Rounding Third and Heading For Home Game Summary

Votto Carries Reds to Wild 12-11 Victory Over Giants

What a Rollercoaster Ride that was!

Box Score

The Good

The Reds won after blowing a 10-1 lead

The Reds went 6-3 on their West Coast Trip, sounds much better than 5-4, doesn’t it?

Nick Masset and Francisco Cordero saved the day going a combined 4IP 3H 0r 0ER 0BB 5SO

Joey Votto 4 for 7 with 2HR and 4RBI, including the go ahead run in the top of the 12th, He’s made his case for MVP, but could he be the first National League Triple Crown winner since 1937? It will be fun to watch……

Jonny Gomes finally got his 100th career home run, and if he can get hot the Reds will be that much more formiddable down the stretch

Francisco Cordero has looked very good in this trip and would be a tremendous asset for this club down the stretch if he continues to pitch the same way

A Reds starting pitcher goes more than 5 innings

The Reds are a resilient group that would’ve possibly taken a death blow if they lost this game today, and the third game this season they would have lost after being up by 6+ runs

They have an off day tomorrow

The Bad

Brandon Phillips had to leave the game after being hit on the hand by a pitch

The Ugly

The Reds blew a 10-1 lead

The combination of Logan Ondrusek and Arthur Rhodes gave up 6 runs in two innings when the game was well in hand

The Reds bullpen is taxed, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Carlos Fisher up very soon

Wire To Wire Reds Lineup vs The San Francsico Giants Game 3

2B Phillips

RF Heisey

1B Votto

3B Rolen

LF Gomes

C Hanigan

CF Stubbs

SS Janish

P Bailey

Scanning The Web For All Things Red…..In the Face

I’m still steaming mad from last night’s spectacle by the Bay!

Regardless, not too much going on in regards to the Reds, except with the loss of St. Louis to Pittsburgh last night the Reds magic number has changed in their favor by a game.

Rounding Third and Heading For Home Game Summary

I’m at a loss for words at what took place tonight.

The Good

Brandon Phillips had two home runs at times that lead you to believe that the Reds may have had a comeback in them tonight.

The Bad

Jonny Gomes inabilty to get his throw home in the 1st inning on line which allowed Cody Ross to advance to second on a single and ultimately score. Why did I mention this? Because this happened in the St. Louis series and he should throw to the cutoff man from here on out.

The Ugly

EVERYTHING

Travis Wood had the worst start of his career going 4IP 7H 7R 7ER 2BB 3SO on 84 pitches

Mike Leake needs to be shut down. (I’m not going to mention his line from this evening)

The Reds Defense commited 2 errors(should’ve been 4 and a scorer changed it from 3 to 2)

Quick Thoughts

I’d never thought I would say this, but where is Carlos Fisher when you need him? He looks like Tom Seaver compared to Leake and Lecure. (No offense to Mr. Fisher who has performed his job when asked by Dusty Baker to more than the best of his ability)

The Reds are in a must win situation tomorrow, and Homer Bailey will be the one asked to right the ship and I have the utmost confidence in him to do so….

Wire To Wire Reds Lineup vs San Francisco Giants Game 2

2B Phillips

CF Stubbs

1B Votto

3B Rolen

LF Gomes

RF Bruce

C Hernandez

SS Janish

P Wood

Scanning the Web For All Things Red……Or Joey Votto

Today is Joey Votto Day with all of the praise going out to him on the world wide web….

In stores this week

Pete Rose is changing his casino appearance for 4192 celebration

More Votto love

According to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Reds pitcher Russ Springer had surgery today for a herniated disk and is done for the season.

Also according to Marty Brennaman from last night’s broadcast, Louisville Bats pitcher Jason Isringhausen has been shut down for the season based on injury and has left Louisville, but will likely get an invite to Spring Training next year.

Fay is also reporting that Laynce Nix’s ankle injury isn’t serious and should be able to pinch hit tonight

Update 4:04CST

According to John Fay, the Reds are bringing up two players from Louisville

Rounding Third, and Heading For Home Game Summary

 

Volquez Digs Giant Hole, Cain Buries Reds

 

Box Score
The Good

Jordan Smith had a very nice outing tonight regardless of the home run given the circumstances going 4.1IP 6H 2R 2ER 0BB 1SO 1HR on 52 pitches(36 strikes).

Bill Bray had a nice inning of relief after giving up a leadoff single and walk to start the bottom of the 6th, pitching 2IP 2H 0R 0ER 1BB 4SO on 31pitches(21 strikes).

The Reds bullpen should be in good shape for the remainder of this series.

The Bad

The Reds offense. They had 5 hits, none after the 3rd inning.

Jordan Smith who was brought up from AA Carolina due to his ability to keep the ball down has now given up a HR in 3 0f his last 4 outings. Just something to keep an eye on as the season enters the home stretch. The one given up tonight in the bottom of the 3rd inning essentially sunk the Reds comeback hopes.

The Reds had to pull two outfielders from the game in Laynce Nix and Jim Edmonds. Nix came up lame running into third base in the 3rd inning and is reported as a strained left ankle and Edmonds strained his left oblique muscle while fouling off a pitch in the 6th inning. What was once a clogged up outfield now becomes a four man group.

The Ugly

Edinson Volquez was attrocious tonight. Recording only two outs in a terrible first inning in the opener of this 3 game set. His line 0.1IP 5H 5R 5ER 3BB 1SO on 38 pitches (only 19 strikes).

One more thought in regards to Edinson Volquez, he sure looked distracted tonight. He seemed to be constantly looking into the Reds bullpen, which I must say is the one blunder of AT&T park in that they didnt build bullpens behind the outfield instead placing them down the foul line on both sides. With Volquez it’s still a learning process for him to regain the form he had in 2007 that made in him an all-star.

Logan Ondrusek. The Giants were getting some very good swings off his pitches tonight and had them timed perfectly it seemed. 1IP 4H 4R 4ER 0BB 0SO 1HR on pitches(21 strikes)

Wire To Wire Reds Lineup vs San Francisco Giants

2B Phillips

LF Nix

1B Votto

3B Rolen

CF Edmonds

LF Bruce

C Hernandez

SS Janish 

RHP Volquez

Reds Offer 1 Year Extension to Baker?

Dusty Baker taking his time with Reds offer

Given the success of this year’s club I find it very interesting that Reds GM Walt Jocketty has offered an extension of only 1 year at likely the same amount he is currently being paid ($3.5 million) or possibly less.

I’m surprised to some extent, but on the other hand not really. In saying this you must look at Walt Jocketty’s track record of managers he has worked with. Only one….

Tony LaRussa

I’m not going to speculate and insinuate that the Reds are going to make a run at Tony LaRussa who is in the final year of his contract in St. Louis.

But, it must be said that Dusty Baker is the stellar opposite of Tony LaRussa when it comes to managing a baseball team and in game strategy, and Dusty to this day drives me crazy at times, but he must be given credit for how this team has performed this year.

Do I think Dusty Baker coincides with Walt Jocketty’s mentality for a manager? Not really.

But, I still don’t see Dusty leaving Cincinnati after the season

I can’t predict what is going on in the mind of Walt Jocketty in offering this extension, but given his track record I trust Walt.

No matter what happens in this regard, there is no doubt in my mind that Walt Jocketty has a contingency plan should Dusty Baker not take the one year extension he is being offered.

Reds/Giants Preview

The Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants will hook up for three games beginning tonight at 10:10 ET in a nationally televised game on ESPN.

The Reds come into the series having won 8 of their last 10 and 5 of 6 on their West Coast Road trip, while the Giants return home having won only 4 of their last 10 games including losing 2 of 3 at Philadelphia and St. Louis.

Tonight will feature the first of three very intriguing pitching matchups in one of the best pitcher’s park, and a beautiful one at that, in all of baseball.

Tonight its RHP Edinson Volquez (3-1) vs. Matt Cain (9-10).

Volquez has continued to be mostly erratic since returning after the All-Star break from Tommy John surgery, while Matt Cain has continued to be neglected by the Giants offense which has been anemic at times this season.

This series will feature the two best defensive teams in the National League which should result in some low scoring, good pitching, and clean defensive games and will be a very good series to watch.