Of Chili Peppers, hot dogs and another Reds defeat
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 […]
Reds lose sixth straight, 9-5, to Cubs
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 […]
Reds lose fifth straight with controversial finish
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 […]
Cubs outlast Reds in Home Run Derby, 9-5
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 […]
Reds leave their hearts in San Francisco
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 […]
Bonilla pitches ‘losing’ gem
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 […]
Reds totally futile in 17 innings, lose 3-2
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 […]
Cozart plays like Mozart for Reds
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 […]
Reds pitch-perfect in 5-3 win over Yankees
By HAL McCOY If Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price has a piece paper in his desk, diagramming how to use his pitching staff, it was followed to the last comma and last period Tuesday night. What he wants these days, with the Reds short of quality starting pitchers because three of his best are on […]