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Time for a recap of tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Arizona 0
Cincinnati 1
WP: Cueto (8-4)
LP: Garland (4-8)
S: Cordero (19)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Smilin’ side of the scoreboard!
–How about Johnny Cueto? Give him a big lead, like the Reds did each of his last two starts, and he’ll cough it up. Give him Harangesque run support, and he pitches a gem. Cueto walked four of the first eight batters of the game, but then began dominating a terrible Arizona lineup, as he should. He gave up just one hit over six innings, striking out 8.
–The bullpen was dominating once again, giving up just one hit (by Arthur Rhodes). Francisco Cordero and some other guy pitched scoreless, hitless innings. Good stuff.
–CoCo has been simply outstanding this season. I still wonder whether the Reds should have devoted so much of their limited budget to a closer, but I really, really like Cordero. He now has 19 saves, with a 1.91 ERA. I have to believe that he and Cueto are the Reds two most likely All-Star picks.
–Submitted without comment: Chris Dickerson had two hits from the leadoff spot, including a double, and scored the Reds only run.
–Joey Votto and Ramon Hernandez also had two hits. Votto had the lone RBI, and Hernandez also gunned down a runner at second. Very nice.
NEGATIVES
–TOS* The Reds continue making bad pitchers look like Cy Young.
–Jay Bruce had what appeared to be a pretty boneheaded baserunning move late in the game. Looks like he could have scored a second run for the good guys, but he hesitated on a ball hit to the outfield that really had no chance of being caught by the D’backs.
ETC.
–Boy, Arizona is just awful. It’s what made last night’s disgraceful performance more frustrating.
–I love the Cueto we saw tonight. Too bad it took that performance to win because the pathetic ofense.
–Of course, he had us a bit worried in the second inning, when he grabbed his lower back and Dusty Baker brought the trainer out to check on him. Cueto stayed in the game, though, and was even better after that. Let’s hope this is the last we hear of back problems for Cueto.
–It’s been mentioned in several comments, but I hadn’t actually put it in a post yet: Drew Sutton has been recalled from AAA, and Jared Burton has been sent to Louisville. I like Burton, he’s one of my favorite Reds, but I’m really glad to see the Reds cut bait on the ridiculous 13-pitcher roster construction.
–How about Joey tonight? (Send me photoshops of other Reds in a sombrero, and I’ll use them!)
*This Offense Stinks.
It says something for the pitching depth in the bullpen that they are sending Burton down and didn’t even have Bray at all this year (and he was decent last year). You have to like seeing Roenicke and Fisher getting some play along with Herrera. The Reds hopefully have the potential to have a decent pen going forward, which considering how bad it used to be, that is a good thing.
I actually would have sent down Fisher. Burton had been pitching much better and has better stuff than Fisher. I really like Roenicke.
How ’bout David Weathers! He has been a great Red in his career. Ready to give him his due yet?
Weathers last 14 outings 12-Ip 7-H 2-ER 2-BB 6-K WHIP-0.75 ERA-1.50. WOW!
Not bad for some other guy
Nope, not bad at all.
Now, leave me alone. It’s my site and I can be irrational if I want to.
Geez does this team need some bats, its like Joey Votto and the Seven Dwafs out there!
BTW, glad to see Sutton get the call up. I still don’t understand Richar at 3b. Makes no sense to me.
I wonder if Chris Heisey could play in the majors right now, and maybe be a better option then who they are running out there in the outfield everyday. He’s gotten off to a nice start at Triple A. If nothing else, he might be a wanted prospect on the trade market…but I don’t know. Would be nice to see him maybe get a chance this year if he keeps it up.
He might be a more consistent player then Jay Bruce if he came up now. But I wouldn’t call for Bruce to be sent down or anything. Bruce is hurting the lineup a lot of nights, but he’s one of those young talents you just have to stay with. If he even sort of figures it out this year it’d make a big difference in the lineup.
Even though he just has some bad nights he still has 40 RBIs. Here’s hoping Bruce starts to become comfortable at the plate in the second half!
Who would have thought, when Weathers rejoined the Reds in 2005, at the age of 35, that this would begin a strong 5 year stint with the Reds.
He’s also mentored the Reds’ young relievers, but it’s hard to teach his brand of smarts and mental toughness.
I would have never thought Weathers would be this good over time
since 2005 here are the Reds pitchers who have saved the most runs above average.
Since it’s a totals stat it SHOULD be all starter but our starter have sucked until this year
RSAA RSAA
1 Aaron Harang 67
2 David Weathers 40
3 Bronson Arroyo 32
4 Edinson Volquez 28
5 Francisco Cordero 19
6 Jared Burton 17
7 Nick Masset 15
8 Johnny Cueto 11
9 Kent Mercker 10
you have to go back to 1999 to find a reliever that has saved more runs than Weathers for the Reds
1999-present
RSAA RSAA GF
1 Scott Williamson 61 110
2 David Weathers 40 150
3 Scott Sullivan 39 76
4 Elmer Dessens 36 6
5 Danny Graves 33 301
6 Francisco Cordero 19 90
7 Kent Mercker 18 43
8 Jared Burton 17 28
9 Nick Masset 15 7
10 Felix Heredia 10 18
Good ol’ Scott Sullivan. He was a valuable pitcher for awhile, until the Reds used up all the innings he had in his right arm.
It’s really nice not having to worry much about the bullpen. As frustrating as This Offense (which Stinks) has been, it’s somewhat more tolerable to lose 3-2 because your starters couldn’t get it done than to lose 6-5 because some reliever coughed up a 3- or 4-run lead at the end of the game. Maybe it’s just different, and therefore refreshing.
“Good ol’ Scott Sullivan. He was a valuable pitcher for awhile, until the Reds used up all the innings he had in his right arm”
They did the same thing with Tommy Hume.
It is nice to know that our bullpen can hold a lead. It has to relieve some of the pressure on the starters, although with this offense they still feel a lot of it (1-0 vs the D’backs? C’mon).
I just saw the game highlights on SportsCenter. I feel like I won the lottery.
Wow, Mike’s list brings back a lot of memories. Not all of them good memories, but it is always interesting to think back on Elmer Dessens and everyone’s favorite Danny Graves once in awhile.
Matt, two nights ago I was switching between SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight and ESPNews looking for the Reds’ highlights. I gave up after an hour and a half. Frustrating.
Fox Sports Radio this morning didn’t even mention the score or who won when they did their baseball scores this morning. They gave the score of every game in the majors last night and who hit homeruns. The only thing they said about the Reds game “reds-dbacks, no homeruns in that one”.
Indydoug look what you started a David Weathers love fest. Who would have thought that would happen here.
RiverCity,
if you have MLB network on your cable system (958 on TW HD), you’re much better off seeking Reds highlights there. I’m not sold on all of their studio guys, but their time spent in coverage of all teams is much more balanced than the evil empire’s. Plus you don’t have to deal with all of the garbage they cover (auto racing (no offense to anyone here who enjoys it), spelling bees, hot dog eating contests, tennis, etc.).
I’ve got Dish Network here… they don’t carry the MLB Network. GRRR.
MLB Network is the best.
Interesting article earlier this week focusing on pitcher abuse. Harang’s outing vs. Houston when he “stayed warm” during the two hour delay to get 1 out was what prompted this author to look into the topic.
The article itself links to a bunch of arguments on both side of the pitcher abuse/pitch count debate and promises a follow-up with details/comments from BP recent discussions on the topic.
This linked article within the previous article is a great dialog with Bill James and Joe Posnanski. They talk about pitch counts and the appropriateness of 100 as the magic number.
Lots of Reds connections in that 2nd article. Don Gullet, Spary Anderson w/BRM, Jack McKeon (while managing Royals).
Andy, I wrote a letter to my cable co. to get MLB Network (to no avail so far). Unfortunately, Insight in Louisville is a no go on MLB.
Good luck. In my pre-MLBN days, I’d set the DVR to record baseball tonight and then FF to the (always brief) Reds highlights before work the next morning.
obviously the other option is to pull up some highlights on espn’s site or elsewhere. Not optimal though.
River City Redleg (17), I’m stuck with ESPN for now due to my apt. building and they don’t cover the Reds. I tried to see hilites of the Reds win over the Indians and they showed nothing, though they showed every other game, including Pirates-Royals.
Early this season Edinson Volquez pitched a 1 hit shutout over 8 innings and it was not mentioned on Baseball Tonite, not even during the “Get Nasty” section that shows the best pitches of the day.
REDS1–Now that is amazing! Who would have thought a bullpen anchored by 2 39 yr. old set-up men would have been this dominant?