FINAL
New York Mets 6
Cincinnati Reds 8
WP: Bronson Arroyo (1-0)
LP: Oliver Perez (0-1)
S: CoCo (1)
BOX SCORE
Positives
–Reds win! Reds win! First victory (of many, we hope) of the 2009 season.
–Do you like Joey Votto? I do. (3-5, HR, 2 runs, 4 RBI)
–The bullpen. Again, with the exception of one reliever, a really nice job. Specific kudos need to go to Arthur Rhodes, who has been simply magnificent in the first three games, and my old nemesis David Weathers. (Okay, Bill, I’ll say it: he’s a stud!)
–Fast Willy Taveras was only 1-4, but he did take a base on balls. That’s a positive.
–Beating Oliver Perez? That’s a new one on me.
–The Mets are a very good team. We didn’t win the series, but we really battled and had chances to win every game. I’m going to count that as a positive.
Slight Negatives
–Our Gold Glover, Brandon Phillips, made his first error of the year. I don’t have any worries whatsoever about BP’s defense, though; just ignore today’s error.
–Not a good performance by Jared Burton. He’s another guy I’m not too worried about.
Etc.
–Bronson Arroyo’s performance: neither a positive or a negative. He struggled at times, but he really battled. I’m hopeful that he’s going to be okay. If nothing else, despite a lot of hits and runs, Arroyo threw fewer pitches in six innings than Volquez or Harang threw in five.
–HAVOC alert! The Reds stole their first base of the season. Anyone else surprised that it was swiped by Edwin Encarnacion?
–Speaking of EE, he really needs to be hitting 2nd. Or 4th. Do you hear me, Dusty?
–Darnell McDonald: he contributed to the win today. Good for him. (Still no excuse for him batting second, but that’s not his fault. He’s trying.)
–Paul Janish was completely overmatched in three of his ABs, but he got a key single. Any offensive contribution from Janish is icing; he’s here because of his outstanding glove.
–As was noted in the game thread, the Reds got back into the game on the strength of walks and a three-run homer. Wasn’t that was everyone was complaining about before this year?