Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Houston 1
Cincinnati 9
WP: Arroyo (17-10)
LP: Myers (14-8)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Outstanding start by Bronson Arroyo. Seven innings, one run on four hits, struck out four, walked none, and threw just 91 pitches. Masterful.
–It’s so nice to see Brandon Phillips starting to come around. He was 2-4 tonight out of the leadoff spot, with a long homer, a walk, a stolen base, and three RBI.
–This Jay Bruce fellow seems like he might be a pretty good ballplayer. He went 3-4 with a walk tonight. When Bruce gets locked in, he really gets locked in.
–Speaking of locked in, Drew Stubbs was 2-4 with a walk, his 22nd homer, and four RBI. Nice.
–Don’t look now, but is it possible that Jonny Gomes is finally heating up again? He went 2-4 tonight, with a homer and two runs scored. Gomes has been below-average on the season, but if he could get on a hot streak like he was on in May, the Reds could make some noise in October.
–Excellent relief work by Bill Bray and Francisco Cordero.
–Ryan Hanigan had two hits and an RBI.
NEGATIVES
–None.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Have we mentioned that the Reds are NL Central Division CHAMPIONS?
–The Reds beat up on a pretty good pitcher tonight in Brett Myers. That’s nice to see.
–I have said it a hundred times, but I just love watching Bronson Arroyo pitch. Seventeen wins? Yeah, who cares about that stat…but it sure looks nice.
Now Arroyo can rest for a few days before he opens the 2010 playoffs in Philadelphia.
–Let it be said that, when lots of people were calling for Jay Bruce to be sent to AAA earlier this season, you never heard that nonsense from Redleg Nation. We’ve always preached patience with good young players, and Dusty/Walt’s patience is paying off right now. I’ll take an 826 OPS out of a 23-year old every single day.
–Let’s ditto that for Drew Stubbs. I don’t believe we ever called for Stubbs to be sent to AAA, although we conceded at one point that it appeared inevitable that the Reds would do just that (when Chris Dickerson was prepared to return from the minors). Stubbs has had an excellent season.
–One more series remains…then it’s playoff time!
Jay Bruce
i don’t think it’s out of the question at all to look at stubbs as a future 30-30 guy. hes at 22-28 as a rookie, that’s promising to me.
Reds are young, talented, deep starting pitching, good defense at several positions, have a strong potential for a team leader, Votto. Big Red Machine V. 2.0? Probably not as deep in hitters 1 through 8. Thinking there are several strong years in this club’s future.
Reds 3 young everyday players get hot in October and watch out world. Go Stubbie, Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce, and MVP.
Amazing what a good night’s rest will do. Maybe Dusty does know a thing or two. 😀
When Stubbs hit his HR last night I was thinking – What is he?(actually what will he turn out to be) …A lead-off hitter with power?…A power hitter with speed? I’m not sure. I guess until he’s able to cut down the # of strike outs he won’t be a true lead-off guy, but he is a rook and he’s came a long way this year.
Stubbs, Bruce, Phillips and Votto – Thats a really strong core of good young players to go along with a pitching staff loaded with young talent. The Reds should be competitive for some time to come. 😀
I know there was some discussion of this a few weeks ago, but I think Stubbs is miscast as a potential leadoff hitter. This isn’t to say you don’t bat him leadoff every now and then for a spark, but I think he’s a potential middle-of-the-order guy next year and beyond. His pitch recognition is getting better, and if he can cut down his Ks by about 30, he’ll be a seriously dangerous hitter.
When you have a power/speed guy, some people (typically old school baseball guys) tend to overrate the speed and neuter the power. If Stubbs was a 5 or 6 hole hitter, his power would be better utilized because he’d come up with more guys on base, and he could still use his speed on the base paths. But if you bat the guy leadoff, he’ll have fewer guys on base when he’s at bat over the course of the season.
Looking ahead to the playoffs – Votto’s gonna be Votto. Stubbs and Bruce are hitting now, and Phillips seems to be coming around. The key to a succesful playoff run may be the two old-timers 😉 at SS and 3rd. Get Rolen and Cabrera rested up and hope one of them can get hot(think Rolen) and the Reds could be playing ball for the next month.
…only slightly off subject…3 days later and I’m still watching the Bruce HR multiple times per day….and still getting a little teary eyed watching the players and crowd go nuts. Go Reds!
Lowenthal said, “It’s a short series, not all of these guys are going to hit. They just need to have a few guys hitting, as opposed to just Votto. In 1990, for example, O’Neill and Morris had a great LCS, as I remember, then both didn’t hit in the WS. But in the WS, Sabo and Hatcher went off. If all the guys are hitting the Reds would blow out the Phils.
I agree with this 100%. If the Reds get beat by the Phils it’ll be because our starters get touched up early. I do NOT want to jinx it, but the only way I see the offense giving it away will be if the lackluster hitting continues (hope they let the performance from last night carry them on!). Short of this happening including the opposite scenario – 1 thru 5 in the lineup getting two or more hits a game – I envision at least a couple of the less notable hitters putting up “O’Neill, Morris, Sabes and Hatcher post-season numbers” as you mentioned. For some of these Reds who are hungry, young and talented, there would be no better time to shine…