Time for a recap of tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cleveland 1
Cincinnati 3
WP: Arroyo (6-3)
LP: Laffey (3-1)
S: Cordero (11)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Smiling side of the scoreboard!
–Great, great outing by Bronson Arroyo. Eight innings, five hits, one run allowed. I love watching Arroyo pitch when he has good stuff. Very entertaining.
–Jonny Gomes has been freed! Gomes came to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the 8th, with the game tied at 1. He promptly ripped a double on the first pitch he saw, and was lifted for a pinch-runner, exiting to a huge ovation from the crowd. Why hasn’t Gomes been on the roster all year?
–The offense was nonexistent, with the exception of … wait for it … Alex Gonzalez! Gonzo was 3-4, and even drove in an insurance run in the 8th. Any offensive contribution from Gonzo is wonderful. Pllus, he made a pretty good play in the 9th inning to record the second out. Good stuff.
–Francisco Cordero was dominant in the 9th again. When he is good, he is very good.
NEGATIVES
–As mentioned above, the offense was nonexistent, and very nearly wasted a great outing from Bronson. Only one starter other than Gonzo had a hit (Rosales). That’s just awful.
–The Reds left 10 runners on base. That’s just brutal.
ETC.
–Good start to the weekend series.
–Love seeing those Reds on the top step of the dugout, watching their teammates hitting. It’s Little League-esque enthusiasm.
–The Reds took the lead in the 8th inning thanks to two players who should have been on the major league roster on Opening Day. Jonny Gomes should have been here instead of Darnell McDonald, and Adam Rosales should have been here rather than Paul Janish. Those are bench guys, so the fact that they have been in Louisville for much of 2009 hasn’t been a huge deal, but there can be no doubt that Walt Jocketty has not had the best 25-man roster available in Cincinnati to this point.
–I absolutely agree with this comment by Tom in the game thread:
Another nice day on the mound for the Reds. If this pitching holds up and we get Votto and Encarnacion back into the lineup, things could get interesting.
Indeed.