Let’s recap today’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 7
Los Angeles 2
W: T. Wood (5-4)
L: C. Billingsley (5-6)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Scott Rolen was 3-5 with two doubles, three RBI, and two runs scored. Fred Lewis had two doubles and a walk, and drove in two runs. Ryan Hanigan was 2-3 with a walk and 2 RBI.
–Jonny Gomes only had one hit, but he made several nice defensive plays. Yes, you read that correctly.
–Bill Bray and Nick Masset each pitched an inning of scoreless relief. Bray’s ERA is now down to 1.52 on the season.
NEGATIVES
–Jose Arredondo struggled again. He gave up two hits and a run in his lone inning of work.
–Edgar Renteria made two errors. Sigh….
–Chris Heisey was 0-5 with three strikeouts from the leadoff spot.
Scott Rolen (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
–Sweep! Cincinnati ends the west coast road trip with a 5-2 record, and I really can’t believe I just typed that. According to the Reds (and I haven’t checked to determine accuracy, although it hardly seems possible), this was the first winning west coast road trip since 2004, and the first sweep of the Dodgers in LA since that same year.
–Really nice to put seven runs on the board with Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs resting. This offense has been awfully good this year.
–Travis Wood had one of the worst six-inning, one-run performances you are likely to see. He only gave up five hits, but he walked five while only striking out two batters. He didn’t retire more than two batters in a row at any point. I couldn’t care less. The Reds won.
–Scott Rolen has been hurt most of the year and his play has been pretty bad the rest of the time. He really keyed the Reds offense today, though, and it reminds me of how important Rolen can be to this team when he’s playing well. One can only hope that he’ll find Jack Sparrow’s Fountain of Youth, for the next four months, at least. Cincinnati needs him.
–Today was Dusty Baker’s birthday. It was also my little brother’s birthday. Happy birthday, Nathan!
–At press time (I always wanted to type that), the Reds were four games over .500 and just two games out in the NL Central. Reports of this club’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. There is a lot of season left to be played.
–Day off tomorrow, and I think we can all agree that we need it.