Category: Cincinnati Reds

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — It is — ta-dum — third baseman Nick Senzel. That’s whom the Cincinnati Reds selected in the first round tonight of the free agent baseball draft.

And I got it right.

In a piece I wrote Monday I predicted the Reds would take one of three players and Senzel was my No. 1 choice.

And this is how I put it:

“Taking a wild guess, depending upon whom the Phillies take, the Reds need position players and probably will take one of three players — University of Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel, Mercer College outfielder Kyle Lewis (who hit a 461-foot home run this year) or University of Louisville outfielder Corey Ray.

Senzel is the most exciting possibility. He hit .352 in 57 games this year for the Volunteers and drove in more than a run a game with 59. He hit eight home runs and 25 doubles, nearly a double every other game.

The Phillies took a high school outfielder with the draft’s first pick, Mickey Moniak of La Costa Canyon (California) High School, a player that most likely will take longer to develop than Senzel.

There is one clog in the deal, though. Denzel’s agent is the extremely difficult to deal with Scott Boras, so negotiations could be long and difficult.

Reds Director of Amateur Scouting Chris Buckley said the Reds got their man.

“We’re really excited, this is the guy we wanted,” said Buckley. “He is a very polished player, one of the better hitters, if not the best hitter in the draft. We think his power will improve the more he plays. He is a complete player, runs, throws and plays his position well.”

SOME SCOUTS have called Senzel (Sen-ZELL, as in Denzel) the next Scott Rolen, high praise indeed.

Asked if he is excited and anxious to begin his professional career, Senzel went right to the cash vault.

“Man, I’m ready, but as you guys know there is business to be taken care of and I have the best team in the world (The Boras Group) that takes care of that and they’ll let me know when the business side is taken care of,” said Senzel. “Once the business side (money and contract signing) is taken care of I’ll be ready to go.

“When I heard the pick I was extremely relieved and extremely excited,” he said. “I’m honored to be selected to the Reds. It’s a dream come true and this is just the beginning.”

Third base is his spot but he said he has played all the infield spots for the Volunteers and, 
“It’s just a matter of where they put me and where they develop me. Wherever they want me, I’ll play, however I can help out the organization.”

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — From the beginning it was evident that neither starting pitcher Wednesday in Great American Ball Park was fooling anybody, not even themselves.

It was going to be Survival of the Unfittest or baseball’s version of Last Man Standing. Neither starting pitcher stood for longer than five innings and when it became a bullpen battle the Reds were dead.

St. Louis 12, Cincinnati 7.

It was Cincinnati’s Alfredo Simon matched against St. Louis Cardinals left hander Jaime Garcia to start the game and neither pitched with valor or aplomb.

In fact, they pitched to their season’s numbers. Simon was 2-and-5 with an 8.94 earned run average and Garcia was 4-and-5 with a 3.48 earned run average. Just two starts ago Garcia gave up five runs and 10 hits in only 2 1/3 innings to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

BOTH MANAGERS GAVE THEIR starting pitchers a lengthy rope and both hanged themselves with it and were gone before the end of the fifth inning.

Simon gave up two walks and a three-run home run to Matt Adams to start the first inning and he was down, 4-1, after the top of there second. But Garcia was not in a guardian mood and the Reds tied it, 4-4, by the fourth inning, then fell behind, 6-4 on a two-run home run by Brandon Moss off Simon in the fifth.

Simon was gone after five innings — six runs, seven hits, five walks, two home runs and an ever-expanding ERA of 9.11.

Garcia was gone after 4 2/3 innings — five runs, 13 hits, one walk, two home runs.

SO IT BECAME A BATTLE of the Bullpens and as is well-documented the Reds are not well-armed for that type of warfare.

It was St. Louis 6, Cincinnati 5 when the bullpens assumed their positions. When the bullpens were finished it was St. Louis 12, Cincinnati 7.

The Reds bullpen gave up six runs, eight hits, three walks and two home runs in four innings. The Cardinals bullpen retired 10 straight until the Reds scored a couple of harmless runs on a couple of harmless hits in the ninth.

JOSH SMITH RETIRED THE first five Cardinals he saw, but Brandon Moss ended that by hitting his second home run of the game. Smith then gave up a walk and a single and was replaced by J.C. Ramirez. He quickly yielded a run-scoring single to pinch-hitter Greg Garcia and the Cardinals led, 8-5.

Ramirez gave up three straight singles to open the St. Louis eighth for a run and then Jhonny Peralta drilled a three-run homer, his first of the year and the fourth of the night for the Cardinals.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals bullpen of Matt Bowman, Dean Kiekhefer (spell that without looking it up), Seung Hwan Oh (South Korean)and Tyler Lyons stifled the Reds on two runs and two hits over the last 4 1/3 innings. Oh struck out the side in the seventh.

With Anthony DeSclafani returning to the rotation Friday Simon’s spot is in deep jeopardy after 11 starts and a 9.11 earned run average.

“We have to have some pressure from guys in Triple-A and the ability to bring them up,” said manager Bryan Price about Simon’s precarious perch. “The reason Simon has had so much rope is because he was with us for three years and was a terrific performer and always wanted to pitch.

“He just hasn’t gotten onto a roll and it has been a battle for him since the inception of the season,” Price added. “It has been a battle for him to lock in and make good pitches on a consistent basis. He is still spraying balls around and missing zones by a pretty wide margin. It is frustrating to see him not performing the way we know he can.”

OFFENSIVELY, THE REDS COLLECTED 15 hits, but only two over the last 4 2/3 innings. Zack Cozart had two hits, including a home run. Joey Votto had a pair of hits. Jay Bruce had two hits. Billy Hamilton had two hits. Tucker Barnhart had three hits, including a home run.

But with all those hits, they couldn’t deliver the knockout punch. They came back to within 4-3 by scoring two runs in the second. And they had the bases loaded with no outs. Brandon Phillips forced Simon at home and both Jay Bruce and Adam Duvall scorched smoking line drives that were snagged in the infield and no damage was done.

“The offense lately has been great, fun to watch,” said Price. “Votto has squared up a lot of balls, Bruce is on a great tear and Barnhart had three hits and a homer. Duvall has given us quality at bats all year. And then there is Cozart and Billy Hamilton doing well — it’s all up and down the lineup.”

Price said the offense is fun to watch. The bullpen? Bring blindfolds.

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — Joey Votto used a different ‘F’ word to describe the game-winning walk-off home run he unleashed Tuesday night in the bottom of the ninth, but there definitely was frustration involved. Frustration, though, was not the F-word he used.

With the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals tied with one out in the ninth, Votto crushed a 2-and-0 pitch offered by left hander Kevin Siegrist over the center field wall for a 7-6 Reds victory.

Votto stood briefly at home plate, semi-admiring his work, and when it was mentioned, he said, “Yeah, I hit the f—— out it. That’s why. I hit it hard.”

So the frustration evaporated and the frustration wasn’t just because Votto was 0 for 10 with six strikeouts for his career against Siegrist. It was deeper than that. It was 2 1/2 months of frustration.

IN THE SEVENTH INNING, facing a guy named Dean Kiekhefer, Votto struck out. And it all bubbled over. He unleashed an impressive stream of expletives, fired a high, hard one with his batting helmet and continued his explosion in the dugout for several seconds.

“Yeah, I’m hitting .220, man,” he said in explanation. “I’m hitting .220 and it’s June. I’m frustrated. And we’re losing a lot. Priority No. 1 is that I’m hitting .220 and we’re losing.”

Retribution, for one day and one at bat, came against Siegrist, a rugged left hander who is difficult for everybody to hit. Manager Bryan Price pulled out a sheet and showed a long column of negative numbers for his team against Siegrist.

“Look at this,” he said. “0 for 10. 2 for 10. 2 for 14. I mean, who do you go to? I think we have four hits total against him and he has been in the league, what, four years? Yeah, and he does it against everybody. He is just really good.”
OF COURSE, IT NEVER should have come to this. Thanks, bullpen. Again.

Reds starter John Lamb was matched against Mike Leake, returning to Cincinnati to face his old teammates for the first time since the Reds traded him to San Francisco last July.

And with true irony, Leake gave up four runs in the fourth inning, three coming on Adam Duvall’s 17th home run, a three-run blast. Duvall is the main player the Reds acquired for Leake.

With Duvall’s home run and two more in the sixth, Lamb had a 6-1 lead entering the eighth inning, having given up only four hits.

BUT HIS DAY ENDED in the eighth after her walked the first batter and back-to-back errors by second baseman Brandon Phillips filled the bases.

Blake Wood arrived and gave up a sacrifice fly, a single, an infield hit and a two-run double to Jhonny Peralta to make it 6-4. Then came Tony Cingrani to get the last out of the eighth.

He remained in the game for the ninth and gave up two hits and a two-run, game-tying double to Matt Carpenter.

That set it up for Votto’s magic, his fifth career walk-off home run.

“Siegrist is a tough guy for everybody — right handed, left handed,” said Votto. “I’ve faced him a bunch and I’d like to face him again in the future because he is a guy that you don’t get many opportunities like that. He is a tough matchup.
“I got into a good count, stayed behind the ball and made a good move on it and ended up finishing the game. For every one of those, there are 50 you miss and I’m glad I didn’t miss that one,” said Votto.

IT WAS THE SECOND STRAIGHT excellent outing for Lamb, only he didn’t get credit for anything as he did in his previous start in Colorado when he held the Rockies to one run over seven innings and won the game.

“Preparation and execution,” Price said of Lamb’s two-game resuregence. “I looked at the scoreboard once and he had thrown 24 strikes and six balls. And it was the quality of his strikes and his ability to throw a change-up when he was behind in the count. And had the ability to throw the curveball for a strike and then come back with an even better breaking ball when he ahead in the count.

“A lot of good things,” Price added. “When he needs to make a pitch, he is making it. He is down when it is away and up when it’s close to the hitter and that’s the way you pitch. He is learning to utilize the information when we give it to him and take it into the ballgame.”

WHILE MOST OF THE attention was focused on the return to Cincinnati of pitcher Leake, Lamb pulled the wool over everybody’s eyes — especially the Cardinals. While Leake was the featured presentation, Lamb upstaged him by holding the Cardinals at bay, a Cardinals team that averages 5.38 runs per game, third best in the majors..

Leake? The Reds turned him into an open spigot — six runs and 10 hits that included two home runs over 6 1/3 innings.

And in a bit of twisted irony, Leake was traded by the Reds to the San Francisco Giants last July for Adam Duvall and, like Lamb, Duvall stole the attention and the thunder away from Leake.

Duvall furnished the crushing blow to Leake, a three-run 425-foot home run in the fourth inning when the Reds scored four runs. They added two more in the seventh, one on Billy Hamilton’s second home run of the year.

Leake came back to Cincinnati for his first start against his old teammates with four wins in his last five starts and had given up only six runs in his last five starts. So the Reds scored as many runs, six, in 6 1/3 innings as Leake had surrendered in his previous five games.

Still, after another mess made by the bullpen, Votto cooled his explosive dugout temper and turned it on Siegrist to end the game quickly and abruptly.

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — As Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker watched the unfathomable plot unfold on the field a thought crossed his mind — an old television show.

“I was thinking about Fred MacMurray from ‘My Three Sons.’” said Baker. “Only I have four sons over there that wreaked havoc on us during this series — Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Zack Cozart. And I’m thinking, ‘Man, did I teach you guys to do all that stuff?’”

Baker, the former Cincinnati Reds manager who is now managing the Washington Nationals, was referring to his old players doing some heavy lifting over the weekend. It resulted in victories the first two days for the Reds and ended in a bizarre afternoon of baseball Sunday.

IN THE END, WASHINGTON won Sunday’s game, 10-9. But the Reds had a 5-0 lead and blew it. Then the Nationals scored 10 straight runs to take a 10-5 lead and nearly blew that.

The Reds, down a run, had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the ninth but closer Jonathan Papelbon coaxed a weak pop-up from Adam Duvall, struck out pinch-hitter Zack Cozart and ended the game on a long, long fly ball to the warning track in left center by Ivan DeJesus Jr.

So the Reds winning streak is over after winning five straight.

“I was trying to remain cool and think positive,” Baker said of the ninth inning. The Reds were down, 10-8, but Papelbon gave up a single to Tyler Holt to start the ninth and walked Joey Votto. Brandon Phillips doubled over the first base bag to score Holt and make it 10-9. Baker had Jay Bruce walked intentionally — and why not? He already had hit a three-run homer in mid-game.

THAT LOADED THE BASES with no outs, a seemingly inescapable position for Papelbon, but he did it.

“That was some game and Pap got those two key outs when he needed them,” said Baker. “That long fly ball (hit by DeJesus with two outs), well, we could tell (center fielder) Michael Taylor had a bead on it and we just didn’t want it to get into the sun or hit off the wall. That was exciting.”

Baker broke it down perfectly in a Charles Dickens manner. “That was A Tale of Three Games,” he said. “They jumped us (5-0, Reds). Then we jumped them back (10-5, Nats). Then we held on at the end when we were in big trouble.”

JON MOSCOT HAS THE same initials and wears the same uniform number as one of the all-time great Cincinnati Reds pitchers — No. 46, Jim Maloney.

And for three innings Sunday Moscot did a spot-on imitation of Maloney, who threw three no-hitters (one of them a loss that MLB eventually took away from him).

Moscot had a no-hitter against the Nationals for three innings and only one runner reached base and that was on an error.

And his teammates bombarded Washington starter Tanner Roark for five runs in the second inning, a seemingly comfortable cushion for a cruising Moscot.

It wasn’t to be because Moscot melted in the fourth inning like a cherry popsicle on a summer sidewalk in Arizona, giving up five runs and five hits that included back-to-back home runs to Daniel Murphy and Wilson Ramos.

That, of course, just tied the game but the difference-makers on this day were the bullpens — Washington’s held (barely) and Cincinnati’s didn’t.

Daniel Wright replaced Moscot in the fifth inning and gave up three straight hits and all three scored. J.C. Ramirez gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning in the sixth and the Reds trailed, 10-5. That was reduced to 10-8 in the seventh when Bruce rocked a three-run home run, his 13th homer of the season.

FOR THE FIRST TWO GAMES of the series, the Nationals more resembled the old Washington Senators, an American League team that lost 101 games in 1955 and 99 games in 1957 before fleeing to Minnesota to be re-born as the Twins.

The New Washingtons, the Nationals, came to town leading the National League East by three games, led by Baker, and carrying the swagger of a team on a four-game winning streak.

The Reds, though, took it to them in winning the first two games and had that 5-0 lead Sunday before imploding.

Baker had a tough call in the ninth with runners on second and third with no outs and his team clutching tenaciously to a one-run lead. The next two hitters were Jay Bruce and Adam Duvall — the power and the glory of the Reds recently.

Does he pitch to Bruce? Or does he walked him to fill the bases and face Adam Duvall? He walked Bruce.

“That’s a tough call, but it’s the only call we had,” he said. “Bruce has been hot and you don’t really want to face Duvall because he kind of walked us off last night (a three-run homer in the eighth to give the Reds a 6-3 win). Man, I told everybody to think positive and we were calling double play, calling everything. They just play us tough and they are hot right now, came out of Colorado hot. They’re swinging the bats.”

On this day, though, they came up one swing short

By HAL McCOY

Major League Baseball scheduled a four-game baseball series in Denver this week and four softball games broke out.

It was like those big guys who travel the country and put on hitting displays with softballs before major league games, launching juiced-up softballs deep into the upper decks.

It was the Cincinnati Curley’s Tavern Reds against the Colorado Bill’s Used Cars Rockies the last four days.

THE REDS FINISHED THE series Thursday night with an 11-4 win to take three of the four games, their first series win on the road this season and their first series win since they took two of three from the Rockies in mid-April in Great American Ball Park.

During the series the Reds hit 12 home runs and on Thursday they had their extra-base-hit spikes tighten on in double knots.

In the first four innings against Rockies starter Eddie Butler they had 11 hits, seven for extra bases (four doubles, two home runs and a triple).

For the night they hit four homers — two by Eugenio Suarez, who drove in four runs and one each by Zack Cozart and Adam Duvall, who connected for his 14th. Suarez’s first home run of the game was a three-run blast in the fifth that turned a 6-2 lead into a 9-2 advantage.

For the four games the Reds scored 33 runs on 46 hits and the Rockies scored 31 runs (17 in one game) on 42 hits.

AND THE REDS RECEIVED another good start from an unexpected source, just as they did Wednesday night from John Lamb (one run, six hits in seven innings). Alfredo Simon, 1-and-5 with a 9.60 earned run average when the night began, gave up four runs on five hits over seven innings.

The four runs he gave up all came on home runs, harmless back-to-back homers in the fourth by Carlos Gonzalez and Nolan Arenado, who leads the majors with 17. The other two came on a two-run home run by Trevor Story in the seventh.

The Gonzalez-Arenado combination cut Cincinnati’s lead to 4-2, but the Reds put six on the board in the fifth to put it away. Amazingly enough, it was the 11th time this season the Reds had scored five or more runs in an inning, most in the majors.

THE SIX-RUN INNING BEGAN with a walk to Joey Votto. Brandon Phillips singled and Jay Bruce doubled to make it 5-2. Adam Duvall singled to push it to 6-2 and Suarez homered to push it to 9-2, Billy Hamilton beat an infield hit, stole second and scored on an error by shortstop Trevor Story.

Zack Cozart had two hits and drove in two and is hitting .306. A resurgent Joey Votto had two hits and a walk as his average continues to creep upward, now at .222.

Jay Bruce had a triple and a double to drive in two and Eugenio Suarez had his first two home runs game and three hits, driving in four and scoring three.

So after traveling more than 6,700 miles on a three-city 10-game trip, the Reds return home with a 4-6 record (0-3 in Los Angeles, 1-2 in Milwaukee, 3-1 in Denver.

They open a three-game series Friday night against the Washington Nationals, a homecoming for former Reds manager Dusty Baker, now managing the National League East’s first-place team.

By HAL McCOY

If you try to figure out baseball, just stop. Don’t try it. Don’t do it. You can’t.

After giving up 17 runs, 19 hits and seven home runs to the Colorado Rockies Tuesday night, the Cincinnati Reds turned John Lamb loose on them Wednesday night.

That figured to be a major mismatch because Lamb was 0-and-3 with a 6.95 earned run average. When last seen in Milwaukee Lamb lasted 3 2/3 innings and gave up six runs and seven hits.

AND THIS WAS COORS FIELD, also known as Hitter’s Heaven, and it wasn’t Miller Park.

So what did Lamb do? The long-haired blond left hander put on a Clayton Kershaw-like performance in a 7-2 Reds victory.

He pitched seven innings, longest of his career, and gave up one run, six hits, walked one (amazing!) and struck out two to gain his first major league victory.

HE GAVE UP A SINGLE TO the first batter, Charlie Blackmon, then a double for a run to the second batter, D.J. LeMahieu. And he issued his only walk in the first to Carlos Gonzalez with one out.

And that was it.

Over his final six innings he gave up no runs, four hits, no walks. And the Reds turned two double plays to keep him out of harm’s way.

Lamb had to endure some pain, too. In the fourth inning Ryan Raburn ripped a line drive up the middle that struck Lamb flush in the left hip and the ball ricocheted almost to the first base dugout. Although clearly in pain for the next few innings, Lamb endured and transferred the pain to the Colorado bats.

‘Sore, it’s sore,” Lamb told post-game interviewers. “I wanted to be out there. Physically I could feel it, but it didn’t take away from anything I was doing. I’m beginning to think I have a magnet in my pocket (he has been hit more than once).”

OFFENSIVELY, ZACK COZART had two doubles, giving him six hits in the first three games in Coors, and scored two runs. His average is back up to .301.

Billy Hamilton had three hits, two doubles, drove in two runs, scored a run and stole two bases.

Catcher Ramon Cabrera drove in two runs with an RBI ground ball and a single.

Jay Bruce hit the only home run of the game after the two teams combined for 15 home runs in the first two games.

THE REDS SCORED A run in the top of the first on Cozart’s leadoff first pitch single, Hamilton’s double and Joey Votto’s ground ball.

After Colorado tied it, 1-1, in the bottom of the first, the Reds went to work in the second against Rockies starter Tyler Clayton, who came into the game with a 6-3 record and a 2.69 earned run average.

Eugenio Suarez walked to lead the second and Ivan DeJesus Jr., playing second base for injured Brandon Phillips, singled to center. Cabrera bounded into a fielder’s choice as Suarez scored. With two outs, Cozart doubled and Hamilton doubled for two more runs and the Reds led, 4-1.

THE REDS PUSHED IT to 5-1 in the sixth on Suarez’s single (he took second on right fielder Carlos Gonzalez’s error) and Suarez scored on Cabrera’s single.

Tony Cingrani replaced Lamb in the eighth and the Rockies scored an unearned run after Cingrani threw a double play ball into center field.

But Bruce homered in the eighth to make it 6-2 and Hamilton stole a run in the ninth. He singled for his third hit and stole second. The Rockies walked Votto intentionally.

Hamilton and Votto concocted a double steal and when the Rockies tried to throw Votto out at second the throw eluded second baseman D.J. LeMahieu and Hamilton continued home for the 7-2 finish.

The Reds lead the series two games to one and have an opportunity Thursday night to win their first series since they took two of three from these same Rockies April 18-20 in Cincinnati. To do it, Alfredo Simon 1-and-5 with a 9.60 earned run average needs to do what Lamb did.

 

 

 

By HAL McCOY

With apologies to Kermit, who said it isn’t easy being green, it isn’t easy being red these days, especially if you are a member of the Cincinnati Reds.

The Colorado Rockies slapped a memory on the Reds Tuesday night in Coors Field that even Alzheimer’s couldn’t erase.

Stopping the Rockies from crossing home plate on this night was like trying to stop the rain from failing, a 17-4 obliteration during which Colorado hit seven home runs and eight doubles. Reds pitchers tied a club record by giving up the seven home runs in one game.

If it had been a heavyweight boxing match it would have been stopped in the first round for humanity’s sake.

Manager Bryan Price knew he was in for hard times this year under a rebuilding program, but he had no idea the hard times would be like serving hard time breaking rocks in a old-time southern prison.

IT WAS A PERFECT display of what happens when a team has to send a steady stream of Class AAA pitchers to the mound in a big league game in a venue where even established and accomplished pitchers shudder at the thought of pitching there.

There was much joy in Cincinnati when it was time for Jon Moscot to return from the disabled list to the starting rotation.

That joy was tempered when Moscot faced his first hitter in the bottom of the first. For the second straight day, Charlie Blackmon led the bottom of the first with a home run on the second pitch he saw.

THEN IT GOT UGLY, er, uglier. Moscot gave up a double to D.J. LeMahieu and a home run to Nolan Arenado and it was 3-0 before an out was recorded. Moscot retired the next two, then gave up three more hits for two more runs and a 5-0 Reds deficit in the first.

Moscot gave up two more home runs in the second, one to LeMahieu and one to Carlos Gonazalez to make it 7-0.

Well, you get the jist of what this one was all about.

BLACKMON LATER HIT another home run. a grand slam off Dayan Diaz, and Arenado later hit another home run, two home runs after he sat out Monday’s game because he was enmeshed in a 4 for 32 slump.

And here is what the Reds pitching lines looked like as they pitched in Coors, a den of morosity for the Reds, who are 8-amd-20 in their last 28 appearances in Denver.

—Jon Moscot: 2 innings, 7 runs, 8 hits, four home runs.

—Daniel Wright: 3 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 8 hits, two home runs.

—Dayan Diaz: 0 2/3 innings, five runs, two hits, four walks and a home run.

—A.J. Morris: 2 innings, one run, one hit, two walks.

AND HERE IS HOW Colorado scored inning-by-inning: 5 2 1 – 0 0 3 – 6 0 X — 17 (19 hits).

Charlie Blackmon had two hits (both homers) and five RBI. D.J. LeMahieu had four hits, scored four runs and drove in two and homered. Nolan Arenado had two hits, scored three runs, drove in four and hit two homers. Carlos Gonzalez had three hits, scored one, drove in two and homered.

Gerardo Parra had three hits, scored two and drove in two. Daniel Descalso had a hit, scored two and drove in one. Tony Wolters had three hits, drove in one and scored one. Shortstop Trevor Story was the only Rockies starter who went hitless.

The beneficiary of the carnage was Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray. He went six innings and gave up three runs and five hits, with two of the runs coming on solo home runs by Joey Votto and Jay Bruce.

Bruce had three hits and was a single short of the cycle with a double, triple and home run. But he was the only Reds player with more than one it.

The Reds had a bizarre inning during which four runners reached base, but they scored only one run when they had the bases loaded with no outs in the third inning.

Tucker Barnhart reached on an infield hit. Moscot, trying to bunt was hit in the ear with a pitch. Zack Cozart walked to fill the bases and Billy Hamilton worked a nine-pitch walk to force in a run.

One run in, bases loaded, still no outs. Votto struck out on a pitch in the dirt, Adam Duvall struck out on a pitch in the dirt and Bruce grounded out.

The Reds, 5-and-20 on the road this year, are 2-and-6 on this trip (0-3 in Los Angeles, 1-and-2 in Milwaukee and 1-and-1 in Colorado with two left with the Rockies.

 

 

 

 

By HAL McCOY

It wasn’t Dan Straily’s finest hour, but not too many pitchers have their finest hours, or finest minutes, in Coors Field, the world’s largest pinball machine.

Straily, the Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher against the Colorado Rockies on Memorial Day, didn’t have a memorable day — five runs and eight hits in six innings.

Guess what? He was the winning pitcher because his teammates put on their hitting shoes and rescued him, 11-8.

But after giving up four runs in the third inning to fall behind, 5-1, he retired 10 of the last 12 he faced while the Reds made scrambled eggs out of the Rockies pitching staff.

WHAT WAS SO heart-warming for the Reds was that four guys struggling mightily provided much of the offense.

Zack Cozart, 0 for 18, hit the first pitch of the game out of the park against Rockies starter Chad Bettis. And he finished the day with three hits.

Eugenio Suarez, 0 for 28 when the day began, produced two hits, including a home run.

Joey Votto, residing ignominiously at near the .200 level with his batting average, contributed a two-run double and a home run.

Billy Hamilton had three hits and scored two runs and covered the expansive Coors outfield like a tarpaulin on a stormy day.

Adam Duvall, who is not struggling, cracked two home runs, 13 for the year and 12 in May, most in the majors.

AFTER FALLING BEHIND, 5-1, the Reds outscored the Rockies 10-0 until Tony Cingrani gave up three runs in the bottom of the ninth, including a two-run home run to Carlos Gonzalez and couldn’t finish the inning. J.C. Ramirez had to come in to get the final out and record his first major-league save.

And there was a contribution by the bullpen, too. When the Reds owned just a two-run lead in the seventh, 7-5, the first two Rockies reached base against Blake Wood — second and third with no outs.

Wood retired power-hitting Mark Reynolds on a grounder to third and struck out Gerardo Parra on three pitches.

He walked Trevor Story on a nine-pitch at bat to fill the bases with two outs and Wood retired Daniel Descalso on a ground ball.

THE REDS THEN PUT it away in the eighth with three runs – a leadoff home run by Suarez and run-scoring singles by Coart and Ivan Dejesus Jr.

After Cozart’s first-pitch home run in the first, Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon hit Straily’s second pitch of the game for a home run in the bottom of the first to tie it, 1-1.

Straily retired the first two in the third then issued one of those unthinkable two- out walks. Four batters later, the Rockies led 5-1, three scoring on a double by third baseman Daniel Descalso, playing only because All-Star third baseman Nolan Arrenado took the day off.

Then came the Reds five-run fourth — double by Jay Bruce, home run by Duvall, single by Suarez, single by Billy Hamilton, a walk to Strailey on a 10-pitch at bat, a two-run ground rule double by Votto to tie it, 5-5, and an infield hit to deep shortstop by Brandon Phillips to put the Reds ahead for good.

So, to sum it up, the Reds had 11 runs, 17 hits, five home runs and three doubles, a truly memorable offensive afternoon

By HAL McCOY

After poking their heads out of the deep recesses of a losing cave Saturday, the Cincinnati Reds retreated back to the darkness Sunday afternoon, losing to the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-4, in Miller Park.

There was a familiar pattern to it, too. Bad baserunning by the Reds and Johnny Bench-like hitting from Milwaukee catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

And, as they have done so often during their recent stretch of futility, the Reds put away their bats before the game was over. Adam Duvall punched a one-out single in the fourth and the Reds didn’t get another hit after that until there were two outs in the ninth inning.

NINE REDS HAD GONE down in order and they were down to their last out, trailing by 5-2. But three straight singles by Tyler Holt, Ivan DeJesus Jr. and Tucker Barnhart plated two runs.

Suddenly, it was 5-4 and the tying run was on first base. That was it, though, because relief pitcher Blaine Boyer struck out pinch-hitter Jordan Pacheco on three straight pitches.

In addition, another decent pitching performance by Reds left hander Brandon Finnegan was put to waste, although the Reds are now 0-and-8 in the eight games started by Finnegan.

IT BEGAN AUSPICIOUSLY in the first inning when the Reds had two runners wiped off the basepaths.

Billy Hamilton led the game with a double, but pitcher Jimmy Nelson caught him too far off second base and Hamilton had to break for third and was an easy out.

Brandon Phillips singled with two outs and was caught trying to steal second.

MOVE NOW TO THE bottom of the first and the Brewers displayed some shrewd baserunning. Jonathan Villar led the bottom of the first with a single.

Hernan Perez popped a foul behind first base and close to the stands. Second baseman Brandon Phillips sprinted over and made a sliding catch. But he ran into the wall, injuring his ankle. While Phillips was down, Villar not only alertly tagged up at first, he took second AND third.

From there he scored on Jonathan Lucroy’s sacrifice fly, just a continuation of Lucroy’s productivity in this series, two of three won by the Brewers. Lucory had nine RBI in the series, three each game.

THE REDS SCORED TWO in the top of the second, started by Jay Bruce’s home run, his 35^th career homer against the Brewers. The Reds then filled the bases with no outs — and scored ONE run.

Adam Duvall was hit by a pitch, Tyler Holt beat a bunt single and Ivan DeJesus Jr. singled to fill ‘em up. But Tucker Barnhart bounced into a double play as one run scored and Brandon Finnegan grounded out.

That gave the Reds a 2-1 lead, but the offense went to sleep from there until the ninth.

MEANWHILE, THE BREWERS took a 3-2 lead in the third, scoring two after there were two outs and nobody on. Finnegan inexplicably walked Villar and he scored on a Lopez double. Lucroy singled to make it 3-2.

The Brewers made it 4-2 in the fifth on a double by Alex Presley and a singled by Villar.

The Brewers added what turned out to be the winning run in the seventh and it was that guy Lucroy. Villar walked and was bunted to second. With two outs and first base open, the Reds decided to pitch to Lucory and he smoked a triple to the right field corner for a 5-2 lead. That pushed him to 6 for 11 with nine RBI in the series.

FINNEGAN PITCHED 6 1/3 innings and gave up four runs and six hits, but he walked four and two of those walks scored.

The Reds, losers in 12 of their last 13 and 16 of their last 19, flew after the game to Denver for the start of a four-game series in Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies, beginning tomorrow afternoon.