Reds waste another solid pitching performance
By HAL McCOY Just when the young pitchers on the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff have found their groove, the offense has fallen out of the groove. After beating two of baseball’s best pitchers — New York’s Jacob deGrom on Thursday and Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole on Friday, the Reds put their bats into hibernation. They went […]
Bailey pitches gem, but Mets rookie pitches a Hope Diamond
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — Just 24 hours after scoring 14 runs against the New York Mets on Tuesday night, the enigmatic Cincinnati Reds scored 14 fewer runs on Wednesday. That’s zero, zip, zilch. No runs. And they lost, 2-0. Not only that, after getting 15 hits Tuesday, they had one lonely hit through eight […]
Romano, Schebler help end Mets’ domination over Reds
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — What happens when two bad baseball teams show up together on a Tuesday night, when school is back in session, when the weather is sketchy, when they aren’t giving away a bobblehead and football season is about to begin? Mostly it means more empty than occupied seats. It was Bark […]
Mahle solid in debut, but offense lets him down
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — Tyler Mahle’s major league debut Sunday afternoon was a mixed bag and was proof once again that it is not how one starts but how one finishes. Mahle held the Pittsburgh Pirates to no runs, one hit and a couple of walks over his first three innings, living up to […]
Luis ‘Pedro Martinez’ Castillo brilliant in 1-0 loss
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — Luis Castillo knows baseball history and that’s why a 2-and-7 start to his major league career doesn’t leave him sobbing in a corner. “That’s exactly the way Pedro Martinez started his major-league career, 2-and-7,” Castillo said with a broad grin, referring to the fellow Dominican and Hall of Fame pitcher. […]
Stephenson strikes out first six Pirates
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — Robert Stephenson was, well, absolutely poetic Friday night in Great American Ball Park. That, though, wasn’t the poet who wrote, ‘Hail, Guest, and Enter Freely’ on the Great American Ball Park mound. This Robert Stephenson was the rookie Cincinnati Reds pitcher and he certainly wasn’t hailing the Pittsburgh Pirates and […]
Romano, Peraza put the hurt on Cubs, 4-2
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — For seven innings Thursday night, it looked as if the Cincinnati Reds were stuffed and mounted. Jake Arrieta, Brian Duensing and Carl Edwards Jr. had the Reds hog-tied, holding them to one run and four hits. Then Pedro Strop happened. Usually when Strop shows up, the Reds fold up. But […]
Walks, homers are big enemies to the Reds
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — Home runs and walks. Walks and home runs. Cincinnati Reds pitchers give away both like Halloween candy and it has been a season-long epidemic. And they way some of them have pitched they probably wish they could wear Halloween costumes to the mound. It is, of course, a recipe for […]
Reds can’t protect two three-run leads
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — If the Cincinnati Reds can’t protect a 9-0 lead against the Chicago Cubs, how in the name of Eppa Rixey can they be expected to guard a couple of three-run leads. Well, they didn’t on a long and miserable Tuesday night in Great American Ball Park. After twice leading by […]