Category: Cincinnati Reds

By HAL McCOY

Futility, thy double name is the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves.

The two teams played deep into the night and early into the next morning Wednesday/Thursday, 13 innings worth over 5 1/2 hours before a delirious decision was rendered.

In the end, the Reds lost, 9-8, in what turned out to be in an incredibly unbelievable manner in the 13th. They scored two in the top of the 13th and then pitcher Alfredo Simon did not retire any of the six batters he faced and the Braves scored three runs in the bottom of the 13th.

A bases loaded and no outs single by Chase d’arnaud broke an 8-8 tie to give the Braves the unfathomable victory.

DURING THE DEBACLE THE Braves were 7 for 25 with runners in scoring position and left 18 runners on base. They struck out 15 times. For the second straight night they had the bases loaded with no outs and didn’t score.

On Wednesday/Thursday they had the bases loaded with no outs in the 11th inning, needing to score the run from third base against Tony Cingrani and didn’t do it.

The Braves used nine pitchers and the Reds used eight. There were 468 pitches thrown, 267 by the Reds and 201 by the Braves. The Braves used 21 players and the Reds used 20. Reds manager Bryan Price used all his position players with the exception of Kyle Waldrop.

THE ONLY SALVATION FOR folks who stayed up to watch this miscarriage of baseball was that they got to see Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman hit for the cycle (single, double, triple, home run), the first time an Atlanta player did it since Mark Kotsay in 1985.

And Freeman, who has seven hits in the last two games, hit the home run in the sixth inning to tie the game, 6-6.

It stayed 6-6 through the seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th.

Adam Duvall led the top of the 13th with a full-count walk. Ivan DeJesus Jr. bunted and Atlanta second baseman Jace Peterson dropped the throw at first base and both runners were safe. Tyler Holt bunted the runners to second and third.

After Eugenio Suarez struck out, his modus operandi these days, Tyler Barnhart was walked intentionally to fill the bases with two outs.

AFTER PITCHER ALEX OGONDO slipped two quick strikes past Jose Peraza, he threw four straight balls for a walk that forced in a run to give the Reds a 7-6 lead. Joey Votto then singled for another run to make it 8-6, but DeJesus was thrown out at the plate.

All Alfredo Simon needed were three outs to nail it down. He didn’t hammer home a single nail.

Adonis Garcia singled to left. Nick Markakis singled off first baseman Joey Votto’s glove (Votto’s error earlier in the game led to three unearned runs). Jace Peterson doubled to the right field corner for a run to slice the Reds’ lead to 8-7. Tyler Flowers singled to left to tie it, 8-8.

Erick Aybar was walked intentionally to fill the bases with no outs. Price brought left fielder Adam Duvall into the infield to put five defenders in the infield, but d’arnaud drooped the game-ending single into left center.

WAY, WAY, WAY BACK early in the game Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani fell behind, 4-0, early in the game and lasted only 2 2/3 innings. In the third inning. with one out and the bases loaded, Peterson grounded to Votto and he threw home trying to get a force out, but his throw was wide for an error and a run scored. With two outs Erick Aybar doubled home two runs for a 4-0 Braves lead.

For his 2 1/3 innings in his second start this season, DeSclafani threw 76 pitches while giving up four runs (one earned), six hits and three walks.

The Reds scored three in the fourth, cutting their deficit to 4-3. The Braves scored a run in the fifth to make it 5-3 before the Reds scored three in the sixth on Jay Bruce’s single for his 50th RBI and DeJesus singled for two more and a 6-5 lead.

Then came Freeman’s sixth-inning home run and then the long, long trudge to the 13th inning.

ALONG THE WAY THE Reds made six outs via strikeout of the seven outs they made. On a positive note. J.C. Ramirez pitched two innings for the Reds and struck six in the ninth and 10th. He whiffed the first five, gave up a single, then struck out Ender Inciarte.

By HAL McCOY

This is the anatomy of a head-scratching victory.

After the first inning Tuesday night in Turner Field, the Cincinnati Reds had one hit. One.

At one point 17 straight Reds made outs. Ten Reds struck out 10 times. They had three hits for the entire game.

They won, 3-1. How? Well, for the main thing they were playing the Atlanta Braves, baseball’s version of Everybody’s Patsy. These aren’t the Atlanta Braves of manager Bobby Cox and pitchers Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery. These are the Atlanta Papooses.

SECONDLY THE REES eceived outstanding pitching from starter Brandon Finnegan and, yes, the bullpen — including just-recalled J.J. Hoover.

Finnegan, trying to prove he belongs in the rotation and not in the bullpen, where the Reds thought he’d be when they acquired him last year in the Johnny Cueto trade.

And he is proving it, even though he likes to tempt disaster by putting runners on base, mostly through walks.

He pitched six innings Tuesday night and only came out because it took him 102 pitches to get there, holding the Braves to one run and four hits, but mixing in three walks.

The Braves, 18-and-46, went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The Braves had runners on base in five of the six innings pitched by Finnegan but baseball’s lowest scoring team pushed across only one run.

ATLANTA STARTER JULIO Teheran made one mistake the entire game, a misplaced fastball in the first inning that Jay Bruce blasted over the right field wall, a three-run home run. Before the home run, Teheran walked Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips singled. Then the Reds got nothing more off Teheran, who is 2-and-7 with a 2.93 earned run average.

Bruce has 15 home runs and a team-leading 49 runs batted in. The home run came in front of scouts from the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees, all teams looking to acquire a power-hitting outfielder.

AFTER FINNEGAN LEFT, J.J. Hoover came on and appeared to be a new man from the one the Reds sent back to Class AAA Louisville due to total lack of effectiveness.

Hoover pitched two innings and faced the minimum six batters, although he hit Freddie Freeman with a pitch in his second inning. Freeman, though, was erased on a double play ground ball.

There was some excitement in the bottom of the ninth when Blake Wood came in to close it out.

And he quickly filled the bases with no outs on a walk to Adonis Garcia, a single by Tyler Flowers (who had struck out three straight times) and a walk to Jace Peterson.

Another bullpen meltdown? Not this time. Pinch-hitter A.J. Pierzynki struck out on three straight pitches and the game ended when Mallex Smith hit into a double play — Zack Cozart, to Brandon Phillips to Joey Votto.

In addition to the recall of Hoover, the Reds also recalled Jose Peraza, while pitcher Daniel Wright was optioned back to Class AAA Louisville and Jordan Pacheco was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

By Hal McCoy

On a scale of ugliness, if Monday night’s Cincinnati Reds-Atlanta Braves baseball game looked in a mirror it would shatter.

It was a game one might expect from two teams with the worst records in baseball.

The Reds pulled it out in the ninth inning, 9-8. And how did they do it? Joey Votto blooped a wedge shot down the left field line that plopped on the green between three caddies — the third baseman, the shortstop and the left fielder. And he ended up with a double.

That led the ninth. And did somebody stroke a dramatic hit? Well, no. The winning run scored on a bases loaded walk to Tyler Holt.

IN FACT, HERE IS how the Reds scored runs against a charitable Atlanta pitching staff: a wild pitch scored a run, two bases loaded walks scored two runs and two sacrifice flies scored two runs. That’s five of their nine runs.

And the game bounced back-and-forth like a Standard Duncan yo-yo.

—THE REDS SCORED three in the first inning against Atlanta starter Aaron Blair (0-and-4, 7.59 earned run average) on a leadoff walk to Zack Cozart, Jay Bruce’s league-leading sixth triple and Adam Duvall’s 18^th home run, a two-run rip.

—THE BRAVES SCORED two in the bottom of the first against Daniel Wright, making his second major league start when he, too, walked the first batter, followed by two straight singles for one run and the second scored on a double play.

—THE REDS SCORED three more in the third against Blair when he gave up a leadoff single to Cozart and then walked three straight, forcing in a run. The next two runs came on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Adam Duvall and Eugenio Suarez and the Reds led, 6-2.

—THE BRAVES SCORED two in their third, aided by an error by first baseman Joey Votto that let in one run and a run-scoring double by Adonis Garcia. That cut the Reds lead to 6-5.

—THE BRAVES TOOK a 7-6 lead in the fifth when relief pitcher J.C. Ramirez gave up a single and a home run to Freddie Freeman.

—THE REDS SNEAKED back into the lead in the sixth, 8-7, on pinch-hitter Kyle Waldrop’s run-scoring single, his first major-league RBI, and the go-ahead run scored on a wild pitch by Ryan Weber.

—THE BRAVES TIED it in the eighth against relief pitcher Ross Ohlendorf. The first batter he faced, Adonis Garcia, homered into the left field seats, the 12^th time this year that a Reds relief pitcher has given up a home run to the first batter he faced.

—THEN CAME THE bizarre ninth when hard-throwing Arodnys Vizcaino walked Eugenio Suarez to load the bases and walked Tyler Holt to force in the winning run.

Tony Cingrani came on for the bottom of the ninth and didn’t give up a home run to the first batter he faced. He gave up nothing, three quick outs for his seventh save.

Daniel Wright lasted only three innings as the Reds starter, giving up five runs (three earned), six hits and a walk. Aaron Blair lasted only five innings as Atlanta’s starter, giving up four runs, six hits and four walks.

The Reds made the most out of nine hits, aided and abetted by accepting eight walks and a wild pitch.

VOTTO WAS THE ONLY Reds hitter with more than one hit and he had two, one of them the excuse-me double that ignited the winning, uh, rally. Duvall drove in three runs with his two-run homer and a sacrifice fly.

The Reds bullpen was 50/50. J.C. Ramirez gave up two runs in two innings and Ohlendorf gave up the game-tying home run in the eighth.

But Blake Wood pitched two innings during which he gave up no runs and no hits, walked one and hit a batter. And Cingrani was dead, solid perfect.

By Hal McCoy

CINCINNATI — If there was a film production company assigned to Great American Ball Park Sunday afternoon to film good starting pitching, both Cincinnati Reds starter John Lamb and Oakland A’s starter Kendall Graveman ended up on the cutting room floor.

Neither pitcher was around long enough to make the second reel. And neither pitcher displayed any endearing moments to preserve for posterity.

When it mercifully ended on a hot Sunday afternoon, it was Oakland 6, Cincinnati 1 and the only thing to be said about it is that it tore another page off the schedule with nothing memorable to remember it.

In the process the Reds helped the A’s shed a seven-game losing streak.

LAMB, WHO HAD PITCHED admirably recently, gave up four runs, seven hits and two walks in only four innings, including a pair of two-run home runs in the second inning to Marcus Semien and Jake Smolinski.

Graveman came in with a 2-and-6 record and a 5.49 earned run average and dared the Reds to score against him in nearly every one of his four innings but the Reds never accepted the dare.

After the starters departed, Oakland scored two runs on eight hits against Reds’ bull penners — a run against A.J. Morris and a run against J.C. Ramirez.

The Reds, though, could do little against the A’s bullpen and, in fact, one of the pitchers was Doolittle, Sean Doolittle. Over the final five innings the Reds had no runs, no hits and only one base runner. Eugenio Suarez was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning.

To add ignominy to it all, Oakland closer Ryan Madson retired the Reds 1-2-3 in the ninth, two via strikeouts. Madson is the same Ryan Madson who spent one full year of a paid vacation with the Reds and never pitched an inning due to injury.

“They rarely get to the bullpen that early and the bullpen is one of the best strengths of their club,” said manager Bryan Price. “It was really hard after that to generate any offensive push.”

Hard? Impossible with no hits.

AGAINST GRAVEMAN THE REDS had hits in all four innings — two in the second and two in the third and had the bases loaded in the fourth but produced only one run.

Steve Selsky singled with two outs in the second and scored on Ramon Cabrera’s single for the only run off Graveman. But by then the Reds were already down by four runs.

The Reds had two singles in the third but after Zack Cozart led with a single he was caught stealing while Joey Votto struck out. Brandon Phillips singled but Jay Bruce struck out.

Graveman’s most egregious error was to walk pinch-hitter Kyle Waldrop to fill the bases with two outs in the fourth, forcing him to face Zack Cozart. He escaped that by getting Cozart on a ground ball to second.

Manager Bob Melvin sent Graveman back out for the fifth burt he was on the mound only long enough to give up a single to Joey Votto and that was it — four-plus innings, one run, seven hits, two walks. He was replaced by Fernando Rodriguez who retired Brandon Phillips on a fly ball to center and coaxed a ground ball double play out of Jay Bruce.

AS FOR LAMB, PRICE said, “He missed some locations and wasn’t behind the ball the way he was his last couple of outings. He wasn’t terrible. They got him early in the game with single, homer, single homer.”

Lamb, one of the clubhouse’s biggest tippers when it comes to tipping caps, said of his performance, “I tip my out to the other dugout, they just happen to beat us today. I was prepared mentally and physically and did everything I could to keep those guys off balance.

“I tip my hat to them on a couple of pitches they hit pretty hards and knocked them over the fence for a couple of runs,” he added. “That did some damage right there.”

The Reds won the first two games of this series, both by 2-1 scores, but scored only five runs in the three games. They finished the homestead with a 5-4 work sheet (2-1 against Washington, 1-2 against St. Louis). Now they embark on another long and winding road trip — nine games in 10 days with four in Atlanta, three in Houston and two in Texas.

 

 

 

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — When Tyler Holt was with the Cleveland Indians he chased a ball into the left field corner, churning at top speed, then crashed into the wall and crumpled into a heap on the track.

Big deal? Happens all the time? Well, this was a meaningless spring training game, in the ninth inning when most of the fans were gone and the regular players were already in the shower.

That, though, is what Tyler Holt is all about — a high-kinetic, high-energy baseball players who not only knows his strong points, he knows and accepts his weak points.

And what he accepts with the Cincinnati Reds is a utility role, fill in where needed and try to do something, anything, to win a baseball game.

ON SATURDAY, FILLING IN for Billy Hamilton in center field, Holt made a diving catch of a fast-falling fly ball with the bases loaded, saving two runs. What did that mean? The Reds won, 2-1, so in essence he saved the game with his glove.

Manager Bryan Price talks about ‘The Jonny Gomes Effect,’ when he talks about Holt. Gomes, a role player wherever he goes (and that team nearly always competes), is a high-strung, vociferous, knock-you-down type of guy and a high-visibility guy in the clubhouse, loved by all.

“You need that,” said Price. “They talk about the Jonny Gomes effect and it is about having guys who accept their role and thrive in it. And when they are not playing they are providing some other element of positive influence on the team. That’s what Tyler does.”

PRICE LAUGHED WHEN he talked about what Holt does.

“He is energized and always jabbing the players and he doesn’t discriminate, be it a salty veteran or a rookie,” said Price. “He is poking the angry pig whenever he gets the chance. He is a lot of fun and he is always ready to play and will help us any way possible.”

Holt also laughed when his dugout demeanor was mentioned.

“It’s more of a joke,” he said. “I know my place and these guys take it as a joke. I call Zack Cozart a rookie sometimes but it is all in good fun. I’m a rookie so I play around with the veterans in an ironic way. They know I’m joking and if they didn’t take it as a joke I wouldn’t be doing it. They’ve let me become myself and enjoy the ride.”

Holt calls his humor targets, ‘The Core Four’ — Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Zack Cozart, “And they allow me to be who I am. It makes for a nice clubhouse when you have so many ups and downs over the course of the season.”

AND THE CORE FOUR appreciates what he does on the field when given the chance and his high-octane approach to the game can be infectious.

“I’ve always been a high-energy guy, ever since I was a kid and always had my parents on their toes,” he said. “You have to do something when you can’t put the ball out of the park on every swing. So you find any way you can to find a way to help the team win and you’ll stick around.

“I feel like that’s related to on and off the field success with the guys on the club,” he said. “They realize I work hard and I’ve realized what my role is, to step up and start when I need to when Billy Hamilton or Adam Duvall or Jay Bruce need a day off, or I’ll come in for late innings and play ‘D’ or run the bases or pinch-hit.”

There was a game in Milwaukee on the last trip when Holt was on third and Alfredo Simon was at the plate. The pitcher ignored Holt and he broke for home. And he had it stolen easily, stone cold. But Simon was hit by a pitch and Holt had to return to third base, his first theft of home in a major-league game thwarted.

“I know, that would have been awesome,” he said. “I think I did it once in college (Florida State), but other than that I haven’t had many opportunities.”

Of his catch Saturday, somebody said, “Great catch. A game-saver.” His answer? No explanation, no braggadocio. Just, “Thank you, yes sir, I appreciate it.” And when the inquisitor added, “It’s nice to be able to send somebody out to center field and not lose anything,” he said, “Yes, sir. I appreciate that.”

See? He is humble, too.

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — His manager calls Jay Bruce, “The consummate professional and he has always been the consummate professional.”

And what does Jay Bruce think about himself so far this season? “I feel like myself again.”

His ‘myself’ was a one-man demolition team Saturday afternoon during a 2-1 victory over the Oakland A’s, the second straight 2-1 victory for the Cincinnati Reds over the A’s.

Bruce furnished all the offense — a massive 439-foot two-run home run off a kid making his major league pitching debut, a blast in the the third inning that looked as if it might make an emergency landing at Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Then in the ninth inning, with the tying run on first base, Marcus Semien lined one hard into the right field corner. Bruce, though, ran it down and backhanded it in the right fielder corner before he ran into the side wall.

IT WAS A JAY BRUCE AFTERNOON, one of several he has had lately, which is of the good news-bad news variety. The good news is that he is helping the Reds win recent games. The bad news is that he is a hot commodity on the trade market and his value is extremely high for several teams looking for outfielders.

“It is something to see what he is doing,” said manager Bryan Price. “How about those two plays he made off the wall in yesterday’s game — holding a runner to a single and throwing Yonder Alonso out at second base?

“Then he makes that play today and hits a big homer off a kid that was throwing the ball really well,” Price added.

That would be 23-year-old Daniel Mengden, called up Saturday for his major league debut. He was 5-and-1 in the minors at Class AA Midland and Class AAA Nashville and had a 1.19 earned run average in 11 starts, giving up only nine earned run in 68 1/3 innings.

He wore a handlebar mustache and although he is from Texas his pitching style, both hands high over his head, has a Japanese flavor. He gave up two runs and six hits over his 5 2/3 innings.

HE WAS MASTERED, THOUGH by Bruce and his pitching opponent, Dan Straily, who gave up one run and five hits over seven innings, battling 92-degree heat and throwing 109 pitches in a high stress environment.

“A week ago the heat got to me,” said Straily, now 4-and-2. “I made some adjustments in terms of hydration and preparation, if you will. So I was unaffected today.”

And his win came against the team he pitched for in 2014 and he said, “That was fun. You prepare for them like any other team and you don’t look at the names on their backs. Now that it is over, well, yeah I pitched against a lot of good buddies over there. So it was fun. I was able to watch those guys hit when I was with them.”

PRICE, THOUGH, IS IMPRESSED and amazed at Bruce’s never-changing demeanor.

“He has had to deal with the adversity of his name in the papers (trade rumors) and he has handled it like a real professional,” said Price. “And I think he enjoys his team in Cincinnati and the time with his teammates and he doesn’t spend all his time pondering the what-ifs of his career. He is just enjoying the moment and enjoying playing better baseball.”

How about Bruce’s name starting to creep into trade conversations again?
“I don’t think that will be a surprise,” said Price. “He has been through that in the past and to be good at this game you have to be really optimistic, hoping that things you want to happen will happen.”

ASKED IF HE THOUGHT his home run might vacate the stadium for an Ohio River splashdown, Bruce smiled and said, “I hit it pretty good. That’s probably all I have, but it’s all I need.”

It was Bruce’s 14th home run and his 43 RBI lead the team. While it is proven that Bruce is a power hitter, you can’t convince him because he not only never thinks home run, he never hits them in batting practice.

“Hitting the ball out of the park is definitely not something I concern myself with,” he said. “I don’t hit home runs at all in BP (batting practice). Ever. I have no use for home runs in BP. Me hitting home runs is the last thing on my mind and probably would be the worst thing on my mind to have during the game.

“I am not a guy who needs to try to hit home runs,” Bruce added. “Never have been. My goal is to have a consistent approach, good direction and swing at the right pitches.”

And never, never think about trades.

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — As benefitting for two teams entrenched in the depths of the coal cellar of their respective divisions, the Cincinnati Reds and Oakland A’s put on a display of offensive ineptitude Friday night in Great American Ball Park.

The Reds had no hits for 5 1/3 innings, five for the game, and scored the winning run on a wild pitch for a 2-1 victory.

As a man said once or twice, “At this point, we’ll take them any way we can get them.”

And manager Bryan Price said with a broad smile, “A 2-1 win is better than a 1-0 loss, right?” Right.

IT WAS ANTHONY DeSCLAFANI’S coming out party, his first appearance of 2016 and he held the A’s to one run in his six innings, but the A’s had runners on base in every inning against him and he wriggled out of every danger zone.

His only misstep was a pitch to Stephen Vogt with two outs in the third inning and Vogt knocked it over the right field wall for a home run. DeSclafani gave up eight hits and three walks, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch among his 102 pitches. The A’s stranded eight runners in the six innings DeSclafani worked.

WAS THERE A RUST factor? DeSclafani admitted Rustoleum might have been helpful.

“Yeah, I’m sure I did (have some rust),” he said. “It was my first start back in a big league setting and that makes a difference for sure. Hopefully I get better from here on out.

“I didn’t make it easy on myself, but I was super-anxious to be out there,” he added. “I felt really good, maybe too good if there is such a thing. Sometimes when you feel real good it’s tough to mix in other pitches, but later in the game I was able to mix in some curveball and changeups. It all comes down to me executing pitches. A lot of them came back over the plate and they put good swings on them.”

AS For HIS LONG-DELAYED return to the mound he said, “I was everything — nervous, anxious and a lot of adrenaline I had to try to control.”

Meanwhile, Oakland starter Sonny Gray took a no-hitter into the sixth inning until catcher Tucker Barnhart poked a one-out single into left field. At the point the only other base runner was Joey Votto, who walked with one out in the fourth. Brandon Phillips then hit into a double play.

Gray, a 14-game winner in both 2014 and 2015, has fought through injuries this season and was making just his second start after coming off the disabled list, toting the heavy baggage of a 3-and-5 season and a 5.77 earned run average.

IT WASN’T EXACTLY FIFTY Shades of Gray, but the Reds finally got to Gray for a couple of runs in the seventh inning.

With one out, Gray walked Brandon Phillips and with two outs Adam Duvall doubled him home to tie it, 1-1. Duvall took third on Eugenio Suarez’s infield hit and Duvall scored on Gray’s wild pitch to make it 2-1.

Of Duvall, Price said, “Adam always find a way to create a run whether it is with a ringing double, a home run, an RBI base hit or scoring on a wild pitch.”

Price knows DeSclafani can, and will, get better as he mixes in his pitches more adroitly.

“It was a battle for DeSclafani tonight because he threw a lot of fastballs and sliders, not a lot of separation in velocity, and they put a lot of balls in play hard. That was probably the hardest hitting 2-1 game I’ve seen in a while,” said Price. “Most importantly, he felt great, his arm looked great and he was able to make it work and battle through six.”

Price knows there is more inside DeSclafani and it is only a matter of extraction.

“The way he worked out of things tonight had a lot to do with his stuff and his competitiveness,” said Price. “When he has that curveball and change-up he can work hard-soft, hard-soft. It was a lot of hard stuff tonight, 87-plus sliders and 92 to 96 miles an hour fastballs. When he creates the separation with the change-up and the curveball it will be special.”

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — It isn’t often that the Cincinnati Reds and Oakland A’s are on the same field, other than spring training, and Reds manager Bryan Price most likely appreciates that, as does A’s manager Bob Melvin.

That’s because they are close friends and as Price said, “We are in touch with each other quite often.”

They have a lot in common and one of the things isn’t a positive right now as the two teams began a three-game series Friday night in Great American Ball Park. They both occupy last place in their respective divisions and have a lot with which to commiserate.

IN THE MID-2000’S Melvin managed the Arizona Diamondbacks and Price was his pitching coach. When the D-backs fired Melvin in 2009, they wanted to Price to stay. But in deference and for the respect he had for Melvin he quit.

That’s friendship.

“Bob Melvin never forgets how hard the game is to play,” said Price. “As you hear from so many commentators who played the game for so long who may have been good or very average in their playing days, you turn on the TV and we get told how guys should be doing, like the game is that simple.

“As much as Bob demands total preparation and work ethic and commitment from his players, he also understands that the game is very difficult to play,” said Price. “A lot of managers lose faith in their players quickly. He does not. He gets to know his guys, has great communication and he sticks with his guys who have been there and have done it, through ups and down.

“And I believe in that, too,” Price added. “If you believe in the credibility of the player you need to run with those guys until they prove otherwise.”

PRICE WAS UPBEAT (what else would he be?) over his team’s first three draft picks Thursday — University of Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel, high school outfielder Taylor Trammell from Kennesaw, Ga. and Clemson catcher Chris Okey.

What, no pitchers? That, for the position-thin Reds system, is a good thing.

“We’re very excited because they are guys we wanted and we were very fortunate they were still available and we were able to get,” said Price. “We felt like we got the best player in the draft (Senzel), we felt like we got the best catcher in the draft (Okey) and one of the most talented all-around players in Trammel.”

Price, though, threw out the caution flag, too.

“Baseball is such a funny game,” he said. “Some guys go completely unhyped and become superstars and some early picks don’t. There is such a large in-between. But we go into it with high expectations with these three kids.”

PITCHER ANTHONY DeSCLAFANI made his 2016 pitching debut Friday night and Price feels like a kid who finds an X-Box under his Christmas tree when his parents told him he was getting a bucket of coal.

“We have really high hopes for Anthony, coming off a really good year (9-13), his first full season in the big leagues,” said Price. “After the initial ambiguity over whether he was a big league starting pitcher, he answered that, that he was reliable and effective.

“Also, he epitomizes everything we believe in here,” Price added. “It is hard work, it is preparation and it is competing from his first pitch to his last pitch. He does that. There is no give with this kid. And the guys playing behind him are going to be happy.”

PITCHER MICHAEL LORENZEN, absent since spring training with mononucleosis was in the clubhouse Friday for a brief workout-visit. He threw a bullpen, did some running, performed some lifting, then packed his gear to start a rehab assignment at Class AAA Louisville.

Price was asked if forgot what Lorenzen looks like and he said with a broad smile, “I don’t forget what he looks like,” said Price. “But you never know what type of hair these guys are going to come up with — long, short, the mohawk. You don’t know if there is a tattoo or a piercing. In this day and age you just don’t know what you are going to see.”

Lorenzen lost considerable weight during his absence but appears to have packed it back on, “But the way he is exercising, competing and performing and throwing there isn’t any concerns about his physical health.”

Lorenzen wore long stringy hair last year and now wears a modified mohawk. And speaking of tattoos, left handed pitcher John Lamb has one stretched on his back from shoulder-to-shoulder that says, “Southpaw.” Said one observer, “Maybe he sometimes forgets he’s left handed.”

PITCHER HOMER BAILEY performed some outfield long-tossing before Friday’s game as he slowly trudges back toward re-joining the rotation, perhaps in July.

“He has some stuff to go through, some bullpens to throw and then he’ll go to Arizona to do some simulated games before he gets into his throwing rehab and most of that will be done with Class AAA Louisville.”

When the Reds began another long trip Monday in Atlanta, nine games in 10 days, it is Alfredo Simon’s turn to pitch. It isn’t going to happen. Simon, 2-and-6 with a 9.11 earned run average. won’t make that start.

“It’s a TBA (to be announced) at this point and I’ll have more on that tomorrow,” said Price. “Mostly likely it is an internal option, somebody already here.” Daniel Wright, come on down.

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — Adam Wainwright has been more like Adam Wainwrong for most of this baseball season — a 5-and-4 record with a bloated 5.40 earned run average when he trudged to the Great American Ball Park mound Thursday night.

And when the Cincinnati Reds pushed across a couple of runs in the first inning it looked as if it would be a short night for the St. Louis Cardinals two-time 20-game winner.

But the big right hander settled in after the first inning (two runs, two hits) and gave up no runs and no hits (one hit batsman) over the next five innings and at one point struck out five straight Reds.

And his unfortunate opponent, Brandon Finnegan, was almost as good, but a phantom balk call enabled the Cardinals to tie the game and then win it against the Reds bullpen, 3-2.

FINNEGAN KEEPS PITCHING on the wrong nights. It was Finnegan who lost a 1-0 game to LA’s Clayton Kershaw earlier this season.

Finnegan had a 2-1 lead in the sixth when he walked Matt Carpenter with one out. He tried to pick off Carpenter and home plate umpire Jerry Meals called a balk — the first balk called against Finnegan, he said, in his entire baseball life back to tee-ball days. That put Carpenter on second base from where he could score on a broken bat single to right field by Aldemys Diaz, tying it 2-2..

Finnegan said it was the same pickoff move he uses every time, no variance, no subtle changes, no illegal trickery.

“A balk is something I don’t think the home plate umpire can call, but he did,” said Finnegan. “It hurt us, but we can’t do anything about it. It’s the same thing I’ve been doing the entire year and nobody has called it all year. And if anybody calls it, it should be the first base umpire.

“The thing that sucks is I’d thrown over to first three or four times, nothing different, but he called it that time without given me any explanation about what was different,” said Finnegan. “I’ve picked a lot of guys off with that move, so I’m not going to change it. It’s the first time I’ve balked in my life. I’ve worked on my move a lot and I’m not going to change it.”

UMPIRE MEALS SAID FINNEGAN made a move toward home as if to make a pitch before throwing over to first, a balk by rule.

Wainwright had nine strikeouts in six innings and only 78 pitches, but when the Cardinals had two on and two outs in the seventh of a 2-2 tie game, manager Mike Matheny took him down for pinch-hitter Jhonny Peralta, who lined sharply to deep center to end the threat and end Wainwright’s night.

Finnegan was lifted after seven innings and 111 pitches after giving up two runs, five hits, one walk and he struck out seven, although he said, “I didn’t feel good until the fourth or fifth inning. I just tried to hit my spots more than usual and stay down in the zone.”

WHENM FINNEGAN LEFT ROSS Ohlendorf arrived on the scene and Matt Carpenter led the eighth with a double. Aledmys Diaz bunted toward first and first baseman Joey Votto tried to wipe out Carpenter at third. But Carpenter was ruled safe due to a high tag (a New York review revealed). Ohlendorf walked Matt Holliday on a full count to load the bases with no outs.

Stephen Piscotty grounded to short and Zack Cozart threw home for a force out and the Reds were a double play away from escaping. But Yadier Molina’s sixth hit in two games prevented the escape, his line single to left scored the winning run.

“The leadoff hit by Carpenter came when I missed my spot and you can’t do that to a good hitter like that, especially when you have a 1-2 count on him,” said Ohlendorf. “The Molina pitch I thought I threw it where I wanted it and he did a great job of hitting it. It was frustrating to give up a run there. We had a chance to win the series and it would have been big for us.”

Instead the Cardinals left town after winning two of the three games, including the last two.

WHEN IT LOOKED as if they might commit assault and battery on Wainwright, Joey Votto walked with one out in the first inning and Brandon Phillips doubled. Jay Bruce grounded to second, scoring Votto, and Adam Duvall singled to score Phillips for the 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals pulled one run out of Finnegan in the second on a double by Yadier Molina and a single by Brandon Moss. The rhyming walk and balk cost Finnegan dearly in the sixth.

Then came the big hit by Molina, who always seems to cripple the Reds in some manner or other. And he remains an arch enemy in Cincinnati, still booed lustily when his name is announced, dating back to 2010 when he pushed Brandon Phillips, inciting an on-the-field skirmish that drew some suspensions and fines.