Game 37: Treading Water

The Good

Seemingly every night, it just doesn’t matter who is on the mound. The beat goes on. Tonight, it was Mike Leake’s turn to keep the Reds hanging around until the Reds bats got going, because they were sure to get going eventually. Right?

Rrrrrrright?

Brandon Phillips doin it at the plate and in the field.  3 for 4 and two more effortless-looking plays in the field.

The Bad

The fastball to Chase Headley from Aroldis Chapman that was promptly deposited into the left field seats. The slider is going to have to make more appearances in Chapman’s repertoire to keep hitters honest. All they can do is guess fastball. Good guess tonight.

The Ugly

The Reds’ Bats.

Not so random thoughts …

Mesoraco and Bruce missing from this lineup is starting to really take it’s toll. Four of the Reds seven hits came in the first 3 innings. The rest of the evening was basically a parade of outs until Brandon Phillips’ turn in the lineup came around again.

And another hard-to-fathom one-run loss. Yes, you can blame it on the hitting if you want, but the Friars only got 3 hits themselves. 12 one-run losses already this season. I believe that’s far and away the most in Baseball. And like it or not, Cashner is really good.

Good to see Bryan Price bring Chapman in with the game tied in the 9th at home. If he doesn’t do this and the outcome is the same, he gets second-guessed from here to Dusty Baker’s doorstep. Sometimes, there is no right answer.

Leake’s terrific night got lost in all the negatives. That’s too bad. If there is a better # 4 or #5 pitcher in Baseball, I haven’t seen him.

The Daily Billy: Another triple by the Kid. Another terrible bunt. If Hamilton could figure out how to deaden the ball on contact consistently, his impact on this team might jump to another level.