I’m just glad that the Reds won:
Austin Kearns hit a sixth-inning solo homer against Ben Weber to lead the Slammers to a 3-2 win over the Boilermakers in the Reds’ intrasquad scrimmage on Tuesday at Ed Smith Stadium, but the final score didn’t matter.
“The big thing is that these guys have worked hard and they got a chance to go out there and compete,” Reds manager Dave Miley said. “Even though it was an intrasquad game, it’s fun to play some baseball.”
His players agreed.
“It’s nice to be able to play in the stadium and get the yellow screen and the cage out of the way,” said third baseman Joe Randa, who finished with a single and a walk. “But it’s an intrasquad. It’s kind of hard to zone in because you’ve been joking around with these guys for two weeks. It’s kind of like going through the motions. You don’t put a whole lot of emphasis on what happens out there.”
Well, I don’t like hearing that Joe Randa was just going through the motions, but there were some interesting things about today’s intrasquad game. Eric Milton and Brandon Claussen looked good, and Ryan Wagner threw a scoreless inning (if Claussen can pitch like a #3 starter this year — which isn’t totally out of the question — these Reds will be able to win a few games).
Offensively, Kearns had a double to go along with his HR, and Edwin Encarnacion had an RBI. Next intrasquad game is tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.
Best quote of the day came from Eric Milton: “I’ve pitched to these guys enough. The reason I came over here was so I wouldn’t have to face them.”
Heh.
I saw Stratton play quite a bit last year, too, and was really surprised they didn’t buy his contract to see what he could do.
I remember when he began playing in Louisville, his transfer stats were pretty much awful; but he hit .353 with about 16 homers (I think) in just a couple months of playing…I mean he was murdering the ball and hitting with confidence…
Another example of someone who could play for us for next to nothing.