Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 3
Colorado 4
WP: Chacin (8-9)
LP: Cueto (12-5)
S: Street (16)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Drew Stubbs looked horrific last night. Tonight, he had two hits and two RBI. He also misplayed a ball in center field, but we’ll try to forget about that.
–Orlando Cabrera had two hits. Jonny Gomes hit a homer.
–Arthur Rhodes and Nick Masset were great out of the bullpen. Again.
NEGATIVES
–One of the worst games I’ve seen Brandon Phillips play. He made the error that paved the way for Colorado to score their fourth run, then grounded into a double play after Yonder Alonso’s pinch-hit to lead off the following inning. On his only hit, he tried to stretch the single into a double and was thrown out by ten feet (although he made an excellent slide that made the play closer than it had any right to be).
Oh yeah, and he grounded out weakly to second base to end the game.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Well, the Cardinals lost to Milwaukee, so the Reds didn’t give up any ground in the NL Central race. In fact, their magic number dropped to 20. That’s a good thing.
–This was an extremely winnable game. That is what makes it more frustrating.
–Not sure what to say about Johnny Cueto. He gave up three runs before the crowd even arrived, then he was awfully good for the rest of his six innings (and he probably could have gone another inning). Tough night.
–Arthur Rhodes’ foot is hurting, badly. It’s tough to watch, but the big guy keeps gutting through the pain. Gotta love that guy.
–As noted in the game thread and on Twitter, it’s really a crime that the Reds are trying to play in September in the middle of a pennant race with only three outfielders. Would any other contender do that? Would the Yankees do that?
GM Walt Jocketty and the guys in Cincinnati’s front office know much, much, much more than I do, but I just can’t see any reason not to create roster space to get Wladimir Balentien on this team. I’d love to be enlightened.
–Need a win tomorrow night, with Bronson Arroyo pitching. Yes, tonight was a tough night, but the Reds are still in great, great shape.
