Let’s recap today’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Pittsburgh 8
Cincinnati 3
W: V. Mazzaro (8-2)
L: B. Arroyo (14-12)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Brandon Phillips went 2-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Joey Votto reached base four times: 1-2 with three walks and a run scored.
–Seven Reds pitchers took the mound, and some of them did okay, I guess.
NEGATIVES
–Four straight losses for the Reds on the most important homestand of the season. Now the final game of the homestand, and the regular season, is meaningless.
–BP fouled a ball off his shin, and a pretty gruesome knot popped up under his sock almost immediately. Fortunately, x-rays were negative (check out the picture at that link), but he had to be removed from the game. He won’t play tomorrow, and we’ll just have to wait and see if he’ll be able to play on Tuesday.
–In what may have been his final start as a Red, Bronson Arroyo was pretty bad. Arroyo surrendered five homers, six earned runs, and eight hits in four and two-thirds innings.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Playoff fever: Catch it!
–With today’s loss, it’s official: the Redlegs will travel to Pittsburgh on Tuesday for the Wild Card playoff game.
–If that does turn out to be Arroyo’s last start in Cincinnati, it’ll be a bummer. Arroyo is a Reds Hall of Famer, and I hate to see him go out like that.
–We have had some criticisms of BP’s play this year, but can you imagine Cesar Izturis starting at second base in the wild card game? Yikes.
–I’ll say it again: all the Reds have to do is win on Tuesday, and some of this angst will dissipate. Hope and optimism will take its place. I can almost guarantee it.
They gotta win on Tuesday first, however.
A terrible showing tonight, Redlegs. Just awful. Milton looks happy, but he’s disappointed.