Time for a recap of tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 3
Milwaukee 9
WP: Looper (1-0)
LP: Owings (0-1)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Micah Owings wasn’t great, but he wasn’t Josh Fogg. Simply having a fifth starter that isn’t Josh Fogg is a positive to me.
–Two hits for Willy Taveras. Good leadoff work.
NEGATIVES
–The offense really isn’t very good right now. I’m still seriously concerned about whether this team is going to score enough runs to win games over the long haul.
–Jared Burton stunk up the joint. He gave up four earned runs in just an inning of work. Ugh.
–Jay Bruce will swing at any pitch you throw him. He’s struggling.
–Alex Gonzalez looks like his feet are in cement at shortstop. He has no lateral movement.
–Bill Hall is one of my least-favorite opposing players of all time. He keeps killing the Reds.
–Brandon Phillips looked terrible tonight at the plate. We’ll give him a pass, since it’s the first bad game in a while for him.
ETC.
–Kudos to Dusty Baker for bringing in Burton in a tight spot in the 6th inning. That’s a spot where the Reds needed a good pitcher in there, and most managers would have opted for a generic “middle reliever.” It didn’t work out, but it was smart managing by Dusty.
–Three hits between Ramon Hernandez and Gonzalez. That’s amazing.
–I wish this team had a power hitter.
–Two out of three, on the road, against a division rival. I’ll take that every time.