Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Los Angeles 9
Cincinnati 11
WP: Lincoln (1-0)
LP: Troncoso (1-1)
S: Cordero (5)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Positive number one: the Reds finally won a game again. They tried to lose it, but the Dodgers didn’t want to win either. I’ll take it!
–Scott Rolen: I really wish we could keep this guy healthy and in the lineup. Three for four, a double, a couple of runs scored. Nice game.
–Arthur Rhodes is a stud. A dominant inning, helping Logan Ondrusek escape trouble.
–Joey Votto was 2-3 with a homer, 3 RBI, and a walk. Brandon Phillips had a homer and Jay Bruce had a triple. Bruce also made an outstanding play in right field to save what would have been the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.
–The Bat Boy (his name is Paul Janish; you may not have heard of him before tonight) came into the game and delivered a clutch single, knocking in the winning run. Good work, Soft J.
NEGATIVES
–Something’s gotta give with Drew Stubbs. Leading off tonight, Stubbs went 0-5 and struck out twice; he’s now hitting .146/.255/.268. That’s just bad.
–Homer Bailey was bad tonight, as well. He threw 110 pitches and couldn’t get out of the sixth inning, giving up five runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out five. He was in position to get the win until Nick Masset threw up all over him, but Homer didn’t deserve a win anyway. I’m very disappointed in young Homer.
–After taking a 9-3 lead, we were all pretty happy…if skeptical. The skepticism was warranted, because the Reds proceeded to allow the Dodgers to tie the game at 9, thanks to more crappy pitching by Nick Masset. Masset gave up four hits, walked one, and gave up four earned runs…and only recorded one stupid out. A completely miserable performance.
This team just punches me in the gut almost every single night.
ETC.
–It would be really nice to see the Reds win one easily one of these days. This team kills me.
–I wonder if the Louisville Bats have stitched Logan Ondrusek’s name on a jersey, or if they will wait for the bus to arrive from Cincinnati?
–Nick Masset’s ERA is now 14.14. I predicted that he would regress to the mean this season, but this is ridiculous.
–Joe Morgan and Pete Rose were at the game, for some reason.
–I dunno…I enjoyed the Reds win, but it feels empty somehow after they let the Dodgers get back into it. In the end, it doesn’t matter how they win, only that they do win. Still, I don’t think I can hang a sombrero on this one. Sorry.
–Tomorrow night, the Reds and Dodgers get together again. Aaron Harang pitches for the good guys.