Loading ...“O” no! Not Oswalt again. Can Owings beat him?
Yeah, really bad pun. Sorry about that. Anyway, Reds and Astros get it on tonight at GAB, and the Reds will try again to beat up on noted Reds-killer Roy Oswalt.
Just once, I’d like to see a series against Houston where we didn’t have to look at Roy Oswalt or Lance Berkman. Those guys kill me. I’d love to have either of them playing for the Redlegs, but I’m so sick of looking at them in Astros jerseys, I could scream. All they do is excel against the good guys.
One note: Nick Masset is back. Wilkin Castillo was sent back to Louisville without stepping on the field. (Also, Darnell McDonald cleared waivers (surprise!) and accepted an outright assignment to Louiville. Redleg Nation wishes him luck down there, as McDonald never did anything in Cincinnati other than play as hard as he could.)
Here’s the Baseball-Reference game preview; discuss tonight’s titanic struggle right here.
The Reds are climbing up the NL scoring lists and are up to 4.57 runs a game, middle of the pack. That was below 4 not too long ago. Pretty impressive when you consider Votto has been on light duty at best over the last couple of weeks.
Astros
Bourn CF
Tejada SS
Berkman 1b
Lee LF
Pence RF
Rodriguez C
Keppinger 3b
Maysonet 2b
Oswalt P
Reds
Dickerson CF
Hairston 2b
Votto 1b
Hernandez C
Bruce RF
Nix LF
Gonzalez SS
Rosales SS
Owings P
Rosales at third base rather.
I’m still getting an “unsafe” message from Norton regarding your web site. Is there a problem?
Fay says BP is available for pinch hitting duties tonight, may return Friday or Saturday…That qualifies as good news.
I hope BP can play through the pain when he gets back, one fortunate thing is that he plays 2b as opposed to SS or 3b where throwing the ball across the diamond would put more stress on that thumb.
We’ll be very lucky if his swing isn’t affected because he has come around in a big big way this month.
Is it rainin again in Quenn City ??
What’s up with Willy taking the day off? Slacker.
I’m blotto for Votto. Welcome back big guy.
Yes it’s raining, delayed because there’s one more shower supposedly coming through, everybody is acting like it’s not going to be long though.+
Yep, raining. I hate the rain today but loved it yesterday when it halted the Coke 600 with David Reutimann in front. Being a Vegas guy, I had $10 at 55-1 on him!!!
Reds are barely underdogs today against Oswalt. The oddsmakers give us a chance in spite of Oswalt.
I have the Reds in a parlay with the Royals tonight, figured I’d show some faith in them and go against the Oswalt odds.
Reds and Royals. The R n R parlay. Go Royals bmattuk.
Rain delays always make me think of the “Adam from Milwaukee” call from a few years ago. This is really sad news, but the link to the mp3 of that call does not work anymore (on this thread – http://redlegnation.com/2006/07/27/redleg-nation-radio-episode-2/).
Guys how is the weather lookin ??
I dont know if its worth waitin
I’m in Europe with mlb package and have to wake up in the mornin for work
The game is underway Raf
Nice start from Owings.
It’s gonna be huge to get the batters not named Tejada, Berkman and Lee because they can’t afford to let the rest of the lineup beat them.
Berkman’s done everything else to the Reds…why not triple
Berkman with a triple. Good grief, we can’t get him out.
And to Mark (#4), I’ve checked everything three times. The site is fine. We were attacked last week, but the site is and has been safe.
I’ve been at the softball field and figured I was missing the first two innings or more. The rain turns out to be very convenient for me, if no one else.
I woulda been about 3 or 4 innings late to a Reds game last year but the rain pushed it back to where the first pitch was right as i took my seat, it works out sometimes.
Dickerson smoked that pitch, i guess that may be a good sign.
Berkman will continue to sit on Reds pitching until someone grows the cajones to pitch him inside and back him off the plate. Over and over until he gets it.
Great work by Micah in the inning.
Lets see what we can do about Roy now
Has anyone noticed that Roy Oswalt is good?
Yeah, problem is everyone else except the reds can somehow hit him.
Micah just made Pudge look like a high schooler.
Come on ump
Micah throws a lot of strikes today.
What cruel irony in Louisville the last few days. Corey Patterson hits a three-run bomb against us on Sunday as we lose in 12 innings to Syracuse (Nationals). Then the Reds take Jonny Gomes away from us and we get one-hit against the PawSox on Memorial Day. Can we get him back? Maybe Edwin will drop in to derby city soon to help us out. Check out my site for details.
Finally broke down and bought a home kit for my XM (no way could I take the one from work). Beautiful sounds.
After 2 at bats I’m loving the contact Dickerson is putting on the ball.
Good job Owings, then Dickerson. Let’s get some runs off Oswalt.
C’mon Votto
I agree with the decision, actually, but I’m surprised that the Astros aren’t walking Votto intentionally here.
Wow, Oswalt blew Votto away.
Ramon!!!!!
2-0 good guys.
Owings was cruising, then the bottom dropped out briefly.
Lee just lined one off Owings’ hip, it appears. Could be bad. He acts like he’s hurt.
OW
Bases loaded, no outs, but it looks like Owings feels okay right now. He just threw a couple of test pitches.
Looks like Owings will continue.
He’s going to have a dent in his hip.
Huge out..good play by Hairston
A DP would be really nice right now.
Oh. That’s bad.
This is NOT good.
Wow… 0-2 how do you throw a pitch in the zone.
Tie game. Shoot.
Was that supposed to be a slider?
Grr. A double play was needed…not a double!
The wheels have officially fallen off.
Okay, Rusty. Call the bullpen.
So glad I turned this game on… *sigh*
That helps, but a little too late.
Has anyone noticed that Laynce Nix is good?
Nix!!!!! New ball game
NIXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Nix!
Wow, he hit that ball hard.
That was easy enough.
That was the definition of a “rope”. Wow
Hard hit, but to be fair – that’s a double in 29 other ballparks.
I’m watching the Cardinals/Brewers game on ESPN…and I don’t know who to root for since apparently the rules won’t allow them both to lose.
Has there ever been one of these in-game interviews that wasn’t an annoying distraction?
WOW. Hell of a play there. Another mash by Owings.
A great Catch! Speed kills.
LeBrons 23, Majewk 19
Owings’ smash was a double in 29 other parks (the ones where Michael Bourn isn’t manning center field).
Go LeBrons, btw.
Come on, Owings! Slam the door!!!
How did we get stuck with this broadcast team?
Good thing he can hit.
Whew…..
Brantley, I usually am entertained but tonight he is wearing me out. It is just time for Thom to head back to Arizona.
What is everybody’s problem with Thom?
Is Volquez aware of where the camera is all the time?
I liked that guy Chad likes on the radio yesterday.
Similar to Milo Hamilton, but I like him better than Hamilton, who is tiresome.
I just think Thom is so incredibly bland. He’s like a world without adjectives (or just a few overused ones).
Personally, I find Thom to be fairly scatter-shot in his criticism. Sometimes a failed bunt goes unmentioned, other times its the absolute end of the world. In a similar vein, he’s over-dramatic at times.
The faults aren’t terrible – it’s just that he doesn’t have any really strong points to outweigh them. Again, IMO.
Jim Kelch is a essential broadcast professional.
Lincoln screwed this one in about as short order as humanly possible.
Where is John Wilkes Booth?
Keppinger, seriously now, that’s unnecessary.
Mike Lincoln continues to stink. Fastball right down the middle.
Lincoln = not good right now
Effing Lincoln.
Is there something physically wrong with Lincoln? If not, could it be arranged?
Thom is a play-by-play guy who thinks he is a color guy. He needs to stick to play by play.
Let’s hope Votto messed Oswalt up with that ball of his hand.
It seems like every time you see a reliever come off the DL he is the first arm used out of the pen. Of course with Masset, this is the one time that doesn’t happen.
True play-by-play guys should be placed on the endangered species list.
Good move Dusty. Bring in your worst reliever in a game where your team is going up against a guy that dominates them. Nice
Why in the F&%^ would you send out Mike frickin Lincoln or Jared frickin Burton in a close game. Yes Dusty kick the baseball cuz ur an idiot
Good line Mark in CC
McDonald cleared waivers. Who would have thought?
SouthRoad-I agree. I said the same thing before the home run.
I like Thom as a broadcaster. Brantly is annoying, but I’ve heard worse. Anything that doesn’t include George Grande is OK with me.
I thought for sure the Raiders or Clippers would pick him up.
I bet opposing hitters have some colorful adjectives they use in conjunction with Herrara’s name.
I swear Herrera could start a game in little league and nobody would question his age, even after he threw an inning nobody would question that he wasn’t 12 with his 65 MPH pitches (I love him by the way but only against lefties).
I’m sure Rick Sweet was trying to think if there was a way they didn’t have to take him.
I would have to say Herrera is my favorite MLB player 5′6″ and under.
I agree with what Thom just said about Masset/Lincoln.
What happened to Masset-6th, Weathers-7th, Rhodes-8th, Cordero-9th? Thom is right.
I wonder if there is a residual effect of facing Herrara? Does it mess you up for the next few at bats?
Of course Jon Fay will write a column tomorrow saying we are just overly critical of the great Dusty Baker.
Announcers always talk about how tough players used to be, but Jeff Brantley must’ve been the most mentally weak ballplayer of all time. Nick Masset “can’t” pitch in the 8th, because he hasn’t done it before. Cordero “can’t” pitch in tie games, because he’s a closer. My baby is tougher than major league relievers, at least in Jeff Brantley’s mind.
Huge break there for the Reds.
Nice. Jay Bruce getting some respect right there.
Thank you, Tejada and the 3B coach.
Daniel Ray. “Mighty Mouse to save the day.”
Thank you very much Miguel!
By the way I agree with you Chris. His logic is just stupid on that.
AND busting his hump to get to that ball right away.
Y-City I wouldn’t blame the third base coach. Bruce would have thrown him out.
FWIW Dunn hit number 15 today
Gotta like that with Berkman on deck!
I agree Chris, Brantley makes major leaguers sound even softer than some people already think they are. As far as Cordero, he may be right though. His only bad games have been in nonsave appearances. Heath Bell told Jim Rome he has a tough time pitching in nonsave situations too. I don’t really get it.
Good for Dunn. His team is still losing 6 to 1.
I wish Dunn would find a playoff caliber team. He deserves to be on a winning team by now.
I’d understand it if Cordero (like last year) got beat around when he was pitching with a 5 run lead (or deficit). But he’s been terrible in tie games. That makes zero sense to me.
I blame the 3B coach for not sending the runner during the rundown of Tejada.
Yeah, Dunn sucks. Why hasn’t he hit 7 homers so his team can be ahead?
Dunn is no leader, Chad.
He only hits his homers when his team is 6 runs down.
But Cordero’s career numbers in non-save situations are better than in save situations. He has been bad this year, but can’t that be chalked up to small sample size?
If Dunn were a real player, he would hit all those homers, drive in all those runs, and score all those runs plus sport a 2.55 ERA. Selfish jerk!!!
Do these guys even care if what they’re saying is true? “Jay Bruce should be stealing 25-30 runs a year. He did that in the minor leagues.”
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bruce-001jay
Real life: He had 41 steals (and 25 CS) in 353 minor league games. There’s a damn good reason he’s not stealing all the time.
He only hits his homers when his team is 6 runs down.
With the Nationals pitching staff, that is usually after the first inning.
19 was his single-season high. It boggles the mind how much misinformation they put out.
Now that I think about it, Brantley is even worse on the radio than on TV. At least on TV u can watch the game yourself and try not to pay attention to what he’s saying. Plus it seems like on the radio he uses even more of his little sayings.
Nice work, Stein. Engleberg’s up next. He’s been murdering the ball lately.
Drill it, Jonny!!!!!
Wanna become a hero, Jonny?
This is where Mr. Redlegs said Gomes would be ineffective. Let us see…
Interestingggggg….
THAT’s something I didn’t expect to see. No, I didn’t.
Swing the bat, Gomes! If we had wanted walks, we would have kept Dunn!
OSWALT FOLDS UNDER THE PRESSURE…against the reds????? really??????
did that just happen???
Yeah, very un-Oswalt-like.
I like this version of Oswalt a lot more than the usual Oswalt the Reds face!
That was a strike.
Good one, Chad.
And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen.
Jim-That isn’t the third base coach that is on the runner for not going.
C’mon, Dicky!
I will take a tie game after six. That should be it for Oswalt.
Oh well, I’ll take four runs off Oswalt.
Crap. Well, at least they tied it back up.
Burton time?
Nick Masset.
Oh great. Berkman is up.
Chris-Good pull on the Bruce stolen base numbers. That is shameful they are throwing out stats that aren’t even close to being true.
Burton time? Burton time is now only when we are losing.
The problem is that 99 percent of the people listening to that stat are going to believe it.
Welcome back Nick Masset.
Anybody else smell that?
That’s the sweet aroma of Masset returning to the mound.
This is where Mr. Redlegs said Gomes would be ineffective. Let us see…
If there is one thing I have noticed about Mr. Redlegs…he is wrong 93% of the time and he never owns up.
Technically, I believe Mr. R said that Gomes would be neutralized as a PH b/c the opponent would bring in a RH reliever to counter him. In this case, he was sent up there to face a righty, to begin with. The central point remains the same: Gomes is significantly weaker against RHP.
The question is whether he’ll be good enough in such situations to be useful. Tonight, he didn’t get himself out.
Does FanGraphs or some other site have live WPA analysis?
Or, I could just look.
They do, and Gomes is our MVP so far. Lincoln, unsurprisingly, is the LVP.
http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?gameid=290526117
Reds have 59% chance of winning.
Off topic: Has anybody else noticed Zack Greinke is good?
VOTTO BABY!!!!!!!!!
HAHAH!!!!!
VOTTO!!!!!
VOTTO!
Has anyone noticed that Joey Votto is good?
Votto is my hero.
Thom said that “sooner or later,” all the missed time “has to affect Votto’s timing.”
Setting aside the fact that Votto had shown NO signs of being affected by the missed time – how in the world would missing time now affect him later?
89%!
Last year, it was Brantley calling EE a non-clutch player. A pitch or two later, EE went deep to win the game.
This year, Thom made a comment about lack of playing time affecting Votto. Next pitch, Votto goes yard.
I hope these two guys continue with their negative thinking.
Votto is just ridiculous. Best Red since…….Eric Davis?
Looking at WPA: Micah Owings has been the Reds second most “valuable” hitter.
http://www.fangraphs.com/winss.aspx?team=Reds&pos=all&stats=bat&qual=0&type=3&season=2009&month=0
Best since Jon Nunnally, anyway.
I think we should all write in Darnell McDonald for the All-Star Game.
Votto is the best Red since Chris Stynes
Write in Owings for OF.
It was a dark and stormy night.
Whew! That was a bit scary.
Write in Hernandez for 3B.
Lobby for Janish to be named to the pitching staff.
It’s Crunch Time!
Yea, Stormy!!!
Janish (NL) and Swisher (AL) for pitchers, that’d be an All-Star game that’d be worth watching!
You voted for:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
First Base:Morneau, J., MINSecond Base:Hill, A., TORThird Base:Longoria, E., TBShortstop:Bartlett, J., TBCatcher:Mauer, J., MINOutfielder:Bay, J., BOSOutfielder:Crawford, C., TBOutfielder:Cruz, N., TEX
NATIONAL LEAGUE
First Base:Votto, J., CINSecond Base:Utley, C., PHIThird Base:Zimmerman, R., WASShortstop:Ramirez, H., FLACatcher:Hernandez, R., CINOutfielder:Dunn, A., WASOutfielder:Ibañez, R., PHIOutfielder:Write-in:Micah Owings
Minor leage lookin: Louisville wins, Hopper 3 hits, Stubbs 2, Viola 3Ks (picked up the save)
Carolina wins, Cozart, Franciso and Frazier each w/ multi-hits
Sarasota wins, Alonso one hit, one bb
Dayton lost, but Puckett had 3 hits
At least we don’t have to hear Co Co Cordero tonight.
And this one belongs to the Reds!
Holy crap what a play by Rosales. I am starting to love this kid.
What a play…let’s take it all tomorrow boys
Outstanding!!!!!
And it ends with Berkman grounding into a double play – excellent!
one more to go for the SWEEP!! GO REDS!!!
OK, I am starting to get excited about this team. I know I shouldn’t but I can’t help it.
Chance to get over .500 at home tomorrow
Go Reds !!
2 hours sleep before going to work but it was all worth it !!
That was fun! I love me some smiling side of the scoreboard!! I want to see that stadium getting full after our trip to Milwaukee and St. Louis puts us in 1st place, and no I dont mean with STUPID CUB FANS on that very short homestand. Ugh, that though alone really gets my goat. Go Redlegs!
I will be in Washington for all three games here in a couple of weeks.
The thing I love most about Votto is that he seems to kill all the teams in the NL Central, especially the Cubs. We finally have a Berkman, a Pujols, a Derek Lee in his prime 3-4 years ago…I hated seeing those guys at the plate.
I think all the other fans in the Central are probably starting to think of Votto in that way. They get a sickly feeling in their stomach when he comes up with the game on the line.
I wonder how much longer Cecil Cooper has left in Houston.
I’ll be in Washington for the Thursday game in a couple of weeks!
I thought we didn’t have anyone to play centerfield without McDonald on the team
Votto is a machine. He will be throwing weights around at 6:30 in the am tomorrow morning. My favorite since BLark!!! keep it going Joe!!!
Reds are about to be 1.5 games back in the NL Central…that’s exciting – especially since this team doesn’t seem to be doing it with smoke and mirrors like the team a couple of years ago did.
This is shaping up to be a very interesting season.
Votto’s been relatively mortal against the Astros and Brewers, actually.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=vottojo01&year=2009&t=b
Maybe it’s just the Cubs he kills! But it seems like he is a feared hitter all around the league right now. It’s nice to have a guy like that in the Reds lineup. Man if Jay Bruce figures out some things the Reds middle of the lineup could be a terror!
I can’t believe Scott Sloan does extra innings…lol
[...] Game Thread: Astros at Reds — 2209.05.26 Redleg Nation – PeopleRank: 0 – 5 hours ago …Lance Berkman. Those guys kill me. I’d love to have either of them playing for the Redlegs, but I’m so sick of looking at them in Astros jerseys, I could scream. All they do is excel against the good guys. One note: Nick Masset is back. Wilkin Castillo… Cited people : Darnell McDonald Roy Oswalt + vote [...]
OK, I am starting to get excited about this team. I know I shouldn’t but I can’t help it.