Bailey bombed as Reds score 12 and lose

By HAL McCOY

They played a wild, wild, wild one out west in Glendale, Ariz., a spring exhibition game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox.

The Reds scored 12 runs and bashed 14 hits. They weren’t enough.

When the sagebrush quit blowing Wednesday afternoon, the White Sox owned a 14-12 victory at Camelback Ranch Stadium.

The Reds couldn’t hold a 12-9 lead in the eighth inning. The White Sox scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth, including a grand slam home run by Luis Robert, wearing uniform No. 92, his first RBI of the spring.

The grand slam came off Jackson Stephens, who gave up five runs and three hits in the eighth inning.

Reds pitching gave up 14 runs, 16 hits, five walks and four home runs.

And the biggest news? Joey Votto collected his first hit of the spring. Votto walked during a five-run first inning and led the second inning with a single to ignite a four-run inning. Votto went 1 for 4 with a walk.

Billy Hamilton, though, still doesn’t have a hit but hasn’t played the last two games after spraining his left index finger during a workout. He is listed as day-to-day (and aren’t we all).

Scott Schebler, who lost the left field argument to Adam Duvall early last season, is attempting to make certain he doesn’t lose the right field job this spring to Jesse Winker. Schebler went 4 for 4 with a two-run home run in the second inning.

Dilson Herrera, trying to shake a litany of injuries and win a spot on the roster, had three hits, scored two and drove in two as the designated hitter.

But there were a couple of downers other than the game-winning Chisox grand slam, too.

Homer Bailey made his second start of the spring and it was plug ugly — three innings, six runs, seven hits that included two home runs.

And Amir Garrett’s perfect slate was scribbled all over by the White Sox. Garrett came into the game with six innings of no run, no hits, no walks and 10 strikeouts.

But on Wednesday he pitched two innings and gave up two runs, three hits, walked two and struck out only one.

Tucker Barnhart also hit a two-run home run in that four-run second inning.

After scoring nine runs in the first two innings, the Reds didn’t score again until they scored two in the sixth and one in the seventh.

2 thoughts on “Bailey bombed as Reds score 12 and lose”

  1. Let’s hope they get this turned around Hal! Can’t take another dismal “rebuilding” year!

  2. Each off season, Votto appears to engage in a process of introspection and evaluation, focusing on what he did not do well rather than what he did do well the previous season. This provides him with a challenge for the next season. Last season his personal challenge was defense. This season his personal challenge is base running. This methodology provides Votto an opportunity to make the most significant improvement to his performance and contribution to the team”s success, an adjunct of the weakest link theory. This goes hand-in-hand with his personal challengeto everyone in the Reds organization to get better and more competitivenow. He not only makes a public proclamation but he shows eeryone and anyone who cares, how to do it, without pointing fingers. This brought back the Old Cossack”s impression of Scott Rolen, when he joined the Reds, with his effective, agressive base running that seemed to inspire an entire team. Rolen was not blessed with extraordinary speed, but he drove himself to excel with the tools he had. Could this be the season that Votto takes the team on his shoulders, much as Rolen did in 2010, and compels them to succeed with the supporting cast needed to achieve success? I vaguely recall Votto mentioning his personal desire for championship ring(s) previously, but he”s brought it up again this season with more immediacy in his message.

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