Reds play a near-perfect game, nudge Pirates
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — If only the Cincinnati Reds could put Monday night’s game in a bottle and put a cap on it, it could be a usable product. They could uncap it and sell it to other teams. Or they could uncap it and use it for themselves. THE REDS PLAYED a near-perfect […]
Another day (even Mother’s Day), another blown save
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — On Mother’s Day, for the Cincinnati Reds there was no Zack Cozart, no Billy Hamilton, no Eugenio Suarez, no Tucker Barnhart and no victory. Manager Bryan Price decided to give those four regulars a day off against the Milwaukee Brewers and their stand-ins weren’t up to producing enough runs. And […]
Odd Couple: Votto, Phillips play 1,000th together; Brewers explode against Reds much maligned bullpen.
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — Succinctly put, the Cincinnati Reds bullpen is still a mess in progress and Milwaukee Brewers attacked it like ants at a Sunday picnic. And Brewers third baseman Aaron Hill was the point ant — three consecutive home runs and seven runs batted in. The Brewers scored seven runs in the […]
Adleman, ‘The Bullpen’ silence the Brewers
By HAL McCOY There was big news emanating out of Great American Ball Park Friday night. And it had nothing to do with another noteworthy start by out-of-nowhere pitcher Tim Adleman. The big event was the Cincinnati Reds bullpen. It did not give up a run. Repeat. No runs. After giving up at least one […]
‘Los Rojos’ do the Mexican Hat Dance
By Hal McCoy The Cincinnati Reds wore different uniform tops Thursday night and, indeed, they were a different team. They wore ‘Los Rojos’ (Spanish for ‘The Reds’) in honor of Cinco de Mayo. And they did a Mexican Hat Dance on the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-5, in Great American Ball Park. In so doing they vaulted […]
Straily doesn’t stray far from his winning game plan
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — It is strange and mystifying the way baseball sometimes works. Or doesn’t work. The pundits and the wise guys in Las Vegas would have labeled Wednesday’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants as a mismatch, an off-the-board type of game. After all, the Giants are in first […]
The elephants (bullpen) are still in the room
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — The elephants are no longer performing for the Ringling Brothrs Barnum & Bailey circus, but there are still elephants in the room with the Cincinnati Reds. It is the bullpen, or what stands for one. The ineptitude is mind-boggling and it won’t surprise anybody that the Reds bullpen tied a […]
It was bizarre, but it was a victory
By Hal McCoy The game was as bizarre as a book entitled, ‘Body Builders in Tutus,’ by Phillipp Lomboy. That’s a real book and what happened Sunday afternoon in PNC Park was as real as a Primanti Brothers sandwich in Pittsburgh. It was a manual called, “Bad Baseball, Both Teams’ when the Cincinnati Reds played […]
Reds: No hitting, no pitching, no winning
By Hal McCoy The Cincinnati Reds bullpen has absorbed the brunt of the criticism for its early-season performances, and rightfully so. But some of it needs to be aimed at the offense, too, the one segment of the team that nobody expected to flounder with a batting order spiced with Joey Votto, Zack Cozart, Jay […]