Loading ...Okay, no coney pictures tonight.
The Reds lost a heartbreaker last night, wasting a fine performance by Bronson Arroyo and permitting the D’backs to come back from a 2-0 deficit. Tonight, Kyle Lohse will take the mound for the Reds, and I’m looking forward to seeing if he can match his last outing. We all know that Kyle Lohse’s performance is one of the big keys — and big question marks — when it comes to whether the Reds can compete this year or not.
For the Diamondbacks, Edgar Gonzalez is the starter. Gonzalez is making his second start, but he hasn’t started very many games in his career with Arizona, a career which spans over five seasons. He pitched against the Nats last week, and he tossed five pretty good innings but, hey, it was Washington.
Reds need to win this one if they want to do any better than splitting this four game series. For what it’s worth, Chris Carpenter went on the DL for the Cards today…this division is there for the taking. The Reds don’t need to fall too far off the pace just yet.
Discuss it here.
Fay says Fay says that Hamilton is starting in CF tonight . . .
Ok, so I kind of blew my first comment link.
“The Reds don’t need to fall too far off the pace just yet.”
Zuh? They’re in first place! Don’t let a mere two consecutive losses get you down.
Pregame: I don’t want to start the same old debate on Adam Dunn or anything, but John Sickels did a Prospect Retrospective feature on Adam Dunn yesterday that I haven’t seen anyone mention. Thought it was interesting reading. I was surprised to see the stolen base totals he racked up in the minors.
Dunn was fast when he weighed 230-240 pounds.
I am liveblogging tonight’s game for the first time. If you would like or it’s slow here, stop by and leave your thoughts in the ‘comments’ section. I’ll try and keep up with the discussion in there as much as possible during the game. I will also come by here for some commentary! Go Reds!
1. Josh Hamilton
2. Brandon Phillips
3. Dunn
4. Jr. Griffey
5. EE
6. Hatt
7. Ozzy Smith
8. J. Valentine
9. Lohse
I really like that line-up sans dunn being 3rd and hopefully hamilton will prove to be a good athletic lead off hitter.
Can’t stay up for the game tonight (also havn’t bought mlb.tv yet, so I really have no reason to stay up as well), but I usually come straight here in the morning and read the comments for a game recap (it’s much better than some canned article from espn). Go Reds!
DA…I wrote a post on that Dunn prospect retro, but I just hadn’t published it yet. I was going to do that after tonight’s game.
Very interesting feature.
Hey, Boston RedLeg…before you go.
You don’t like Dunn batting third? Do you prefer 2nd?
I like either of them better than when Narron used to bat him 6th or 7th.
Here’s Josh Hamilton to lead off the game. He takes the first pitch. I LOVE his plate discipline so far (spring plus his 3 ABs in the season).
I have Extra Innings, and we’re stuck with the D’backs broadcast tonight.
Before the game, Mark Grace (yeah, that Mark Grace) said that Orlando Hudson is the best player in the National League right now.
Man, that was a bomb by Dunn!!!!!!
Woweee!!!
Wow, Dunn crushed that one.
Followed by a pitiful little fly ball by Junior.
Quick top half, but the Reds have the early lead. Let’s see if Kyle Lohse can do anything with it.
Hamilton hit his ball hard, though pretty close to Hudson. He also gets down the line pretty well for a big fella.
Tale of the tape?
I agree re: Hamilton. He hit it sharply, and made it a close play at first.
Wouldn’t it be something if he were to actually blossom into a major league player?
7 miles. Approximately.
Hamilton\’s off the drugs and alcohol, but he has about the biggest wad of dip I\’ve ever seen in his lip.
I haven’t heard the tale of the tape on that Dunn blast. Has anyone? I’d love to know. It was crushed, to center field.
Funny, Chris…about the HR distance.
I guess when it comes to addiction, nicotine is preferable.
I really hope this kid can stay clean. Even if he never becomes anything more than a spare part on a major league roster, it’ll be a great story.
Lohse doesn’t appear to have the good stuff early.
Already in trouble. No help from Hamilton, who threw that ball hard, but about 75 feet in the air.
Let’s get electric socket head out here.
Electric Socket Head. Sweet.
Ever seen Saarloos’ hair? Same deal.
While my wife was watching American Idol earlier, I read several chapters of my Baseball Prospectus. I started with the D’backs chapter.
I am astounded at the young talent in that organization. They have really assembled a good crop of kids.
Wow. Tracy’s hair is red.
Tracy pounded that one. So much for that lead.
With the way the Reds’ offense has been going, I’m very concerned.
Yeah, Chad, that’s something I noticed just from watching them last night. They seem poised to be pretty good.
Especially if they get to bat against Kyle Lohse every night.
Inning mercifully ends.
3-1, bad guys.
why did K lohse give in and throw a fat 3-2 FB in the 1st?
Phoenix and Tampa have some really nice young talent. So do Milwaukee and Denver, who are a year or two ahead.
Josh Hamilton hits his first major league homer!
Hey hey!
Did you see the Reds give Hamilton the silent treatment when he returned to the dugout? Funny.
Alright!!!!
The team gave him the silent treatment
AndNOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!
yessssss! Hamilton 2 run HR !!!
Not bad for two freebies.
Back to back! Phillips crushed that one, and all of a sudden, the Reds are back on top.
HOBBS
Just the time for that selfish Dunn to hit a solo HR.
BP goes boom. 4-3 Reds !
Good point, Chris. Wayne Krivsky got us back in this game.
Hamilton looks like the child of Dunn and Kearns.
See, all of a sudden, Lohse is having a good outing. Ha ha.
This game got fun again all of a sudden, didn’t it?
Is that DevilsAdvocate, or Chris Welsh?
Wow, Junior hit that ball really hard, but just foul. Maybe he’s about to get locked in.
Thank goodness for small ball!!!
Anyone try this Miller Chill they’re pimping everywhere?
It’s not all that hard to find actual Mexican beer, so I don’t know how much demand there will be for a knock-off version.
Never heard of it.
Hit the ball so far it looks small. That’s the small ball we like !
John Fay just said today that he watched Griffey in batting practice, and thought that he was looking like he was starting to get his powerstroke back…the warning-track outs and liners off the wall could start going a little farther soon enough. And Chase Field is a good place to do that.
I am a happy fella right now guys! Lets make this a happy night with a win! WOW what an inning that was! excitment in the lineup once again!
Hamilton looks like the child of Dunn and Kearns.
LOL, Chris…that is true as well as very disturbing…hopefully Dunn gets over their break-up this season…
Nice throw by Adam.
He made the right play out there on that ball, but I still wonder if he might’ve caught it.
Hope so, DA. This struggling offense could use him.
Do dooooooo, do do do do…
(that’s the natural song)
too bad lohse can’t be a natural.
Orlando Hudson does hit the ball pretty damn hard for a little fella.
For the guys enjoying this one on television, how GOOD is the younger brennaman. WOW. It’s like watching the FOX game of the week every night. I’m not worthy!!!
Lohse may not be a natural, but I just want four more innings out of him. That’s not too much to ask, is it?
Lohse owns Byrnes
You really love him, huh? I’m not 100% sold yet. He needs to calm down a little bit (see last night’s game thread).
I’ve really enjoyed Thom Brennaman thus far this season. No complaints.
Unfortunately, I’m stuck with the Arizona broadcast tonight. Last year, that would have meant listening to Thom. Oh well.
The D-Backs guy just got through talking about how Byrnes doesn’t strike out much…just before he whiffed for the 2nd time in 3 innings.
I think he may be trying too hard to be his dad, but I think he’s outstanding. When dad retires, they won’t skip a beat in that radio booth.
I’ll take 5 innings out of Lohse on a night like tonight. The ball is really flying tonight.
Well Lohse holds them teh inning after they got the run back. I’ll take it one inning at a time.
Hmmmmm, (wonders how long it will be before people start wanting Hamilton as everyday CF over Freel)
St. Louis just took the lead
What inning is that St. Louis game in? Seems like it was going into extra innings an hour ago.
Base hit by Hattyburgh. Now Superstar Alex Gonzalez is up.
looks like a final in Pitt. 12 innings, 3-2 Cards.
I think Thom is going to be brutally honest like his dad.
Poor man’s Pudge missed that just a bit.
I bet later in the season he hits that out. Is it true Valentine is one of the best PHs playing?
He’s an excellent pinch hitter ATXreds. Exhibit last night in the 9th. The guy can simply turn on a fastball and seems to be at his best when his back is to the wall
A lead no longer.
here we go again.
George Grande is still employed, ATXreds; no one can figure out the announcer rotation yet. Thom being away on weekends to do the Fox game of the week has a big effect.
Hatteberg: Excellent play.
ValentÃn had the most pinch-hit homers in the majors last year, as I recall. And that was not as a Lenny Harris-style pinch-hitter (162 ABs per year, all PH appearances), but as half of the main catching tandem.
Nice play by EdE too. Hattyberg looked good there. Who likes M Grace color play? I do!
Lohse is having a good night at the plate, at least.
Mark Grace is doing color on FSN Arizona. Check out Lohse with the lumber!
If Grace would turn to his left (or right) and strangle his partner, I would like him even more.
Who is it hammer1? He does sound kind of like a tool.
I don’t know who he is, but you are right he does sound like a tool. Will try to look it up.
I’d be absolutely elated if Hamilton became the everyday CF and Freel shifted to an all-purpose utility role.
I’d be elated if Hamilton earned that. He hasn’t yet.
Probably the guy linked in my name. Greg Schulte
I think maybe Narron should have started Hamilton last night given Freels history against last nights pitcher. Whats up with Griffey going the other way all the time?
Narron wasn’t going to give Hamilton his first ML start against a left-handed pitcher. That’s why he waited until tonight.
Ohhhh… s$!t. That Greg Schulte! My bad. Funny comment @ surfing web makes good TV.
Gracey’s funny too!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Schulte
@ ATXreds: I read that Hamilton still had a bit of the flu yesterday, that’s why he didn’t get the start.
As far as the opposite-field hitting for Jr…Griffey’s bat is getting a little less quick just due to age, but consensus is that his broken hand over the winter – which as doug gray pointed out to me required a cast that immobilized the hand and wrist – has likely had a lingering effect on his wrist strength. Not to mention that Griffey’s timing at the plate and in the field is still in a spring-training phase, due to the fact that he didn’t play in Sarasota until the final week of the spring.
I’m not worried about him too much yet, though his hitting performance last year was really not good at all. I hope it was just an off-year and only heralds a bounceback.
I agree, DA. I think he’ll bounce back. He’ll never be the Junior of the late 80s, but he can be a good hitter.
This is not a suicide squeeze Gonzalez. yeesh.
Gonzalez is a terrible hitter. I’m tired of him already.
D-backs have turned 5 double plays already this series.
Wow, Lohse comes out for the seventh inning. This worries me. How many pitches has he thrown?
@ Chad: 88 as of the start of the inning I believe
Early on I didn’t think we’d be in the seventh with both starting pitchers still in the game. But here we are. 97 pitches for each pitcher working in the bottom of the 7th.
1-2-3 for Lohse, 99 pitches. Overall a reasonably good effort, especially for homer-happy Chase Field.
Another close game tonight … It kind of worries me that the Reds and D-Backs are so evenly matched….
Yeah, pretty efficient outing for Lohse, with a couple of mistakes. Not bad.
I like the way Loshe hung in there tonight after letting up some bombs. Hopefully a good sign for him.
Freel pinch-outs for Lohse. Back to Hamilton’s spot in the order.
Hamilton approaches an AB like a ten year veteran. Very patient.
Hamilton draws a walk. Nice AB.
How does a guy not play baseball for three years, come back and get a golden major-league opportunity handed to him due to the vagaries of rule 5, get into a major-league uniform for the first time, and be this selective at the plate? It’s un-natural.
I know. I’m amazed.
Arizona announcers:
“Kinda odd, but Narron had a hunch and just came up empty with it.”
…how many times have we seen that happen?
I’ve got a bad feeling boys..
Orlando Hudson, my nightmare is coming up. Drew also scares me.
Oh no. Not Rheal Cormier.
Hide the women and children.
I dont’ know DevilsAdvocate. It’s SUPER-natural. Good start by Lohse INMHO.
SQUEEZED! WHERE WERE THOSE LAST TWO!
leadoff walk. perfect.
what did Dunn do? MLB.TV never came back after the pitching change. Now it’s back with AZ up
First walk of the night from Reds’ pitching.
According to yahoo, he grounded out…I had to look it up too Hammer1
Dunn grounded out to the right side.
SUPER-natural…well-played.
Cormier is rotten. Why not just bring in Majewski if you want to give me a heart attack?
Put Java Man in the game!
Marty and Jeff are giving serious praise to Hamilton’s arm.
Java Man!!!!
Thank you.
Here comes Java Man, sprinting to the mound.
yeah he left early. Oh well. Coffey in
Did he really leave early? I didn’t see the replay.
Yes, he did Chad…MLB.tv had a nice replay of it
2-2. Get him out, Coffey. Like the drink, only spelled different.
Java Man!!! Strikes him out!!!
AZ announcers agreed he left early also. He did.
*phew*
Oh well, at least it didn’t come back to haunt us. It’d be nice if the umpires would pay attention to the game, though.
Goodbye Electric Socket Head.
By the way, RagTag, nice Green Mile reference there.
Film references are always encouraged in the game thread. Josh Hamilton has been making a film reference tonight, too.
Thanks. One of my favorite movies.
This team can’t hit at all.
I miss the days when we had a powerful offense.
On to the bottom of the ninth. Hope Coffey is going to return, but it’d be just like Narron to set him down after only one batter. Hope I’m wrong.
nope, they bring in Stanton. To face the lefty, I guess.
Conine is double-switched into theballgame.
Gonzalez can hit a little. He got a clutch hit last night. Man.. I agree NaturalMevs. Orlando Hudson is SCARY good. T. Breneman had high praise for Orlando Hudson last night didn’t he?
Hatteberg out, Conine in for the double switch.
I’m way more comfortable with Saarloos in this situation than I have any right to be. I can’t explain it. I like the guy.
Good play by Saarloos, knocked it down, stayed with it, got the 2nd out.
Strike this joker out, Saarloos.
Darn.
Phew.
Wow. That was close.
Let’s play some overtime.
Yeeesh
Wake up offense!!
Why does it feel like we need to survive into the 11th just to get some decent bats up…
Decent bats are few and far between on this team, CeeKeR. That’s why.
This is terrible. I ahve no confidence in these hitters.
Back to Hamilton now, though. Wouldn’t this be a great story if he were to win it with a homer?
BIG swing. He was trying to hit that one back to Raleigh.
Full count. My heart is thumping!!! Go Hamilton!
Nice eye, Mr. Hobbs
Wow. Just wow.
Once again, I’m amazed at this kid Hamilton’s plate discipline.
Get us some runs here, Phillips.
BP
BP
BP
BP
BP
BP
BP
Wow…good at bat I guess…we just need a HIT!
Well, that didn’t work out as well as I had hoped.
heh, that was anti-climatic.
Let’s hope this one goes 11 at least.
Josh Hamilton’s homer was his first since June 29, 2002 for Single-A Bakersfield at San Jose.
According to John Fay.
Patience Brandon!! Why are we so damn impatient?
Oh no, my arch-nemesis Stormy Weathers is in the game.
Hamilton isn’t impatient.
Neither is Dunn. That’s about it.
Nice play by Gonzo at short. He can’t hit, but he can pick it.
A-Gon wins Gold Glove this year. Screw that third grader in St. Louis.
Weathers; comes in, throws strikes, leaves. I like it
I agree, Jeff.
Weathers made quick work of the Backs in that inning. He still worries me.
Nice inning out of Weathers… Now can we please get some offense?!
Brantley makes a good point. Weathers was brought in to face a left-hander, and two switch-hitters who are better from the left side.
And yet, he sets them down 1-2-3. A better start to the year for Stormy than last season.
Rally caps!!
Nice two-strike AB, Dunner
Dunn singles to start the 11th. Good, very good.
Come on, Junior. It’s time to get on track.
My rally cap is on, Jeff.
Good hitting by Dunn… First two pitches by Cruz were good, the third one was lousy (thank goodness)
Nice bit of 0-2 opposite field action by Dunner.
Patience, Edwin!!! Please!!!
Base on balls, Dunn is in scoring position.
Let’s hope that Encarnacion gets a hit, because the rest of the lineup is sub-par, IMO.
Ross on deck? Swing away EE
David Ross on deck. He’s sucked all year and all spring. Maybe tonight’s his night. Looks like Edwin may bunt.
You get the first 2 on, you BETTER score!
EdE’s bunting. Crappy hitters to come…
Oh Lord that was weak Edwin. Swing away!
Griffey’s too good to ask to bunt, but not EE?
Can’t bunt if the pitcher won’t throw a strike!
Horrible attempt at a bunt, let him swing!
That is horrible, Edwin. Just bad. Here comes Ross. UGH
Simply awful at bat there. If you don’t have a good lineup, you can’t do that.
Terrible swing on the first pitch by Ross.
D-Backs guy is saying to throw a low one to Ross. He doesn’t know Ross.
No balls, two strikes. Ross is in a hole here.
Bunt on + bunt off = screwed up hitter
Ross is awful. What happened?
Ross wasn’t even close on that swing. 0-1, 1 out, man on 1st and 2nd
Dunn and Griffey were a combined 3 for 23 off Cruz, and he walked them both.
Well, that’s just terrible, Ross. I’d rather have LaRue.
Absolutely pathetic. Three pitches. I’m so sick of Ross I could vomit.
Ross is a freakin mess.
Ross swung after the ball was in the mitt I think.
Now it’s up to Gonzo.
Pathetic start to the season, David Ross. Reds so far not doing the little things.
Gonzalez 2 for 5 w/ a HR vs. Cruz.
Ross = ice cold.
And in a bad way, not the ‘cool m-f@#!’ way.
How about shortening your swing, Alex? Just need a single, not a gapper…of course, I’ll take the gapper.
How bout that?
how about a wild pitch now?
A balk? That would have been good a couple of batters ago.
Who is that first base ump. He’s huge.
is it Froemming?
wooooah, got away with that check swing I think
Two on, no outs…and we can’t score. Ugh.
And those ABs by EdE, Ross, and Gonzo were simply terrible. Ross and Gonzo didn’t even come close to hitting one. Disgusting.
Wish we had an offense.
This team is going to be in a lot of trouble if it keeps pissing away opportunities like that.
THAT WAS PATHETIC.
2 on, no outs, a BALK, and still no runs. Simply unexcusable.
Not how you play winning baseball, boys. Bad omen
Hold ‘em, Stormy. I’m so glad Eric Byrnes thinks he’s a power hitter.
We need to win this one in the twelfth. I have to get up for work tomorrow.
Gotta hope for at least 12 innings now…
Have to get up in 5 hours, this is it for me.
Well, if you miss the end, Jeff, hope you get good news in the morning.
I agree, let’s win it in the 12th, and go to bed.
Yes the 1b umpire tonight is Big Bruce Froemming.
That’s why Weathers is my arch-nemesis. Can’t stand the guy.
Guess I can go to bed now. BAD BASEBALL!! This has to change quickly.
Damn, there it goes.
Crap. This series is really sucking so far.
and with that. Good night.
(not so natural in the field eh?)
I can’t believe I wasted my whole evening on that.
I’m afraid we aren’t a very good team right now.
PS: I still hate the west coast.
Night all.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
awful top of the 11th. just had that sinking feeling we weren’t going to see a 12th. unfortunately that feeling was right. just horrible.
It was poorly played, but to dead center with two outs, that would be very tough to get the out at the plate.
Good night, everyone. Once again, though, looks like Weathers is oging to steal some sleep from me.
But I know I’ll be back tomorrow.
Man. Losing these close games early in the season are gonna catch up with us at the end of the year.
sheesh.
Wasted opportunities. Two straight games that the Reds could and should have won. Good teams should win these.
Good evening. I’m going to bed.
And some similar problems from the offense as last year. We just can’t get a hit with runners in scoring position. Its sickening.
Good nite, all.
Lack of situational hitting puts too much pressure on our pitchers. Weathers has been good. Reds have to capitalize obviously.
The Diamondbacks seem to have our number.
It seems that most of you are much more satisfied with Thom than I am. Yes, I prefer him to George (Buccos and Little Guy) Grande, but not by a whole lot. He beats points into the ground mercilessly. He so wants to be right about everything. It really takes something for me to be happy about Chris Welch, but I was glad he challenged Marty Jr a bit. Chris was visibly (audibaly?)irritated. If Thom had said something about the lack of taking pitches one more time I might have taken my television outside for some BP. Thom kept prefacing his comments with ‘I know I haven’t seen these guys much, but…’ you are right Thom, you haven’t. He just seems a little….caustic. It’s not personally appealing to me. Relax, Thom. Just relax. You will have plenty of time to be critical of things.
I agree, preach. And for what it’s worth, a buddy of mine called me last night from Cincinnati just to make the same point.
I like Welsh, though, and am really enjoying seeing him come out of his shell.
I think Thom calms down and finds a happy medium after a few more games. But for now, it’s pretty annoying. He’s no more qualified than I am to offer color commentary, but he sounds like he’s Ted Williams, the way he passes judgment on professional baseball players.
I agree with you preach. And Chris, I hope you are right and he does calm down. He’s not even giving the season a few weeks before railing on players. You’d think this was the last month of the season and the Reds had already accumulated 100 losses. Or that they were unanimously picked to be the best team in baseball and are already out of the running.
BTW – I don’t like the new D-back’s uniforms or colors. I can’t tell which team is which.
Seriously, what happened to their old colors.
I can’t complain about getting rid of teal, purple and whatever other Spin Doctors-era colors they were sporting. But the “change colors every 5 years” act is also pretty tired. It’s apparently called “Sedona Red,” btw.