Loading ...Well, yesterday was a lot of fun, wasn’t it? I missed a large part of the game because of work-related obligations, but I caught part of it (including my arch-nemesis, David Weathers, and his heart-stopping appearance), then watched the condensed game last night at MLB.com. Very exciting. I agree with someone in the game thread who suggested that yesterday was payback for one of those games the Reds blew in Arizona.
Bronson Arroyo takes to the hill today, and I feel pretty comfortable with that. Arroyo has pitched well this season, but his teammates have refused to support him. Let’s hope that’s different today.
Rich Hill is on the hill for the Fuzzy Cubbies.
Discuss it here.
Anyone have the lineups yet?
Your Cincinnati Reds:
Freel CF
Phillips 2b
Dunn LF
Conine 1b
Griffey RF
EncarnacÃon 3b
Castro SS
Ross C
Arroyo P
Chicago Cubs
Soriano CF
Theriot 3b
Jones RF
Lee 1b
Barrett C
Floyd LF
Cedeno 2b
Izturis SS
Hill P
For the amount of money the Cubs spent, their lineup isn’t that spectacular (even w/ a healthy Ramirez)…
Let’s get some runs early today and not count on a mid-game meltdown by the Cubs
Two days in a row the leadoff batter swings at the first pitch??
that’s leadoff hitting at its finest…way to work the count Farney
phillips saw 2 pitches…may be some kind of record
bad call…same pitch as the last ball.
Well, Dunn saw some pitches
Ah, Marty talkin’ ’bout a Lou meltdown in the postgame yesterday. I missed that one.
Ross has hit rock-bottom. He’s batting behind Castro. That’s bad.
Strange situation: usually, when Castro comes in at SS, it’s an upgrade defensively. Now, we’re probably worse off in the field with Castro in the game.
Very different than what I’m used to.
Ummm…is Jeff Conine really hitting fourth?
…and, of course, Conine leads off the 2nd with a hit.
Junior is due to have a huge game. Now would be a good time to start.
Junior hits into a double play. He’s struggling.
Speaking of struggling…Edwin is hitting .212.
Wow. Castro has more career ABs than anyone in MLB history who hasn’t been hit by a pitch.
36 pitches for Rich Hill thus far – 19 strikes, 17 balls.
We have to make him pay for that wildness.
Phillips and Castro turn a double play. Nice.
That’s an interesting stat above about Juan Castro. I suppose, when the hitter is as crappy as Castro, you want to just throw it over the plate to get him to swing.
Why take the chance of hitting him and putting him on base, when there’s so little chance Castro can reach on his own?
Of course, there’s also the factor that Castro obviously doesn’t lean in either. Neifi Perez and late-career Craig Biggio are still getting onbase via the HBP, despite horrific plate production.
Arroyo loves hitting off the Cubs in Wrigley.
Wow. Arroyo still has a better average than Ross. Maybe they should flip them in then lineup.
Freel kills me. How many baserunning mistakes does he make?
Uh, lots?
Precisely.
With aggression comes risk. And Freel is nothing if not aggressive.
Dunn’s been running quite a bit this year.
Perhaps its part of the Ichiro philosophy?
wow, we have some anemic bats right now.
This is one day when walks don’t necessarily come back to hurt you. 4 walks for the Reds in 4 innings, nothing to show for it.
DA- I did read that somewhere. I find it amazing that pairing him with Jacoby has yeilded such results over the course of just a couple months. Dunn’s putting the bat on the ball, striking out less, and still hitting home runs.
Arroyo in trouble. 2 basehits and a passed ball sets up a sac fly. 1-0 Cubs.
And now Marty and Brantley discussing Dunns weak arm? I thought his arm was pretty good. When did that change?
Now a squeeze. 2-0 Cubs.
Ross getting chastized by the announces. Didn’t stay at home on the bunt. “Ross not doing much of anything right” says Marty
Dunn’s got reasonable arm, is what I always thought. Juan Pierre has a weak arm – Dunn is average.
Heck, Dunn was a big quarterback prospect before he signed with the Reds. He’s got to have some decent amount of arm strength.
Leadoff Phillips single to start the inning, to bring up Dunn…
Ah, nuts. Another doubleplay.
Another game not going so well… Where’s the offense? (oh that’s right, Krivsky traded it for Majewski and Bray…) *sigh*
I agree with Marty, by the way. What in the heck was Ross doing on that squeeze? He’s gotta stay home! My 2 year old son knows that.
Maybe the guy woulda been safe anyway, but still…
What good is excellent starting pitching when you can’t score any runs? Hamilton and Freel do not a good platoon make. And with three catchers on the roster, there’s just no reason to keep playing Ross all the time, personal catcher to Arroyo or not.
Krivsky has solved the pitching situation (for now), but this team just can’t hit.
Where’s the offense, you ask? Sitting on the bench, in the persons of Hamilton & Hatteberg. Not fair, really, especially since Conine has hit, but still. And EdE and Ross and Castro have been, well…
95 pitches for Hill through 7. Perhaps the Cub bullpen will be less invincible than yesterday.
It’s frustrating when your starter gives you 7 innings or so with 2 runs given up…and you feel like the offense can’t even make it a game. I’m sure Arroyo is frustrated as well!
Intentional walk the pinch hitter to get to Soriano?! *shakes head*
And he gets an infield hit, Cubs score.
Dumb move. 1st and 2nd now.
4-0. Maybe if I give up again the Reds can shock me and come back.
Bye all.
Ugh. that got ugly real quick. Conine error and an infield hit opens the door for 2 runs.
Hope the bats aren’t dead yet.
Real ugly now, think they got another 5 run comeback in them?
7-0. Yikes.
now a bases clearing double. A little revenge for yesterday’s big inning. 7-0 cubs
Of the 6 runs charged to Arroyo, 2 are earned. Isn’t this pretty much what happened in Arroyo’s first start?
I hear godfather music in the background of the “Gangsta, or Gangster” discussion. Am I going insane?
Everyone has left in discouragement, but for posterity the final score is 7-0 Chicago.
DA – yes, they had the Godfather theme playing in the background…then brought it down while Marty called a play, and then back up to finish the trivia…
Yeah, I could do without the trivia question…if they need something to prompt discussion and fill some time, how about getting wireless internet and answering emails at away games?
Perhaps Arroyo justed isn’t ready to be stretched out to 7 innings yet? Or perhaps they need to not skip the 5th starter and let every pitch on an extra day’s rest in April?
Perhaps if everyone would start hitting like they’re supposed to (or at least like they did last year…and I’m looking mostly at David Ross), then Arroyo could get his first win?
Well, that was a letdown. I turned it off after it was 7-0. Awful.