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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CINCINNATI — While they packed for a charter flight to Houston today, the Reds had plenty of time to ponder how close they came to turning a good homestand into a great one.
Given the chance to post the first .800 winning percentage for a 10-game stay in Cincinnati since July 1966, the Reds failed to solve the mystery of Milwaukee starter Tomo Ohka and lost 4-1 yesterday in Great American Ball Park.
Most everybody seemed pleased with the 7-3 finish, but 8-2 would have looked better on the resume and come at a good time given the tie-up at the top of the wild-card standings.
"It’s coming together," first baseman Scott Hatteberg said. "I know we had a good homestand, but we have to play good on the road. You have to play this way consistently. It’s not so much what you did up until now. It’s what you do from here on."
Hatteberg has been part of playoff teams in Boston and Oakland.
"The good teams, they gain speed," he said. "They gain momentum as it comes to the end. We’re so packed up in the wild card right now, there are a lot of teams you have to play better than."
The Reds swept a four-game series from the Colorado Rockies to start the homestand, before losing two of three to the New York Mets. They won the first two against the Brewers but had no luck against Ohka (3-1), whose assortment of off-speed pitches puts to mind something with a marshmallow center.
The Cincinnati players had trouble explaining how he checked them on two hits in the first seven innings before Brandon Phillips homered in the eighth.
"You got me," Adam Dunn said. "He doesn’t miss over the plate. He just mixes everything up and changes speeds on us. He just pitched, and that’s what you’ve got to do against us."
With Ohka on cruise control, Reds starter Eric Milton (6-6) and the defense needed to be perfect. Neither was. Milton surrendered a two-out, two-run single to Brady Clark in the second inning that proved to be the difference.
Milton might have escaped that jam had second baseman Phillips not slipped while fielding a potential double-play grounder off the bat of Chris Barnwell.
"I lost my balance," Phillips said. "When I lost my balance, the ball ran up my hand. I wish I would have made that play. It would have been a different story. I should have made that play and Milton should have been out of that inning."
Milton left trailing 2-0 with two on and two outs in the seventh inning. What followed wasn’t perfect, either. Newly acquired reliever Gary Majewski surrendered three straight singles and the lead jumped to 4-0.
After sitting through long rain delays in comeback wins Wednesday and Friday, the Reds couldn’t find the magic this time.
"I thought we were pretty sluggish," Hatteberg said. "I don’t think Ohka was dominating by any means. It was a tough homestand as far as time at the ballpark. Maybe it caught up to us. We didn’t swing the bat real well. We should have done better. We have to step up. You’ve got to feed off where you are and be better than the next guy."
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Dispatch

7/24/06

REDS NOTEBOOK

Milton upbeat despite two losses during homestand

Monday, July 24, 2006

Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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CINCINNATI — Two of the three games the Reds lost on the just-completed 10-game homestand went on the wrong side of the ledger for Eric Milton.
Despite losing 4-1 to the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday-Milton was happier afterward than he was following an 8-3 loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday.
"This was positive for me," he said. "I did everything I could. I made pitches when I needed to. It just didn’t work out.
"With our lineup, you have to do what you can to keep us in the game. You’ve got to tip your hat. We couldn’t do anything with (Toma Ohka)."
Milton was pleased with the team’s better play at home.
"It’s very important for us to win here because we haven’t been," he said. "We played in front of some big crowds, and we actually could have been a little better off than 7-3. But we’ll take it."
Downtime

Reliever Kent Mercker reluctantly went on the 15-day disabled list yesterday for the second time this season because of inflammation in his left elbow. The club recalled Brian Shackelford from triple-A Louisville to take the roster spot.
Shackelford, however, is not as versatile as Mercker, who had a 1.50 ERA in his past 15 appearances. The Reds consider Shackelford a left-handed specialist.
"I guess the option was to take a couple of days off and rest it, or get a shot and go on the DL," said Mercker, who received a cortisone shot.
"They didn’t want to be short (a pitcher). I can’t really argue. I can’t pitch right now. (Today) probably won’t be much better."
Even though he was pitching well, the ache "was always looming."
"It’s something that if you don’t get completely rid of it, it’s always going to linger," he said. "You just hope it doesn’t get severe."
The shot indicated that it finally had gotten severe.
"The last couple of times (I pitched), I didn’t get over the hump the next day," Mercker said. "I had to warm up twice a few nights ago. I figured it wasn’t going to feel too good the next morning. I’ve have tendinitis before. You’ve got to rest it."
Shackelford, 1-0 with a 7.71 ERA, joins the Reds for the third time this season. He was optioned July 6 after he was arrested in Milwaukee on suspicion of third-degree sexual assault. The case since has been dropped.
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Dispatch

7/25/06

BASEBALL REDS

Rebuilt ’pen vital to postseason hopes

With new closer, Reds hope to blow past contenders

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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CINCINNATI — The second home run that Ryan Freel hit Saturday night in Great American Ball Park lifted the Reds to an 8-7 lead over the Milwaukee Brewers with just the ninth inning to play.
New closer Eddie Guardado trotted out of the Cincinnati bullpen and immediately surrendered a single to Brady Clark. The nervous titter that would have followed that hit two weeks before strangely didn’t filter through the crowd of 41,915.
Instead, fans chanted "Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!" Guardado threw a pitch to Rickie Weeks, who hit an oppositefield shot that first baseman Rich Aurilia speared. He stepped on first and threw to shortstop Juan Castro, who tagged out Clark. Pandemonium and a win ensued.
"Things like that you build on," Guardado said. "Momentum just goes your way. I throw a split-finger to Weeks, he hits it right down the line and (Aurilia) turns two. We’re playing some good baseball, no doubt." When the Reds begin a three-game series against the Houston Astros tonight in Minute Maid Park, they will lead the wild-card chase in the National League by a slim game.
Eight teams, including the Astros, are within six games of Cincinnati in the wild-card standings. The Reds are hoping that a rebuilt bullpen will keep them in the thick of things for the rest of the season.
Contention of any kind didn’t seem possible when Cincinnati headed into the All-Star break by losing eight of nine games with the worst bullpen in the NL. The makeover began when general manager Wayne Krivsky landed Guardado in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on July 6.
A week later, he added relievers Gary Majewski and Bill Bray to the mix after an eight-player deal with the Washington Nationals on July 13. Guardado and Bray were major contributors in the just-completed 7-3 homestand.
"I think a huge part of that was right before break when we got Eddie," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "Just having Eddie, an experienced guy that knows how to close a game out, set the whole bullpen for us. But when you add guys like Bray and Majeweski, it’s a just lot more depth."
Guardado was 5 for 5 in save opportunities during the homestand. Bray had a 1.80 ERA in five appearances. Majewski, however, struggled in four of his five appearances.
An experienced setup man, Majewski was viewed as the key to the trade that cost the Reds outfielder Austin Kearns and shortstop Felipe Lopez. He already is hearing boos in his home ballpark, but his role as the primary setup man isn’t going to change.
"He’s probably putting pressure on himself," Narron said. "But I really believe that he’s going to pitch well. He’s going to keep getting the ball, so he needs to."
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Outstanding game by the Redlegs tonight. Harang outduels Clemens and gets a bunt down to score a run late in the game. I am starting to see the Reds do more of the "little things" lately. Room to improve undoubtedly, but I like the direction we are going right now.
 
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Dispatch

7/26/06

Harang continues mastery of Astros

Houston once again fails to provide any offense for Clemens

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Chris Duncan
ASSOCIATED PRESS

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HOUSTON — The Houston Astros can’t explain why they struggle to score runs when Roger Clemens is on the mound.
Last night, the reason was Aaron Harang.
The Cincinnati Reds’ ace outpitched Clemens and dominated the Astros for the third time this season, leading the Reds to a 2-0 victory.
Harang (11-6) allowed four hits and struck out six with one walk in eight innings. He held the Astros to five hits in victories April 29 (6-3) and June 2 (14-3).
Harang won for the fourth time in seven starts, bouncing back after lasting just two innings against the New York Mets last week.
"I’m feeling good overall," he said. "I’m executing my pitches, I’m able to hit my spots and I’m getting outs in key situations."
Preston Wilson and Luke Scott hit two-out singles off Reds right-hander Todd Coffey in the ninth, but Bill Bray got pinch-hitter Eric Bruntlett to fly out to center for his first career save.
The Astros wasted another solid effort by Clemens (2-4) the way they usually do — by failing to offer run support.
Clemens allowed seven hits and struck out four, but the Astros suffered their 11 th shutout when he pitches since the start of last season.
Houston has mustered two runs or fewer in four of Clemens’ seven starts this year. In his four losses, the Astros haven’t scored a run before he has left the game.
The Reds got the only run they needed in the first inning.
Adam Dunn, batting .324 since the All-Star break, singled to center field, stole second and went to third on Rich Aurilia’s single off Aubrey Huff’s glove. Scott Hatteberg followed with a single to center.
Hatteberg went 3 for 4 after coming into the game 2 for 17 against Clemens.
Harang, meanwhile, cruised through the first three innings, allowing only a single to Mike Lamb in the first.
"It was an outstanding performance," Cincinnati manager Jerry Narron said. "He did a really great job of throwing strikes."
Lamb singled again in the fourth, and Harang hit Huff with a pitch with one out. But Wilson hit a bat-shattering grounder to Aurilia at third to start a double play.
Scott doubled leading off the fifth, but the Astros still couldn’t score. Ausmus grounded out and Harang struck out Adam Everett, who fouled off a squeeze bunt during the at-bat. Harang walked Clemens — a career .182 hitter — on four pitches, but got Craig Biggio to hit a soft liner that second baseman Brandon Phillips leaped to catch in shallow right.
Harang helped himself with his bat in the seventh.
Phillips led off with a double to the wall in left-center and went to third on Clayton’s groundout. Jason LaRue walked to bring up Harang, who was batting .163.
On a 2-and-1 pitch, Harang bunted down the first-base line and Lamb fielded it and threw to Biggio covering first. Phillips hesitated, then sprinted home, sliding headfirst to beat Biggio’s throw.
"It was planned that way," Narron said. "They have to come up with a pretty good play to stop a runner like Phillips."
Trever Miller replaced Clemens to open the eighth, ending Clemens’ longest outing of the season. He threw 113 pitches.
The 43-year-old Clemens said he could’ve pitched longer.
"My body feels great," he said. Everett led off the eighth with a double, but Harang retired Lance Berkman and Biggio before fanning Lamb, prompting more boos and widespread dashes for the exits.
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I have to ask, why the hell was Coffey even given the opportunity to blow the save last night? Great job by Bray to come in and induce the last fly-out, but where in the hell was Eddie?
 
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Dryden said:
I have to ask, why the hell was Coffey even given the opportunity to blow the save last night? Great job by Bray to come in and induce the last fly-out, but where in the hell was Eddie?
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Radio this morning said that he had some stiffness in the forearm of his throwing arm. Should be good to go tonight if needed.


On Bray, I like this kid. Lefty with alot of motion and low-mid 90s fastball. He could grow into something special.
 
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Scott Hatteberg signed an extension today - 1 year with a club option for 2008. I'm happy about this. I still miss Sean Casey as a person, but I don't miss his bat with the way Hatteberg has played this year.

Oh yeah, let me just add that I FUCKING HATE LANCE BERKMAN!!!!!
 
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Dispatch

7/27/06

Arroyo unable to hold cushion

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Chris Duncan
ASSOCIATED PRESS

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HOUSTON — Lance Berkman homered twice and Craig Biggio had a solo shot as the Houston Astros rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-5 last night.
Berkman’s first homer, a three-run shot to right-center, capped a six-run fifth inning off Reds starter Bronson Arroyo (9-7), who entered the inning with a 5-1 lead. Berkman added a solo homer to center in the seventh for his fourth multihomer game of the season.
Arroyo dropped to 0-4 since winning at New York on June 19. He tied a career high by giving up three homers.
"It was one of those things — it blows up on you," Arroyo said. "What are you going to do? They beat me up."
Arroyo was virtually unhittable for three innings after Biggio launched his fourth pitch into the left-field seats leading off the first.
Astros starter Andy Pettitte (9-10) couldn’t hold the lead long. Rich Aurilia hit his 13 th homer of the season in the second inning.
The Reds took the lead in the fourth, when Aurilia led off with a single and Adam Dunn followed with a double off the fence in left-center. Aurilia scored on Edwin Encarnacion’s broken-bat single. Brandon Phillips then lined a single to right fielder Luke Scott, who fired a long throw to third base trying to get Encarnacion. But the ball skipped past Aubrey Huff and into the Reds’ dugout, allowing Encarnacion to score behind Dunn for a 4-1 lead.
Aurilia, just 2 for 15 against Pettitte entering the game, tripled off the right-field wall in the fifth and scored on Dunn’s double down the right-field line.
Pettitte left after that but still earned the decision despite allowing 11 hits.
Arroyo, meanwhile, crumbled in the fifth against the National League’s second-lowest scoring offense.
Brad Ausmus led off with a double, and Adam Everett was hit by a pitch. Willy Taveras, pinchhitting for Pettitte, beat out a grounder up the middle to load the bases before RBI singles by Biggio and Chris Burke.
Berkman, a game-time decision for manager Phil Garner because of a left groin injury, then sent his 27 th homer deep to right-center. The three-run blast boosted his NL-leading RBI total to 91.
Reds manager Jerry Narron stuck with Arroyo into the seventh, but Berkman went deep again. He came in 5 for 13 against Arroyo.
"He’s an outstanding hitter and one of the best hitters in baseball, and he’s got pretty good numbers off of Bronson," Narron said.
The Astros’ bullpen did the rest, allowing only two hits in the final four innings. Dan Wheeler finished for his second save. "You have to give them credit," Aurelia said. "They didn’t just lay down and die after they were down."
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Dispatch

7/28/06

REDS 8 ASTROS 4

Ramirez shines in his first victory in a month

Seven straight strikeouts back HRs by Griffey, Dunn

Friday, July 28, 2006

Chris Duncan
ASSOCIATED PRESS

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Houston Astros pitcher Taylor Buchholz leaves the field after giving up six runs in just two innings to the Cincinnati Reds, including a two-run home run by Ken Griffey Jr. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


HOUSTON — Elizardo Ramirez lost count of the consecutive strikeouts he had between the third and fifth innings of the Cincinnati Reds’ 8-4 victory over the Houston Astros last night.
He smiled when someone told him after the game he fanned seven in a row, the most by a Red since John Smiley had seven straight against Colorado in 1996.
"I knew I threw a lot of strikeouts," Ramirez said. "I didn’t know how many I had. That’s nice."
It was the most consecutive strikeouts since Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs fanned seven straight against Atlanta in April 2004.
"I felt very good, my concentration was very good," Ramirez said.
Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey, Jr. homered and Ramirez also had an RBI double. Dunn went 3 for 3 with four RBI and Ramirez (4-6) went 6 2 /3 innings to win for the first time since June 25, allowing six hits and striking out eight.
"Those seven strikeouts, against majorleague players, that’s a pretty awesome feat," Cincinnati manager Jerry Narron said. "He had real good velocity on his fastball and his curveball was outstanding."
Lance Berkman, Luke Scott and Eric Munson had RBI singles in the eighth off Reds reliever Billy Bray to make it 6-4, but Todd Coffey came on and struck out Adam Everett to end the inning.
The Astros dropped six games under .500 (48-54) and six games behind the Reds in the crowded National League wild-card race.
"We’re just not getting on a roll," Houston manager Phil Garner said. "We’re not putting anything together."
Dunn and Rich Aurilia added RBI singles in the ninth off Brad Lidge, ending the Houston bullpen’s scoreless streak at 27 innings, the longest in the majors this season.
Astros starter Taylor Buchholz (6-9) lasted only two innings as the Reds hammered him from their first at-bat.
Ryan Freel ripped Buchholz’s third pitch into the right-field corner for a double, and Dunn followed with a liner to left-center for his eighth RBI since the All-Star break.
Griffey then hit his 20 th homer of the season and the 556 th of his career, a towering two-run drive over the Astros’ bullpen in right-center.
Ramirez couldn’t ask for much more support.
"Any time you do that for a pitcher, then you let him go out and make his pitches," Griffey said. "It makes it a lot easier for anybody."
The Reds didn’t let up in the second.
Royce Clayton led off with a single to left and stole second. Ramirez, a career .100 hitter, then hammered a double to the wall in right. Clayton scored, giving Ramirez his second career RBI.
Dunn, hitting .340 since June 25, then crushed a 3-2 pitch over the fence in center, his 31 st. It was Dunn’s sixth straight hit in the series after he tied a career high with four hits Wednesday.
"I just didn’t really have a clue where the ball was going," said Buchholz, who threw only 39 pitches.
"I was just missing right down the middle, up belt high. And they were hitting it every time." Willy Taveras pinch-hit for Buchholz in the second, ending the rookie right-hander’s shortest outing in 18 career starts.
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Good to get the win last night, but I'm going to bitch anyways.

How hard is it to turn a damned double play? In the bottom of the eight, a tailor-made DP ball hit to second where Phillips fields and just lobs it to second and the DP doesn't get turned. Perhaps Clayton took long getting to the bag and that's why the toss had to be gentle. Either way, it just about set me off last night. Especially when the next two batters singled and what should have been a four run lead going to the ninth was down to two.

Also, in case anyone is curious, here are Majewski's post-trade stats:

6 games, 1-1 W/L, 4 1/3 IP, 12 H, 1 BB, 7 runs (all earned), and a VERY hefty 14.54 ERA.

I hope they stop to think before they send the guy out in a close game, because he is getting smacked around every time out.

On a happy note, since June 25, Adam Dunn has raised his season AVG, OBP, SLG, and OBPS from .221, .364, .542, and .906 to .261, .388, .566, and .954 respectively.

In those 26 games and 102 ABs, he has 37 hits (.362 avg), 16 BBs (.449 OBP), 6 2Bs, 7 HRs, 26 RBI, a .678 SLG, and an OBPS of 1.127. Pretty damn good.
 
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