Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 2
Milwaukee 3
W: K. Loe (2-1)
L: L. Ondrusek (2-2)
S: J. Axford (5)
BOXSCORE
POSITIVES
–Chris Welsh wore a bowtie tonight, and it looked nice. That was very nearly the only highlight of the evening.
–Nice outing by Mike Leake: 7 innings, 2 runs on 7 hits, 6 strikeouts and no walks. Just outstanding work. Oh, and he also had half the Reds hits.
–Aroldis Chapman came in to face one batter, and he made Prince Fielder look silly. Chapman threw two straight sliders to strike Fielder out, and there isn’t a batter alive that could have hit either pitch. Just filthy.
–Brandon Phillips hit a two-run homer and did a nice little dance in the dugout.
NEGATIVES
–TOS*. Two stinkin’ hits. Sigh…
Goat Braces!
–Edgar Renteria may be worse defensively than either Orlando Cabrera or Alex Gonzalez. It makes no sense why Dusty Baker would play him at SS, while moving his best defensive player over to 3B. If Renteria refuses to play third, designate him for assignment. This isn’t Little League.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–I guess Milwaukee had to beat Cincinnati at some point. Right?
–I am as frustrated as the rest of you about the poor performance by the offense. Everyone should probably just chill out, though. It’s a long season. The offense is going to be fine.
–I don’t mind having Renteria in the game. The guy is on the roster, and he has to play some. There isn’t a single AA team, however, that would allow Renteria to bat fifth in the order. Yet, here he is “hitting” fifth for our Redlegs.
–Someone needs to explain the top of the 8th to me. The game is tied 2-2. Paul Janish leads off the inning with a HBP. With a man on first and no out, Dusty sends…Mike Leake to the plate? Really? I mean, I know Leake is a pretty good hitter for a pitcher, but isn’t Chris Heisey a better option?
It probably wouldn’t be as big a deal to me, except for the fact that Leake didn’t come out to pitch in the bottom of the inning! There was no reason not to pull him for a pinch-hitter there. I know I’m not very smart, but I just don’t get it.
–Reds have a chance to win the series tomorrow afternoon. Two out of three would be very nice.
–Sorry, guys. Tonight’s stinker earned an appearance by the goat.
*This Offense Stinks.