The Cincinnati Reds are on the west coast for the week and tonight they’ll open up a series in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. Cincinnati will try to get back to their winning ways after dropping the final two games of a 3-game set to Toronto over the weekend. Tonight’s 1st pitch in California is set for 9:38pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Cincinnati Reds
|
Los Angeles Angels
|
| TJ Friedl – CF | Nolan Schanuel – 1B |
| Matt McLain – 2B | Mike Trout – CF |
| Elly De La Cruz – SS | Shohei Ohtani – DH |
| Spencer Steer – LF | Brandon Drury – 2B |
| Joey Votto – 1B | Mike Moustakas – 3B |
| Christian Encarnacion-Strand – DH | Logan O’Hoppe – C |
| Noelvi Marte – 3B | Randal Grichuk – LF |
| Will Benson – RF | Hunter Renfroe – RF |
| Tyler Stephenson – C | Andrew Velazquez – SS |
| Graham Ashcraft – RHP | Lucas Giolito – RHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Graham Ashcraft | 127.0 | 4.89 | 1.40 | 48 | 90 |
| Lucas Giolito | 142.0 | 4.44 | 1.28 | 51 | 150 |
| Links: Graham Ashcraft’s Stats | Lucas Giolito’s Stats |
|||||
Graham Ashcraft
Since June 30th, Graham Ashcraft has been much like the guy he was at the start of the year – dominant. In his last nine starts he’s thrown 58.0 innings and posted a 2.17 ERA. That middle stretch of the season was real tough, but it seems that it’s behind him now.
During that rough stretch in the middle of the season, lefties were crushing Ashcraft. But in the rest of his career they’ve been quite poor against him and things are trending back that way again now that he’s turned things around. Right-handed hitters, though, are still finding plenty of success against him as they are hitting for average, power, and drawling walks at a good clip.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 284 | 71 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 29 | 43 | .290 | .378 | .461 |
| LHH | 266 | 59 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 19 | 47 | .243 | .306 | .399 |
Pitch Usage
| 2-Seam | Cutter | Slider | |
| Velo | 96.6 | 96.1 | 88.3 |
| Usage | 10% | 53% | 37% |
Lucas Giolito
After being acquired at the trade deadline by the Angels, things have not gone well for Giolito. He’s been solid, but unspectacular in three of his four starts. But against Atlanta on August 2nd he gave up nine runs in 3.2 innings.
The splits for lefties and righties aren’t that far apart when it comes to OPS, but lefties do have a small advantage in both on-base percentage as well as power. They walk a lot more frequently. Right-handed hitters hit for a higher average, but show a little less power. Not sure how useful it is given that he’s now with a new team, but this season his ERA at home has been 3.52 runs lower than it has been on the road.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 372 | 83 | 18 | 4 | 14 | 25 | 91 | .246 | .307 | .447 |
| LHH | 232 | 47 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 26 | 59 | .234 | .323 | .468 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | Slider | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 93.3 | 84.2 | 78.3 | 81.1 |
| Usage | 45% | 30% | 2% | 24% |
When and Where
- Game time: 9:38pm ET
- Where: Angels Stadium
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv (out of market), MLB Network (out of market)
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 73°, sunny, 5% chance of rain
News and Notes
Nick Lodolo has another stress reaction
Bad news on the Nick Lodolo front as he has developed another stress reaction in his left tibia and has been shut down from his rehab assignment.
Nick Martini and Michael Siani called up
We knew that Michael Siani was being called up before today. We did not know that he was being joined by Nick Martini. They will take the place of Stuart Fairchild (7-day concussion list) and Henry Ramos (designated for assignment) on the roster. Martini has hit .355 since May 23rd. You can read more about the moves here.
Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Brewers | 68 | 57 | 0.0 | 87.8% |
| Cubs | 65 | 59 | 2.5 | 60.3% |
| Reds | 64 | 61 | 4.0 | 22.7% |
| Pirates | 56 | 69 | 12.0 | 0.0% |
| Cardinals | 55 | 71 | 13.5 | 0.0% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
I get a stress reaction from my in-laws but never got time off for it…
And that’s the best I have for positivity tonight folks! Probably won’t be here all week, but do try the veal
+5,000
Just shut all comments down for the rest of the night!
For those of you who haven’t looked at the Reds schedule for the next 2 weeks, it is daunting! The Reds play 12 games in the next 10 days (includes DH against the Angels tomorrow and DH against the Cubs at GABP) AND 14 games over the next 12 days! Seven (7) of the games on the current West Coast road trip are against 2 teams (Giants – 3 & Snakes – 4) who are competing for the 3 NL Wild Card spots! Following this road trip, the Reds return home for 4 games against another NL Central rival over 3 days including a DH on Friday September 1st!
As Elvis once sang “it’s Now or Never!” It’s Do or Die time for this 2023 Reds team!
Wonder if our Field General has planned ahead?
Will HTDBell be General Custer or General Patton? We shall see!
One final thought/observation! The Angels starter tonight (Giolito) has struggled in his 4 starts since being traded with an ERA near 5. But, of course, the ghost of Cy Young will show up tonight and possess Giotto’s body as he strikes out 10 or more Reds batters!
Will be in Northern Kentucky the week of Labor Day and plan on a trip to GABP! Hope the Reds are still in contention for a playoff spot that week!
Personally, I’m thinking we’ll see more Little Big Horn than not on this trip. We’re just out of gas at this point and scuffling to hold on.
Snakes wore the Reds out last season if I recall.
There’s at least one opening for Bull Krall in an organization that is likely to spend more money going forward.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/08/white-sox-fire-ken-williams-rick-hahn.html
It’s going to be late and I’m not totally invested in the Reds after the Bell maneuver by ownership (let’s get this done now because the late season fade will come to pass as usual), but it might be an interesting game. I want to see how the 2 thru 5 on the Angels hit tonight.
Sometimes the love of the game and the chance to see players that only show up on ESPN highlight reels reign supreme of the result on some nights. Alas, we have nothing to worry about. After a pounding of Hunter Greene that may be the worst of his career along with 4 errors, some pathetic ABs (0-9 with RISP) and just one earned run, David Bell was none too worried at the PP because the results and mistakes were not because of lack of effort. The team is competing and working hard!
Maybe the mental health “program” needs to include circa 1970s mood rings to help sort out underlying issues that Bell couldn’t see for himself on the TV set.
Before Bell makes any more mistakes today, I just want to point something out. Last night, Bruce Bochy made two bad decisions that probably cost his team a win. First, he removed his starter after 8 shutout innings, ahead 1-0. He’d thrown 92 pitches and was cruising along, with no indications that he was tiring. No reason whatsoever to remove him other than they’d hit the magical 9th inning, which means you’re supposed to bring in a relief pitcher. Chapman came in and the game was soon tied 1-1.
Then, in the bottom of the 11th, up by TWO runs, with TWO outs and ONE guy on third base, he intentionally walked Ketel Marte (I double-checked and can confirm this was Ketel Marte and not Barry Bonds circa 2001) to put the potential tying run on first. If Bonds — oops, I mean Marte — had homered, which was apparently Bochy’s fear, the game would have been 3-3 with two outs and nobody on base. So, he walked the potential tying run to bring the potential winning run to the plate. Two batters later, our old friend Tommy Pham drove in Marte and Perdomo (who’d had a pinch hit double) to win the game.
The first mistake was very Bell-like. I can easily imagine Bell doing exactly the same thing, with exactly the same results. The second mistake was something even Bell would probably never do. Bell doesn’t even like to intentionally walk guys when it makes perfect sense to intentionally walk them, so I don’t think he’d ever walk a guy in that situation.
Related story: I was recently reading a Cubs blog after a Cubs loss, and their comments about David Ross could so easily have been about David Bell. Lots of complaints about his blind faith in handedness, being willing to play guys out of position because he’s a slave to handedness, insisting on sticking lesser players into the lineup for no apparent reason other than he has some sort of mysterious plan, being a nice guy who’s well liked by the players but a bad strategist, etc. etc. I mean, I could have copied and pasted, changed “Ross” to “Bell,” and nobody here would have known what I’d done.
What’s the moral of my stories? I simply don’t believe the fans who complain endlessly about Bell are wrong. With just a few exceptions (there are certainly some fans who get carried away and blame Bell for things that aren’t his fault), I think we’re mostly right. Bochy has won championships and awards and whatnot, and even HE seems to have had absolutely no idea how to manage a baseball game last night — when his team is slumping, fighting for a playoff spot, and really can’t afford to throw games away. (To his credit, I suppose, he at least admitted it was a mistake and said the loss is on him, which I’m not sure I’ve ever heard Bell do. But I digress.)
One of the most common defenses of Bell’s behavior is “other managers do the same thing.” That is just NOT a good defense of anything. It’s increasingly clear to me that a lot of people who work for baseball teams — from the executives to the managers to the coaches — aren’t particularly smart about what they’re doing. A lot of them seem to be just “doing what everyone else is doing” without bothering to ask “why are we doing this? Is there any evidence this actually works?” This obsession with “closers” and never leaving starters in to pitch 9 innings is a just one obvious example.
For a while now, I’ve been asking if anyone can produce any real evidence that limiting pitchers’ innings early in their career actually helps them avoid injuries, because I’m convinced this is just an idea someone came up with somewhere — probably based on anecdotal evidence like Kerry Wood, and perhaps on one or two very incomplete “studies” from 15 years ago that maybe kinda sorta support this theory a little bit if you squint very hard and hold them at the right angle — and nobody in major league baseball seems to have noticed those pitchers are dropping like flies now that they’re being so carefully protected.
Remember when we all learned we were absolutely positively supposed to be drinking at least 8 glasses of water every day for all sorts of important health reason? All the doctors said so! That turned out to be essentially a myth they all bought into because somebody theorized it, other people started repeating it, and nobody bothered to really study it for many years.
Bell is partly a product of the socialization he’s been subjected to, and partly of his own dopey theories and stubbornness. I blame him for the latter. The former, I don’t blame him for, exactly, but I don’t think it makes sense to defend him by saying he’s just like all the other managers. Other managers make lots of dumb mistakes too. Even the ones who’ve won championships and awards.
Mighty Mac. Good start.
Going to need a lot more of that from a lot of guys. Good start.
Win tonight and we’re tied with SF and trailed Cubs by half a game, as crazy as it sounds. Everything is ahead of us if offense picks up.
Yep! Both the Stupid Cubs and the Giants lost! Let’s not waste the opportunity to gain ground in the NL Wild Card race! Again!
It’s truly mind-boggling how often Stephenson hits easy double playgrounders right at the shortstop whether they end up in double plays or not. I’ve never seen anything like it. Maybe it’s just when I’m watching the games, but it seems like he hits an inordinately high number of easy grounders right at the shortstop.
First of all… how cool for Matt McClain to hit a home run at the stadium where he grew up as a fan in front of his family, friends and his MLB hero Mike Trout. Also, don’t look now but it looks like Elly might be finally starting to tighten up his strike zone and realize that walks are good things. He had 2 walks last game and leads off tonight by laying off the low off speed pitches to draw the walk and then steal 2nd…good job kid
Perhaps he could teach Votto some plate discipline.
Need to make Giolito pay .
Votto is flat out pitiful and does not need to be in lineup period … yet he’s in genius Bell’s lineup batting 5th
Bell needs to quit being buddies with players on the team and start acting like a manager. I’m a big fan of Votto but he is absolutely killing this team batting 5th everyday….you can tell he’s completely lost at the plate with so many half swings at balls way off the plate. Leaving a lot of guys on base.
McLain might be ok
Id keep an eye on that guy
Missed opportunity not getting Cruz in from 2B with only one out.
From gameday: looked like V & CES succumbed to an attack of the killer changeups! Gotta do better with scoring ops!
Ohtani. Our cleanup hitter next year. Lol I know , I know , I’ll let myself out .
Nice thought….until you wake up. 😀 Actually I would never want to pay him ($.5Billion lol) the money he’s going to get.
Bob will have to sell alot of veggies
Just woke up and saw the news on Lodolo.
What about Lowder? Fire him up. Every young guy isnt labeled fragile (hey look it’s Italian)
Legit question
Are andrew abbott and Graham Ashcraft the Reds 2 best starting pitchers now and ST 2024?
I think they are.
Here at RLN, opinions change month to month, week to week….even game to game.
No one in the organization has the cajones to plant Votto on the bench except for an occasion start as DH. Most MLB talking heads say Votto is questionable for the HOF. He’s not helping his chances.
He’s changing his last name to Mendoza
I don’t know how many other Spanish speakers are here on RLN who noticed, but I like your inadvertent pun:
cajones = boxes / drawers
cojones = huevos, pelotas, eggs, stones, etc.
HG and Lodolo. About 13 feet of over promise and under deliver
We know some hitters sit on the fastball.
How about our guys go up there and sit on the change up.
You know it’s coming…wait on it.
Trouble is it’s often diving out of the strike zone. Makes you chase. It’s a good tough pitch to sit on.
Move up in the box catch it before it dips.
Hal Morris style.
So Fraley is going to play on it, but when?
I don’t know. I hope he’s just a pinch hitter. Even that would help our bench a lot. Same for India.
I remember earlier in the season when Greene gave up like 6 runs in 5 innings. In his post game interview he said he was satisfied with his performance citing his pitch location etc. I posted on here that was bizarre. Could you imagine Scherzer or Kershaw saying that. It made me think , not question, his mental makeup.
We paid Moose to do that.
It’s probably killing Mr. Tight Bib Bob. hahaha!!! I think Williams did mess up. He finally had money to spend and didn’t spend it wisely.
It looked like a good signing at the time.
Should have been 2 years though…not 4
Probably not to play 2B.
Moose. Really? Dude steals $60 mil and now this. I’m out. News is nothing but how great we’ll be some day bs
That’s awful pitching Ashcroft , just awful on both hitters
…Ashcraft
This is a tough inning to
Swallow
Ashcraft is starting to get pounded. And of all folks-Drury and Moose. My goodness. And is Stephenson really that bloody slow? First off, he pounds another grounder to SS, then they throw to second, pause before relaying onto to first, and he’s still out by two steps. Wow.
David Bell used him as a pinch runner for Votto recently. He can’t be that much faster than Votto. lol
Revenge is in full force.
Ex Reds doing the damage. Getting rid of Drury was a mistake, Moose signing a disaster. Oh well, baseball is a funny game…
So where is drury in your 2023 reds starting lineup and which young player does he replace. Farmer too?
Don’t you know…..Any ex-red that gets a hit or pitches a shutout inning is a guy the Reds should have kept.
Nah. We don’t need either back. It is under a funny game.
Don’t think Marte is elite defense like McLain and Edlc. Tough play but lihave seen elly make that play look easy.
Early results are not so good.
Elly came up and impressed at 3rd right away.
I posted on another article that the Reds have struck out 10 or more times 21 out of 34 games since the all star game and are 5-16 in those games. Less than 8 k’s, 7-3. Let’s make some contact guys.
I like Chris Welsh, bit pregame he talked about how good the Reds are with two strikes. Surely he’s mistaken.
I like Chris Welsh, but pregame he talked about how good the Reds are with 2 strikes. Surely he was thinking of another Reds team from years past.
Yeah, I caught that too. Lol
Walks and opposite field singles are for sissies. Nobody gets to wear a cape for those.
I’ve lost count of how many games the Reds have scored early, usually on a home run of course, and then been basically blanked for the rest of the game. (Sometimes they’ll score again in the 8th or 9th inning to make it a little closer.) Maybe this will somehow not turn out to be one of those games.
With Votto, it’s increasingly seeming like a “good at-bat” if he just takes one good healthy cut before making an out. Even if the pitch is a foot outside, I’d just like to see him take one real swing where he looks like a guy who’s actually played baseball before.
Remember the old days when Joey got down 1-2, you could see him thinking “Now I’ve got him.” These days, he looks terrified. He’s not swinging, he’s waving.
He used to be thinking “I’ll choke up, stay back, and shoot this into the left field gap.” Now he seems to be thinking “I hope the ball hits this bat somehow.” He just seems to be so dead set on trying to hit home runs, he’s completely forgotten how to do anything else.
He looks uncomfortable and terrible. Why would the Reds pay 13 million for that?
“You get a homer! You get a homer! And you get a homer!”
The offense continues in cold mode… Makes the opponent pitcher looks unhittable…
By the way, Texas Rangers is absolutely not helping the Reds , they are losing again in Arizona, this time are down 3-0 in the bottom of the 3rd…Brewers winning again 7-3 over Twins…At least Cubs lost…
As Dandy Don Meridith used to sing … “Turn out the lights , the party’s over …..”
Guess batting practice on tap for tonight for Ashcraft
What has happened to Ashcraft’s velocity? It has completely dropped off.
There it is folks
Joey votto
Now .199
Ops .768
Doubt that gets better in san fran
See how this road trip
Goes but hes not carrying his $25 mil weight
Yeah, Votto looks done
not to Bell. He doesn’t even need a rest.
Greene surrendered 5 homers on Sunday, now Ashcraft looking for repeating the feat…
Maybe someone can hit a solo home run this inning.
If you want to know what type of pitch our pitchers are gonna throw, all you need to do is watch Ty behind the plate.
Stays on a knee….fastball or cutter
Crouches on both feet….slider/off speed
Whether hitters can notice it in time might be another story.
I’m almost sure they can see something.
The nice thing about having your highest OPS guy hitting 8th is that your #8 hitter gets on base a LOT.
But there may be a flaw in the theory when you have your worst hitter up next…
I made a comparison Greene to Ashcraft the other day in that when they make a mistake, it’s hit hard. We went through that horrendous stretch back in May or something like that, he was punished for every bad pitch he made. Look like it’s happening tonight as well.
Benson leadoff BB. Good start. Got to string good AB’s together…. Stephenson K’s. SMH.
Why wasn’t Benson running there anyway with Mr. DP at the plate?
Just once before this season ends, I would like to see the four best available hitters hitting 1-4.
Benson
Friedl
McLain
Steer
Just as a crazy experiment.
I’m sorry. Just let Maile be the #1 catcher. Please. This is not a charity game. This is the MLB. Produce or sit. Stephenson hasn’t produce all year. This is not about how nice a guy is or how hard they work, or how much they’re liked. Dang it, it’s about results! Bench him and Votto.
I have a feeling neither he nor Votto have fully recovered.
Agree completely !!!!! Bell doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to bench either of them …
talk about a nice bounce there
What a gift.
Maybe in the off-season some of these guys can learn how to make contact in situations where a ground ball or fly ball would score a run. That would be neat.
EDLC grounder proves your point. K’s create NO pressure on the defense. Put it in play and good things happen.
See there! Good things happen when you put the ball in play. 🙂
Phantom havoc!
It’s our best play lately.
2 run error by the other team.
Weird turn of events there. Scoring without home runs?
and cruz is fast
Alright! Steer is fortunate he didn’t get nailed at 3B. 🙂
I give their D an F.
Automatic out in the five hole
Same with Stephenson…just pathetic
That was good !!!
Young guys!
Joey votto with the Pete Rose roll over 42 yo 4-3
Joey is done , just done … wow unbelievable how far he has fallen . I like Joey and he has been an all time Reds great …. But he needs to sit . Just a shell of the hitter he used to be .
Yep…he’s cooked….totally lost at the plate. It’s not fun to watch as a big Votto fan.
Didn’t Joey say as long as he’s contributing,
and if not??
As I’ve said before there’s nothing wrong with moving the batting order around on a regular basis. There’s nothing wrong with moving Votto down while he’s hitting like this. David Bell acts like he’s afraid the players won’t like him if he does. Of course that’s VERY IMPORTANT to him.
YES….VERY IMPORTANT TO HIM
Bell needs to just quit playing him let alone batting him 5th.
Yes. He’s done
How does Trout come back from that injury in July and it takes everyone else a lot longer seemingly?
It’s a 6 week injury.
Only people think that Barrero gets 1.5 years to heal from it.
Of course Trout not looking too good so far.
Now let’s imagine that last inning with a proper lineup:
Benson – walk
Friedl – double
McLain – K
Steer – double
CES – ?
Elly — reaches on error
Marte ?
Odds are pretty good you’re getting more than three runs out of that. Separating your best hitters with your worst hitters just isn’t a great strategy even if the Reds win this game.
Ashcraft strikes out trout and ohtani back to back
Raise your hand if youve ever done that!!!
Votto .197 and cratering
That was pretty sporty. 13 pitches 3 k’s. He has the stuff. Just needs to spot it.
Bell’s like a cat on a hot tin roof when it’s the 5th inning or 1/3 inning later so he can point to the pen.
Fetish of his it seems that extends beyond the analytical 3rd time thru the order.
He has to come out mid-inning to make his presence known….no matter how well the pitcher is throwing.
Otherwise it wouldn’t seem nearly as clever and strategic.
He does. He lives for that cameo.
That walk off HR did not get CES going as we hoped
Reds need to find another catcher in the
off-season … Stephenson ain’t it ! Strikeout machine …
They could start by trying the guy who’s been hitting all year in AAA, but of course that might hurt someone’s feelings.
Name a good one available.
This Stephenson we have is awful thus far
Reds riding the K train again tonight … 9 thru 6 innings …. It’s maddening …. Doesn’t get any better either as the season progresses
Maile should be starting most games. Stephenson is lost. Some want to blame his injury. His injury doesn’t affect his pitch recognition.
I tried to make that point with a poster not to long ago.
Giolito over 6.5 Ks
You guys are missing out if you aren’t on opposing pitcher K-Props.
I wonder what Votto is thinking lately. People complain about his lack of production, but from my experience watching and listening to him over the years, I believe nobody is more dissatisfied than Votto. He wants to produce, but it’s just not happening now. Would he really want to return next year to be a .200 hitter or worse? It’s hard to face our limitations due to age. He’s special and still may have a hot steak in him this year but he is simply not the hitter he once was.
Stephenson is just atrocious time to sign Barnhart or bring up Chuckie . Strikeout king anymore it seems like for Stevenson
LOL @ Barnhardt
Please no Barnhart. Being a LH hitter Bell will play him waaay too much.
He likely would.
THAT’S the Moose we know. 🙂
Yes!!
Ashcraft settled since 5th inning. I think he should go to the 7th. on just 86 pitches
Why delay steal, just steal the darn base, this team doesn’t need to try and out smart people.
The “fastest man on the planet” would probably be better off just stealing as usual. 🙂
I can’t fault him for attempting to steal and being out by an inch. He’s going to be out by an inch sometimes when he tries a regular steal, and we wouldn’t fault him for that.
At least he’s not waiting for a DP. 🙂
exactly….took a super human play by Drury to tag him.
Out by an eyelash.
Ashcraft getting into it now. Alright! There are times when he looks like an ace.
Yes-Dealing!
Sims is warming….
Why not in a 1 run game.
Did Cruz miss the flight?
SMH… if it’s Sims in the 8th. Cruz has been money lately
Sims pitching 8th? I need to clear out any thing that can break the TV
Man. Ashcraft looks like he’s ready for another one. If Sims does come in and gives up a homer I don’t want to think about it. I just got my 85″ TV a few months ago. lol
Need a couple more. Not sure they can get past Trout and Ohtani one more time.
Agreed.
I guess Votto has learned how to accidentally bunt.
Steer. I love you the player. Swing that darn bat with 2 strikes.
Votto has legs and accidental hits
Bell doesn’t seem to know he’s got runners available on the bench.
That’s what Siani is for. Bell pinch ran Stephenson the other night for Votto. lol
He’s counting on CES hitting a bomb.
Hahaha Moose. Votto too fast for you. 🙂
Watching the game. Bell does not pinch run for Votto in 8th. What is this guy doing?
There are times when it seems he’s in lala land.
Did Siani not make it there in time to pinch run? What is happening?
Isn’t Hopkins still available? Anyway?
Double digit strikeouts every single game .. it’s absolutely atrocious … get a real hitting coach geeze man
All I can come up with is that Bell is thinking if he takes Votto out of the game he’s got to put CES at first, and then he loses the DH when the game inevitably goes to extra innings.
Steer is playing LF tonight. He could easily move in to the infield with Siani in CF or LF. If David Bell can’t figure that out than he’s in more trouble than I thought.
then*
Right. Forgot all about Steer. Maybe Bell also forgot all about him.
I have no answers, other than Bell is every bit as dumb as we believe he is.
Hahaha ?
I don’t have a good feeling here.
I hope Moll does great. Wish Aschraft was still pitching. Angels glad he’s not I’m sure.
Moll tried his best to walk the leadoff batter, but couldn’t quite get it done.
He’s trying to be a Reds pitcher. Just not quite there yet. 🙂
I’m sure he’ll get there with more practice. Gotta throw that 3-2 pitch a little further outside. Maybe another foot higher as well.
Great play by Steer!
Yep. It’s hard to argue against Steer being the Reds MVP this year playing so many position while hitting so well.
India doesn’t make that play.
Nope. I agree. Hope he comes back as a pinch hitter though.
Good play by McLain and yes Votto too. Big scoop.
Votto saves the day!
I hope Hokins gets on here but I’d rather take my chances leaving Benson in there…and he Ks as I’m writing this.
Hopkins can’t play at this level … period
At Least T J swung.
I’m trying to wrap my brain around the fact that Votto has had four at-bats against right-handed pitchers in this game, he’s put the ball in play three times, struck out once, has a hit, and I don’t think he’s taken one legitimate swing yet.
How many hard hit balls do the Reds have tonight?
McLain hit a home run, Steer had a pretty good double, and Marte hit a pretty hard foul ball.
Oh, and Friedl had a line drive double. So… four.
Come on Moose. Don’t let us down. Strike out! 🙂
DO NOT walk him Mr. Diaz. There ya go! 🙂 Thank you Moose.
Nooooo! Don’t hit the batter!!
DP! DP! DP!
We need this one BAD!
Ty pegged one.
Moniak must have fallen down!!!
Alright Stephenson!!! Great throw!!! Nailed him. 🙂 Maybe not. Replay.
Close, we’ll take it.
Woah. He looked safe to me. We’ll take it!
wild card team again
BIG win.
Good job Ash and the pen!!
Solid win!
We won! Am I right? We won? 🙂
Yes, the Reds won. But David Bell probably really screwed something up, and we will hear about it in the comments.
He screwed up several things, as some of us pointed out in the comments above, and, as usual, not a single person argued in favor of those things we criticized. But now that the Reds won, some people will show up to whine about how mean people are to Bell.
Nice win ! Struggle but will take it !
The Reds take advantage of the big error made by Schanuel and get the win… Keep fighting Reds!
RedsGettingBetter – Cool name haha
I have no idea what just happened. The Reds barely managed to make any contact all night, the #5 hitter looked like a little kid trying to swing an adult’s bat, Ashcraft was giving up home runs left and right, Bell seemed to have literally fallen asleep when he forgot to pinch run, and somehow the Reds won?
At this point, I’ll take what I can get. Maybe tomorrow they can win a real game.
How bout TWO tomorrow? 🙂
I’ll be thrilled with two, but I want at least one of them to feel more legitimate than this one.
Reds win with the help of costly Angels
error, and solid pitching from Ashcraft and bullpen.
Bats lost 24-10 haha. Somebody needs to tell them football hasn’t started yet. Lopez, Barrero, and Robinson all with two hits including a HR a piece.
Stoudt gave up seven hits, seven runs, two HR in two innings. Antone one inning no runs and a walk.
It will be nice to see Antone back up in the bigs assuming there are no setbacks.