Author: Hal McCoy

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds wore camouflage jerseys Saturday against the Colorado Rockies, perhaps hoping nobody would see them losing their eighth straight game.

It turned out that it certainly wasn’t the reason. They weren’t hiding anything because after falling behind by five runs in the fifth inning they tore into the Colorado pitching staff like the U.S. Marine Corps and now have a one-game winning streak.

After giving up six runs in the fifth inning, the Reds scored six of their own in the sixth inning, three on a go-ahead three-run home run by Scott Schebler and piled on for a 12-8 victory.

AND DESPITE ALL THE OFFENSIVE weaponry hauled out on this day, perhaps the best individual performance came from the least expected source.

A pitcher. And it was a pitcher called up from Class AAA Louisville as a desperate measure by the Reds because the bullpen was overtaxed and weary.

So they reached down to Louisville to find what they could and selected non-roster right hander Asher Wojciechowski.

Wojciechowski (pronounced wo/juh/HOW/ski) was a starter at Louisville, but was about the only pitcher not used by the Bats Friday night during an 18-inning game. He had thrown a bullpen session in preparation for his next start before the game and wasn’t unavailable.

So the promotion to Cincinnati fell to him by default and the 29-year-old No. 1 draft choice of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2010 took full advantage of it.

WHEN STARTER TIM ADLEMLAN AND relief pitcher Drew Storen couldn’t quiet the Rockies, Wojciechowski was shoved into duty and he did it well. The guy they call ‘Wojo’ started the sixth and retired 11 of the 12 Rockies he faced after they had scored eight runs on 10 hits in the first five innings.

And it was fitting he wore camouflage because he attended military school, The Citadel, before he was drafted and as pitching coach Mack Jenkins said of the guys’s cool and calm, “The stuff of an Army kid.”

It was 12 up and eleven down, just one single given up. When he had two outs in the ninth, manager Bryan Price replaced him with Raisel Iglesias.

“What a lift for this ballclub,” said Price, whose bullpen is ravaged. “Asher was sensational. He threw strikes and attacked, a real nice recipe for success. He threw 3 2/3 essential innings. He couldn’t have come up bigger. It was beyond impressive, in my opinion.”

WHEN THE ROCKIES LED, 8-3, Eugenio Suarez homered in the fifth to make it 8-4 and then Devin Mesoraco started the six-run sixth with a home run that was finished off by Schebler’s three-run homer.

Mesoraco was mesmerized by Wojo’s performance.

“I’d never seen the guy, never met him,” he said. “I met him in the training room just before the game. That was awesome. That was incredible. He came in pumping strikes and wasn’t afraid at all. He has been around a while but he knows now there are only so many opportunities he can get and he really took advantage today. He located everything and didn’t make any mistakes at all. He was not afraid.”

IT HAS BEEN QUITE THE CLIMB, TOO, for the Beufort, S.C. native who was looking for work, out of a job, in late April when the Reds contacted him.

While he has been in the Blue Jays, Astros and Marlins minor league systems, he appeared briefly in the majors for Houston in 2015 – five appearances, three starts, 0-and-1, 7.16 earned run average on 13 runs in 16 1/3 innings.

He was signed in December by the Arizona Diamondbacks and was in their camp this spring.

“I got released by the Diamondbacks at the end of spring training and I went home for three weeks,” he said. “I continued to throw to the guys at The Citadel — home for three weeks without a job and wondering what was going to happen.”

ON APRIL 21 THE REDS called and offered him an opportunity to start games at Louisville and Wojo said, “I was just happy to be in Triple-A. And now this.”

Yes, and now this.

“That was great, it couldn’t have worked out better,” said Wojo. “To be sitting at home about a month ago, pretty much to this day, without a job and then for a day like this to happen is pretty remarkable. I’m on cloud nine, I feel so good.

“I just threw strikes,” he said. “Once I threw that first pitch for a strike I calmed down and realized it was the same game of baseball I’ve been playing for a long time.”

Thus it was basically a pitcher rescued off the trash heap to come out of nowhere and put the stop to an eight-game losing streak.

“So many sensational things happened for us today and talk about re-invigorating a ballclub,” said Price. “Those home runs by Suarez and Mesoraco and that inning and the three-run homer by Schebler really brought our group back to life, especially after being down so much.”

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — The rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers played next door at the U.S. Bank Arena while the Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies played a baseball game Friday night at Great American Ball Park.

Before the game, RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer was in the Reds clubhouse visiting Bronson Arroyo. It isn’t likely that Arroyo requested that RHCP play their classic song, “Can’t Stop,” at the concert.

Whether he did, or not, the Reds can’t stop losing, and losing badly and losing ugly. Their ever-expanding losing streak stretched to seven straight Friday night, a 12-6 loss to the Red Hot Chili Rockies, a team that is 27-and-16 and leading the National League West.

For now, the Red Hot Chili Peppers could have dedicated their son, “Shallow Is Thy Game,” to the current Reds, tumbling toward the bottom of the National League Central.

Also hanging around GABP was Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut, the nine-time Nathan’s Hot Dog eating champion, who once devoured 70 hot dogs in 12 minutes, the all-time record.

BUT IT WAS A LEFTHANDER NAMED Tyler Anderson who devoured the Reds. The Rockies pitcher began the game with a 2-and-4 record and a 6.43 earned run average. The Reds, though, were just so much buns for Anderson to munch. He held the Reds to two runs over six innings.

Reds starter Lislaverto Bonilla gave up two runs in the first inning on a leadoff double by Charlie Blackmon, a hit batsman (D.J. LeMahieu), an infield hit by Nolan Arenado, a bloop run-scoring single by Mark Reynolds and a sacrifice fly by Carlos Gonzalez.

It stayed 2-0 until Cincinnati’s Eugenio Suarez homered into the left field cheap seats with two outs in the fifth inning, cutting the Reds’ deficit to 2-1.

IT ONLY LASTED UNTIL COLORADO came to bat in the top of the sixth and eight runs quickly appeared on the Rockies’ ledger.

Gonzalez singled, Ian Desmond doubled and No. 7 hitter Alexi Amarista lofted his second home run of the season into the first row of the right field seats. The three-run shot pushed the lead to 5-0.

The Rockies didn’t stop there, though. Catcher Tony Wolters kept the sixth inning going by beating out a bunt after Amarista’s home run. Anderson bunted Wolters to second and that was the end of Bonilla’s night.

Wandy Peralta replaced Bonilla and the the slugfest continued. Blackmon beat an infield hit to third and D.J. LeMahieu scorched a two-run double to left. Then Nolan Arenado drilled a home run to left, his 11th, and the Rockies led, 9-1. Mark Reynolds singled, Gonzalez walked and Amarista punched his second hit of the inning, a run-scoring single and it was 10-1.

In the time it takes Joey Chestnut to eat 70 hot dogs, the Rockies sent 14 batters to the plate in the sixth and scored eight runs on nine hits (two home runs) for a 10-1 lead. The eight-run inning was the most runs given up in one inning by Reds pitchers since July 26, 2015, when they gave up 10 runs in the third inning to the Rockies in Coors Field.

BECAUSE THE BULLPEN WAS taxed on the just-completed 1-and-6 trip to San Francisco and Chicago, manager Bryan Price told Bonilla, starting only his second game for the Reds that there was no safety net for him, “There would be no early hook.”

And there was no need for one until the sixth inning went on and on and on and on. Bonilla went 5 1/3 innings and gave up six runs, eight hits, three walks and hit a batter, needing 108 pitches to get that far.

For the same reason, Peralta had to take it on the chin and both shins and stay in much longer than normal. He threw 40 pitches in his two-thirds of an inning and manager Bryan Price was embarrassed by it. But had little choice.

“It was one of those rare days when Wandy didn’t have it and I left him out there to throw 40 pitches and that’s a disgrace on my part for me to do that,” said Price “But we have some limitations and he needed to get through that inning. I hoped he’d get through the sixth and maybe the seventh, but they were on him and he just wasn’t sharp. I left him out there for 40-plus in two-thirds of an inning and it didn’t feel good. We had to beat up our bullpen again to finish the game.”

MEANWHILE, COLORADO’S ANDERSON worked six innings and gave up two runs and four hits while walking two and striking out seven en route to his third victory of the season.

As has been the case often during this losing streak, once the Reds fall eight or nine runs behind early in the game, they score several runs late in the game, but never enough.

This time, after falling behind, 10-1, they scored five runs, including a two-run home run by Jose Peraza, his first of the season, to pull within 10-6 after eight.

AND THAT PUT THE ONUS on Price again. With the team down six runs, he planned to use infielder Scooter Gennett to pitch the ninth. But when Peraza hit the home run in th bottom of the eighth to draw the Reds within four, Price had to bring in Austin Brice to pitch the ninth.

“We didn’t want to use Austin Brice, but you have to respect the game,” said Price. “I would have used a position player to pitch at 10-4 and I hate to do that, but I would have pitched Scooter Gennett.

“But when Suarez hit the two-run home run, it’s only 10-6,” Price added. “There are people paying to see a ball game and our guys out there busting their butts trying to win a ball game. I can’t bring a position player in to pitch in a 10-6 game. That would be a disgrace.”

Alas, the Rockies added two in the top of the ninth on two hits, pushing their run total to 13 and their hit total to 16.

THE GAME WAS STREAMED live on Facebook by MLB.com and by the third inning there were 515,000 hits, more fans than the Reds have drawn in their first 23 home games.

By HAL McCOY

If there can be any positive taken from a 9-5 beating, it should be a lesson hard-learned by Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Amir Garrett.

The lesson? Don’t let an umpire upset your equilibrium and don’t outwardly display your displeasure.

That’s what happened to Garrett Thursday afternoon in Wrigley Field. Brought up from Class AAA Louisville to apply a tourniquet to his team’s losing ways, Garrett was visibly upset with 27-year veteran umpire Ed Hickox’s strike zone in the first inning.

HEY, AMIR, HICKOX WAS an Eagle Scout sworn to honesty and integrity. Would he cheat you?

And the endgame was that Garrett gave up three walks and a grand slam home run to Javier Baez during a five-run first inning.

Garrett couldn’t get a strike call on some close inside pitches in the first inning.

After retiring the first hitter, Garrett thought he had a couple of strikes on Kris Bryant but walked him a full count.

ANTHONY RIZZO BLOOPED ONE to right field that everybody lost in the sun and it fell for a single.

Garrett retired Ian Happ on a line drive to right field and he was one out away from escaping with no damage.

But Garrett walked Wilson Contreras on a full count — disputing a couple more close calls — to fill the bases. Then he walked Addison Russell to force in a run.

He got to 1-and-2 on Javier Baez and hung a changeup and Baez lost it deep into the left field bleachers for a grand slam home run and a quick 5-0 lead for the Cubs.

IN THE FOURTH INNING Hickox called Albert Almora Jr., and Ben Zobrist out on strikes and Garrett raised his hands as if to say, “Those were the same pitches you wouldn’t give me in the first inning.”

The Cubs added on until it was 9-0 after five innings.

Garrett pitched four innings and gave up five runs, six hits and four walks to drop his record to 3-3 and raising his earned run average to 5.18.

Cubs starter Jon Lester took that 9-0 lead into the seventh inning and gave up three straight singles to Jose Peraza, Tucker Barnhart and pinch-hitter Arismendy Alcantara for a run and Lester’s day was done.

Hector Rondon gave up three hits, a double to Billy Hamilton and singles to Adam Duvall and Eugenio Suarez during a four-run inning, six-hit inning.

Too little, too late, even though the Reds made it squirmy in the ninth. They filled the bases with no outs against lefthanded relief pitcher Brian Duensing.

Billy Hamilton and Zack Cozart singled and Joey Votto was hit by a pitch, forcing Cubs manager Joe Maddon to bring in Koji Uehara.

Adam Duvall flied to left in foul territory and Hamilton scored after the catch. Eugenio Suarez took a called strike three. Pinch-hitter Stuart Turner struck out and that was that.

The fact that Turner pinch-hit instead of Devin Mesoraco indicates that Mesoraco’s injury is more serious than thought.

The Reds won the first game of the trip, 3-2, in San Francisco, then they lost the next three to the Giants and three straight in Chicago, giving up 25 runs in the three games and bringing home a six-game losing streak.

They play a quick five-game homestand and it won’t be easy. They play three against the Colorado Rockies, a team leading the National League West and owner of a 9-and-0 record in one-run games. Then they play the Cleveland Indians Monday and Tuesday.

By Hal McCoy

When Scott Feldman trudged to the Wrigley Field mound Wednesday night, the Chicago Cubs were the only major league baseball team on the planet he had not faced.

And now he wishes it was still that way.

Because of his own wildness and some suspect work by the usually well-oiled Cincinnati Reds defense, Feldman lasted only 2 2/3 innings and absorbed a 7-5 defeat.

IT WAS CINCINNATI’S FIFTH straight loss and dropped them below .500 (19-20) and into fourth place in the National League Central.

The Reds gave Feldman a 1-0 lead in the first and he pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the first.

But it took him 68 pitches to cover the second and third innings during which he gave up five in the second and two in the third.

HIS PROBLEM IN THE SECOND began with a walk to Ian Happ. Ben Zobrist singled to right, sending Happ to third. Happ scored on a fielder’s choice ground ball, tying it, 1-1.

Feldman walked Miguel Montero but hit Jon Jay with a pitch. He struck out opposing pitching Kyle Hendricks for the second out.

But Middletown native Schwarber hit one hard at first baseman Joey Votto and it skipped past him (a ball he could have blocked) for a two-run single.

He issued his third walk of the inning to Kris Bryant. Rizzo hit one hard to the grass in short right field, a catchable ball. But it glanced off Jose Peraza’s glove for another two-run single and a 5-1 Cubs lead.

Zack Cozart homered leading off the third, the fifth straight game in which he has hit a home run in Wrigley Field.

THE CUBS SCORED TWO MORE runs in the third. Ben Zobrist doubled and with one out Montero hit a fly ball to deep left. Adam Duvall dropped it for an error, putting runners on third and second.

Then came the Joe Maddon Factor. With pitcher Hendricks batting and a 3-and-2 count, manager Maddon brazenly and daringly flashed the bunt sign and Hendricks got it down, scoring Zobrist. Jay followed with a single to make it 7-2.

Then came the highlight of the night for the Reds. Austin Brice replaced Feldman and retired seven straight, six on ground balls and one via strikeout.

THE REDS MADE IT A game in the seventh, scoring three runs when they had two outs and nobody on.

Cozart singled and Votto walked (he has reached base in 20 straight games). Adam Duvall, who had not driven in a run during the first seven games of this trip, singled to left for a run. Suarez, who also hadn’t driven in a run on the trip, doubled for two runs, cutting it to 7-5.

But Scott Schebler grounded out and the final seven Reds went down in order.

EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS a 25 miles an hour wind blowing out, the Reds bullpen of Austin Brice, Drew Storen, Wandy Peralta and Raisel Iglesias turned the spigot off from the third through the eighth — no runs, one hit.

Iglesias did walk the bases loaded with one out in the eighth but struck out Jon Jay and Kyle Schwarber to slink out of it.

But the mountain of a 7-2 deficit after two innings was too high to climb, although the Reds made some noises with their three runs in the seventh.

And the game ended strangely with Cubs closer Wade Davis on the mound. Billy Hamilton struck out on a bad pitch on 3-and-2 and Zack Cozart popped up.

Joey Votto grounded up the middle and shortstop Addison Russell’s throw was wide, forcing first baseman Anthony Rizzo to stretch full out. Originally, Votto was called safe because it appeared Rizzo’s foot may not have been on the bag. The Cubs challenged and the replay folks in New York reversed the call.

Out. Game over.

After the game, Reds manager Bryan Price told Fox Sports Ohio that he planned to call general manager Dick Williams to have him check with MLB in New York to see if the replay crew had definitive video evidence that Rizzo kept his foot on the bag and if they don’t, “I’m going to be really pissed.

And who are the Reds asking to stop the bleeding. They are recalling Amir Garrett from Class AAA Louisville to start the series finale Thursday afternoon.

By HAL McCOY

Whenever the Chicago Cubs need a player or two, they reach down into their minor league system and pluck out a star. And if they are playing the Cincinnati Reds they seem to become instant superstars.

It is if they grow them in the cornfields outside of Des Moines.

On Tuesday night in Wrigley Field, there were two guys called up in the last week that did major damage to the Reds during a 9-5 Cubs victory.

IT WAS IAN HAPP AND Jeimer Candelerio on this night and Happ’s contribution was particularly painful.

He played his collegiate baseball at the University of Cincinnati where he was an All-American and the Cubs No. 1 draft pick in 2015.

He was playing his third major league game and hit his second home run. He also walked, drove in two runs and scored two.

Candelario was 1 for 17 when the night began but had two hits and drove in a run.

AND, OF COURSE, THE established stars did their usual damage to the Reds — Kyle Schwarber, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo.

Schwarber, the Middletown native, had two hits, including a 462-foot home run, scored two and drove in one.

Bryant had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run — his 36^th RBI in 38 games against the Reds.

Rizzo, a power-hitter who hadn’t homered in 54 at bats, hit a home run, his fourth in four games against the Reds this season.

WITH A STIFF 20 MILES an hour wind blowing out, the Reds hit three home runs — Zack Cozart, Tucker Barnhart (his first of the year) and Joey Votto (hit team-leading 11^th), but it wasn’t enough.

The Cubs, though, trumped that with four home runs.

The Reds took a quick lead in the first inning against John Lackey when Cozart homered in the first inning, the seventh straight game in which the Reds scored in the first. But it hasn’t been enough. They’ve now lost four straight.

That 1-0 lead lasted only until the bottom of the first when the Cubs scored three off Bronson Arroyo.

AFTER HE RETIRED SCHWARBER, he gave up a single and two walks to fill the bases. Candelario singled for a run and with two outs Wilson Contreras doubled for two more and a 3-1 Cubs lead.

The Reds cut it to 3-2 in the second on Barnhart’s home run. The Cubs retrieved that run in the bottom of the second when Schwarber, batting .179, nearly cleared the right field bleachers with his 462-foot blast.

The Reds crept back to within one in the fourth when Scott Schebler walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch on which Arroyo struck out.

And once again the Cubs retrieved that run when they came to bat in the fifth, this one on Happ’s home run to push Chicago back to a 5-3 lead.

ARROYO LEFT AFTER FIVE, giving up five runs, eight hits, two walks and two home runs. The Reds had won the last five games Arroyo started but that ended on this night.

Blake Wood replaced Arroyo and the Cubs scored two against him in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Bryant and a bases loaded walk by Wood that pushed the score to 7-3.

Votto’s two-run home run in the seventh put the Reds back in contention, 7-5, but Addison Russell led the seventh with a home run off Robert Stephenson and the Cubs closed the scoring in the eighth when Rizzo homered off Michael Lorenzen.

The fourth straight loss dropped the Reds back to .500 at 19-19 and the defending World Series champion Cubs scrambled back to .500 at 19-19 to tie the Reds for third and fourth place.

By HAL McCOY

The up-and-down Cincinnati Reds are down right now. Way down, after the San Francisco applied an 8-3 beating Sunday afternoon.

They beat the Giants Thursday night, their fourth straight win over the Giants this season, and were in first place in the National League Central at 19-15.

Then came Friday, Saturday and Sunday and three straight losses to the Giants, who were 12-24 and in last place in the National League Central after Thursday’s loss.

NOW THE REDS ARE 19-18 and in third place, 2 ½ games behind the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

Losing three of four to the Giants came a week after they outscored the Giants 31-5 in a three-game sweep at Great American Ball Park.

Two things came into play in San Francisco. The scene shifted from Great American Small Park, where fly balls die in the stands for home runs, to AT&T Park with an outfield as big as all outdoors, where fly balls die in outfielder’s gloves.

THOSE 31 RUNS IN 24 innings in GABP turned into nine runs in 36 innings at AT&T.

And when the Reds mauled the Giants in Cincinnati the Giants were without two of their best hitters, center fielder and leadoff hitter Denard Span and shortstop Brandon Crawford. Both came off the DL for this series.

While Crawford was relatively silent on offense but devastating on defense, Span was a major thorn in the posterior. In the four games Span collected nine hits that included two home runs and a double, scored four and drove in three.

And it was Span who started Sunday’s mayhem. He led the bottom of the first with a hard shot to right center. Right fielder Scott Schebler called off center fielder Billy Hamilton, the guy who should have made the catch. But Schebler tried to catch it and dropped it.

That opened the gates for a four-run first inning against Reds starter Tim Adleman. After the error, Adleman gave up four runs, three hits and two walks. He left after the first inning with a sore neck.

Barrett Astin took over in the second and gave up three more runs that included a leadoff triple by Span and a two-run single by Crawford.

THE BENEFICIARY OF THE carnage was San Francisco starter Jeff Samardzija, who came into the game with a 0-and-5 record and a 5.44 earned run average.

And he entered the game with the second lowest run support for any starter in the National League. The Giants took care of that quickly with those seven runs in the first two innings.

The Red offense was deeply handicapped by a dearth of production by the middle of the order. Neither cleanup hitter Adam Duvall nor No. 5 hitter Eugenio Suarez drove in a run during the four-game series. Suarez was 3 for 18 and Duvall was 3 for 16.

Shortstop Zack Cozart missed his second straight game with a sore wrist.

After a much-needed day off Monday, the Reds open a three-game series against the struggling Chicago Cubs, who lost two of three over the weekend to the Cardinals and are one game under .500 at 18-and-19. They are in fourth place, one game behind the Reds.

There is the possibility that Amir Garrett could return from Class AAA Louisville to face the Cubs Friday. And Lisalverto Bonilla, who pitched a complete game in Saturday’s 3-1 loss, could face the Colorado Rockies in Great American Ball Park Friday.

By HAL McCOY

The Cincinnati Reds ‘Apprentice Pitching Program’ continued Saturday afternoon and this time it was Lisalverto Bonilla making his starting debut.

Bonilla became the eighth different starting pitcher used by the Reds this season and the fourth to make his Reds debut.

And afterward, nobody said, “You’re fired.” In fact, Bonilla was stunningly good against the San Francisco Giants in AT&T Park.

UNFORTUNATELY FOR HIM AND the Reds, the offense was absent without leave again and Bonilla was charged with a 3-1 defeat.

Making his first Major League start since 2014 for the Texas Rangers, the soon-to-be 27-year-old right handed Dominican, was credited with a complete game. And a loss.

He pitched eight innings (the Giants didn’t bat in the bottom of the ninth) and gave up three runs, six hits, walked two and struck out five. It was only the sixth time in the last five years a Reds pitcher threw a complete game and lost.

Unfortunately for him and the Reds, two of the six hits he gave up were solo home runs, a bolt to right field by Brandon Belt in the first inning and a 420-foot blast by No. 8 hitter Justin Ruggiano in the second, his first of the season.

AND BOTH CAME TWO OUTS in the inning. The third run came in the seventh on Michael Morse’s leadoff single and Kelby Tomlinson’s infield hit to shortstop.

After tearing the Giants asunder last week in Great American Ball Park, winning three straight and outscoring the Giants 31-5, the Reds have scored six runs in the first three games this week in San Francisco.

And they’ve managed to win one of those games, 3-2, Thursday. But they lost, 3-2, in 17 innings Friday and 3-1 Saturday.

IT WASN’T AS IF THE Reds didn’t have chance after chance. They were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11. They left seven on base in the first three innings and didn’t score against Giants starter Matt Moore, 1-and-4 with a 6.52 earned run average when the day began.

—They had two on with one out in the first before Adam Duvall and Eugenio Suarez both flied out.

—They loaded the bases after the first two Reds made outs in the second, but Arismendy Alcantara struck out.

—They had two on with one out in the third before Scott Schebler lined to third and Patrick Kivlehan struck out.

After the two home runs against Bonilla in the first two innings it stayed 2-0 until Scott Schebler led the sixth with his 10^th home run. That’s all the Reds would get, though.

BECAUSE THE TWO TEAMS went 17 innings Friday night, emptying their bullpens, they needed length from their starters and got it. Bonilla went eight and San Francisco’s Moore went 7 1/3 innings, giving up one run, eight hits, three walks and struck out seven in a gutty 120-pitch performance.

Moore pitched into the eighth and when he gave up a one-out double to Schebler he was replaced by Hunter Strickland, making his third straight appearance in the series. Kivlehan popped to shortstop on the first pitch and after Strickland balked Schebler to third Devin Mesoraco grounded to second.

Jose Peraza walked with one out in the ninth against Giants closer Derek Law. Alcantara lined hard to center field and Joey Votto popped to shortstop on the first pitch and that was that.

BILLY HAMILTON WAS NOT in the starting lineup and is nursing a strained calf he suffered swinging at a pitch in the 17^th inning Friday. Manager Bryan Price said the day off was not injury-directed. It was a planned day off.

Because of the 17-inning game, Price did rest shortstop Zack Cozart. Jose Peraza moved from second to shortstop and Alcantara played second. To cover Hamilton, Schebler moved move right field to center and Kivlehan played right field.

Schebler had two hits, the only Cincinnati hitter with more than one hit, after he had three in the 17-inning game, the only Cincinnati hitter with more than two hits.

After winning the first four games of the year against the Giants, the Reds have lost two straight and the four-game series finishes Sunday afternoon in AT&T Park.

By HAL McCOY

The Cincinnati Reds-San Francisco Giants baseball game Friday night/Saturday morning was a couple of Alfred Hitchcock movies — ‘The Birds’ and ‘Vertigo.’

In the last segments of the 17-inning game, dozens of sea gulls circled above AT&T Park, waiting for fans to clear out so they could munch on scraps.

And from the fifth inning on, both teams staggered back and forth from home plate as if everybody was suffering from vertigo.

IT ENDED AT 3:43 A.M. Cincinnati time when San Francisco catcher Buster Posey crushed a one-out home run off Robert Stephenson in the bottom of the 17^th for a 3-2 Giants victory.

It was San Francisco’s first victory over the Reds this season after four losses and the run off Stephenson was the first the Giants scored off the Reds bullpen after 19 scoreless innings this season.

IT ALSO WAS A ROUGH night for the umpires, especially home plate umpire Tony Randazzo. He was hit four times by baseballs, one that knocked him off his feet. After the 13^th inning all four arbiters left the field for a potty break and Randazzo left the game.

The last time Reds starter Scott Feldman faced the Giants, last week, he pitched a complete-game shutout.

His shutout Friday night didn’t survive the first batter. Giants leadoff hitter Denard Span homered into McCovey Cove outside the stadium on the eighth pitch of his at bat.

The Reds scored two runs off former teammate Johnny Cueto in the second inning on a single by Scott Schebler, a triple by Scooter Gennett and and sacrifice fly by Tucker Barnhart for a 2-1 Reds lead.

And then the Reds couldn’t find home plate for 15 consecutive innings — the same team that scored 31 runs in three games against the Giants last week in Great American Ball Park.

The Giants tied it in the fifth in a strange way. The first two batters, Christian Arroyo and Buster Posey both dropped bunts down the third base line and beat them out for hits without drawing throws.

Denard Span singled to right field to tie it, 2-2.

THEN CAME A LONG, LONG, LONG string of futility on both sides.

The Reds went from the sixth inning to the 12^th without a hit before pinch-hitter Devin Mesoraco singled. They drew four walks, but couldn’t bribe a hit.

But the Giants were doing no better against the Reds bullpen and the game droned on and on and on.

Feldman pitched seven solid innings, giving up two runs and seven hits. Cueto was even better — seven innings, two runs, five hits.

THE GAME WAS STUFFED WITH base-running blunders.

The Reds had two on with nobody out in the 14^th after Scott Schebler and Scooter Gennett singled.

Tucker Barnhart bunted the runners to third and second. Alas, Jose Peraza grounded to short and Schebler was thrown out at home. Then Giants pitcher Bryan Morris picked Scooter Gennett off second base.

Joey Votto also blundered in the first inning when the Reds had runners on second and first with one out. Adam Duvall popped out to short and Votto was doubled off first.

AND THE GIANTS WERE GUILTY parties, too. Christian Arroyo singled to lead the fourth and Posey missed a pitch on a hit-and-run and Arroyo was out at second base from San Francisco to Oakland back.

When Span singled in the fifth to tie the game he tried to go from first to second on his hit and was thrown out at second.

With two outs in the eighth, Brandon Belt shot a double up the right center gap and should have been content with a double. He tried to stretch it into a triple and made the third out at third on a Billy Hamilton to Zack Cozart to Eugenio Suarez relay play.

It was that kind of night — and early morning.

AFTER FELDMAN LEFT, Wandy Peralta pitched a scoreless inning (one hit), Michael Lorenzen pitched a scoreless inning (one hit), Blake Wood pitched two perfect innings, Drew Storen pitched a scoreless inning (one hit) and Austin Brice pitched two perfect innings.

Stephenson pitched two scoreless innings before Posey said enough is enough.

After Cueto left, seven Giants bullpenners held the Reds scoreless for eight innings, three by Bryan Morris (three hits and a walk) and the last relief pitcher available to manager Bruce Bochy, Corey Gearrin.

THE REDS MUFFED AN opportunity in the 15^th when they loaded the bases in the 16^th with two outs. Billy Hamilton went to 3-and-1, but struck out and was 0 for 7. And he injured himself swinging at strike three but had to remain in the game because manager Bryan Price was out of position players.

That also meant that pitcher Stephenson had to bat with two outs in the 17^th and lo and behold he blooped a single, his first major league hit. Eugenio Suarez was hit by a pitch, moving Stephenson to second, but Scott Schebler grounded to first to end that threat.

Both catchers, Cincinnati’s Tucker Barnhart and San Francisco’s Buster Posey caught the entire game.

There were some ugly numbers besides Hamilton 0 for 7. Zack Cozart was 0 for 6 with two strikeouts. Suarez was 1 for 7 with four strikeouts.

There were more than 41,000 fans at the game’s beginning, the Giants 529^th straight sellout, counting post-season games, but there were more sea gulls than fans when it ended.

By HAL McCOY

Not long ago the MLB Network listed the top ten shortstops in the majors and nobody with the initials Z.C. was named.

Zack Cozart, the Rodney Dangerfield of shortstops. No respect.

As have many teams this season, the San Francisco Giants felt the sting of Cozart’s reverberating bat Thursday night at AT&T Park.

Cozart’s rifle-shot double to the wall in left center field in the eighth inning broke a tie and gave the Cincinnati Reds a 3-2 victory.

AFTER DESTROYING THE GIANTS in three games last week in Cincinnati, outscoring them 31-5, the Reds used timely hitting and solid pitching to win their fourth straight of the season over the Giants. And the Reds have won 15 of their last 21 in the City by the Bay.

It was 2-2 in eighth when Scooter Gennett, who entered the game as part of a double switch, tripled off the glove of Denard Span at the right center wall.

After Billy Hamilton grounded out, Cozart drilled a 0-and-2 fastball offered up by Hunter Strickland.

AND DON’T FAULT HAMILTON for not driving home Gennett. Hamilton scored the Reds first two runs of the game. He has scored runs in 11 straight games, the most since Bip Roberts scored in 11 straight in 1991.

Reds starter Bronson Arroyo survived a bumpy start, two early solo home runs and several hard hit balls early in the game.

But he stuck around for six innings and gave up two runs and six hits.

Brandon Belt homered with one out in the first inning and Denard Span homered with one out in the fifth. But that’s all the Giants would get.

TY BLACH STARTED AGAINST the Reds last week and gave up 10 runs in three innings. On Thursday night he retired the first nine Reds.

Hamilton broke the spell leading off the fourth with a single and that man Cozart doubled to right, sending Hamilton to third. He scored on Joey Votto’s ground ball to first base.

Span’s home run in the fifth put the Giant back on top, 2-1, but Hamilton got things started in the sixth with another single.

Cozart’s grounder to second moved Hamilton to third and Votto singled to left for his 33^rd RBI this season, tying the game, 2-2.

THEN CAME SOME escape acts.

Drew Storen started the seventh and retired the first two, then gave up back-to-back singles to pinch-hitter Michael Morse and Span.

Manger Bryan Price brought in lefthander Wandy Peralta and he retired Belt on a fly ball to left.

With one out in the eighth, Brandon Crawford lifted a high, high pop-up to short right. Second baseman Gennett waved everybody off and then missed the ball. He didn’t touch it. It plopped into the grass for a double.

It didn’t perplex Peralta. He struck out Christian Arroyo and ended the inning on a ground ball to first by Joe Panik.

Then came Cozart’s big hit in the eighth to put the Reds ahead and Raisel Iglesias came in for the ninth — and more excitement.

WITH ONE OUT, Nick Hundley blooped a single to center. Pinch-hitter Buster Posey line one hard to right and Scott Schebler made a superior catch waist-high after a long run.

Span then singled, his third hit, putting the tying run on third and the winning run on first.

Belt swung at the first pitch and flied to left, ending the game. Peralta was the winning pitcher and opposing batters are 5 for 49 (.102) against him and one of those hits was the pop-up double that Gennett missed.