On the road with Flyers baseball. . .and the Reds win!!!

By HAL McCOY

On a Buckeye Charter Bus somewhere in the desolation of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, where cellphones don’t work (Is this where they filmed Deliverance?).

Am spending the weekend with the University of Dayton baseball team in Cary, N.C., not far enough south for baseball weather, but eager to hear the sound of aluminum bats (hate that sound, go back to wood) after 9 1/2 hours on a bus.

This is the Flyers third trip to Carolinas after weekend stops in Greenville, S.C. and Spartanburg, S.C. and tehey are 2-4 when they play Friday against University of Massachusetts-Lowell on Friday, with a game Saturday against William & Mary and a game Sunday against Maryland — all three at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds removed themselves from among the winless Thursday afternoon, finally winning a spring exhibition game after losing their first six.

And they they didn’t do it against another team trying to rebuild from ground zero, they did it against the World Series champion Chicago Cubs. The Cubs sent a split squad team to Goodyear, Ariz., but most of the regulars, other than the pitching staff, were on their bus.

The Reds won with superb shutout pitching for six innings against a strong Cubs batting order that featured Jason Heyward (0 for 3), Kris Bryant (0 for 2), Ben Zobrist (0 for 2), Addison Russell (1 for 2) and Jon Jay (0 for 2).

Making the day miserable for the Cubbies during the Reds 6-2 victory were pitchers Amir Garrett, Tony Cingrani and Michael Lorenzen — six scoreless innnings.

Garrett, the former St. John’s University basketball player who chose baseball over double dribbling, looks as if he made the right decidsion. For the second straight outing Garrett did not give up a run.

He pitched two scoreless innings in his previous start and the 6-foot-5, 210-pound (built for basketball) righthander pitched three scoreless this time — no runs, one hit, no walks and two strikeouts.

So far he is making a slam dunk approach toward winning one of the two or three available spots in the starting rotation. He split time last year between Class AA and Class AAA and was 7-and-8 with a 2.55 ERA. He was 5-and-3 with a 1.75 ERA at Pensacola and 2-and-5 with a 3.46 ERA at Class AAA Louisville.

After Garrett did his duty, lefthander Tony Cingrani pitched an inning and walked two, but didn’t give up a run or a hit. Then it was bullpenner Michael Lorenzeon’s turen and he turned in two nearly perfect innings — no runs, no hits, one walk.

The only pitching blip for the day came from Luis Castillo, who turned a 4-0 lead into a 4-2 lead in the seventh by giving up two runs, three hits and a walk in one inning.

Before Castillo, the Garrett-Cingrani-Lorenzen triumverate gave up one run over six innings.

Offensively, manager Bryan Price put Billy Hamilton and Jose Peraza at the one-two spots in the batting order and it worked. Hamilton had a single and scored a run. The scorching Peraza had two more hits and drove in two and is hitting .583 this spring.

The Reds unleashed 11 hits and scored in the third, fourth, sixth and eighth innings.

Catcher Stuart Turner and Hamilton singled in the third inning and with two outs Peraza tripled to left field for two runs.

Adam Duvall led the fourth inning when he was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a ground ball and Hernan Iribarren’s two-out single to make it 3-0.

Patrick Kivlehan reached bases with two outs on the sixth on a error and scored on a single by Desmond Jenninings and it was 4-0.

The Cubs scored two off Castillo in the seventh but the Reds retrieved those two eruns in the eighth. Tony Renda singled to open the inning and took third on a wild pitch. Chad Wallach doubled Renda home and Wallach scored on Patrick Kivlehan’s double.

On a bright not for the Reds, the first four runs all scored with two outs and five of their six runs for the game scored with two outs.

Another day, another loss for the Reds

By HAL McCOY

Despite some awesome and outstanding scoreless pitching from the second through the eighth innings, the Cincinnati Reds’ losing streak now stands at a half dozen.

Their sixth straight spring exhibition loss came Wednesday, 3-2, when the Milwaukee Brewers scored a run in the bottom of the ninth.

After starter Livsalverto Bonilla gave up two runs in the first, Reds pitching held the Brewers scoreless over the next seven innings — until the ninth.

Ariel Hernandez walked the first batter, Mauricio Dubon, in the ninth on four pitches and moved him to second on a wild pitch. Dubon took third on a ground ball and Lucas Erceg singled on the first pitch to right field to end it.

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart made his spring exhibition debut Wednesday afternoon in Maryvale, Ariz. and his first at bat was four stars.

Cozart, batting second in the top of the first, took the first pitch he saw for a ball and then whacked the second pitch over the left field fence for a home run.

Because of late season injury problems last season, the Reds are easing Cozart back into activity. He was expected to make his debut Tuesday but was held back after an all-night rain made playing conditions soggy.

Cozart played five innings and was 1 for 3.

AFTER COZART’S HOME RUN the Brewers came to bat in the bottom of the first to face Reds starter Lisalverto Bonilla, a pitcher the Reds signed off waivers a day before spring training began.

The first pitch he threw to Keon Broxton was drilled over the left field fence for a game-tying home run. Then Jonathan Villar doubled and Scooter Gennett singled to make it 2-1. Bonilla then walked Hernan Perez and threw a wild pitch.

But he escaped an eventual bases loaded disaster with a strikeout and all three outs he recorded came on strikeouts.

Bonilla, a 26-year-old Dominican right hander, appeared in five games last season for the Texas Rangers and was 3-and-0 with a 3.65 earned run average in three starts and two relief appearances.

He pitched 20 2/3 innings and gave up 13 hits and struck out 17, but walks were a problem, 12 of them.

AFTER THAT THE REDS receive notable pitching, especially another excellent outing from Rookie Davis, acquired from the New York Yankees in the Aroldis Champman trade. And the 23-year-old right hander’s name actually is Rookie, a name his father hung on him to make sure he would think about baseball.

Davis pitched two innings, the second and third, and gave up no runs, no hits, a walk and struck out two.

Sal Romano followed with two scoreless innings, giving up three hits and striking out one. Romano, 23, throws righthanded but bats left. He was a 23rd round draft pick in 2011 and is 32-48 with a 4.38 ERA for his 120 minor league starts over five years.

Then came Jackson Stephens and two more scoreless innings — one hit, two walks and two strikeouts.

THE REDS TIED THE GAME, 2-2, in the fourth on a single by Scott Schebler and a double by Eugenio Suarez. Suarez moved to third on a ground ball and died there when Dilson Herrera struck out on three pitches and Tucker Barnhart flied to center.

The Reds threatened in the eighth when they opened the inning with back-to-back one-out singles by Aristides Aquino and Patrick Kivlehan. But Aquino was thrown out trying to steal third after he was caught lingering too far off second base.

Phillip Ervin walked on four pitches and the inning ended with no runs when Joe Hudson flied to center.

 

 

 

Rally comes too late — Reds drop fifth straight

By HAL McCOY

What does a beleaguered team have to do to shed a losing cocoon?

A four-run first inning and a 5-1 lead after two innings was not enough for the Cincinnati Reds to win their first spring exhibition game of 2017.

The Chicago White Sox, playing split squad games, kept their best players at home for a game against the Seattle Mariners. They sent a group of non-regulars and minor league prospects to Goodyear, Ariz. to face the Reds.

That group beat the now 0-and-5 Reds, 10-9. with the Reds scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth and coming within a hit of thing game. The White Sox regulars who stayed home lost to the Mariners, 8-1.

THE REDS HAD FIVE HITS in building that 5-1 lead after two, then had one hit over the next five innings, a fifth-inning 0-and-2 single by Joey Votto, his first hit this spring.  Things did get interesting in the bottom of the ninth when the Reds scored four runs, including a run-scoring double by Tony Renda and a double by Dilson Herrera, his second hit in two at bats.

And that put the tying run at the plate and Jesse Winker grounded to second and the ball was booted for an error and another run scored. The Reds were within one — but Hernan Iribarren grounded out to end it.

Things began swimmingly for the Reds with a four-run first. Jose Peralta, who might be a better option for leadoff than Billy Hamilton, singled to start the game and had hits in his first two at-bats and his average at the time was .625. Peraza was 2 for 3 and stole two bases, giving him three thefts for the spring.

Joey Votto followed Peralta’s single with a walk and Adam Duvall doubled over the center fielder’s head for two runs.

RYAN RABURN, A VETERAN who will be 36 in April, is trying to win a bench spot and if he played the White Sox more often he might be an All-Star.

He followed Duvall’s double with a two-run home run. Back in 2007 while playing for the Detroit Tigers, Raburn went 4 for 5 with two homers, a double and seven RBI against the White Sox. In 2008, while still with the Tigers, he had four hits in a game against the White Sox.

The Reds added a run in the second on a sacrifice fly by Desmond Jennings, another veteran trying to secure a utility job.

And that was it — until the bottom of the ninth.

ANTHONY DESCLAFANI WAS scheduled to make his spring debut Tuesday but elbow tenderness force manager Bryan Price to back him off and start left hander Brandon Finnegan.

He gave up a run in the first inning on a double and a ground ball, but pitched well over two innings — one run, one hit and a strikeout.

Raisel Iglesias followed Finnegan and pitched two scoreless innings, giving up no runs, one hit, one walk and he struck out two.

FROM THERE THE OFFENSE and defense went south of the border, down Mexico way.

Drew Storen, counted upon to be at the back end of the bullpen with Iglesias, Michael Lorenzen and Tony Cingrani, gave up three runs on three hits after putting the first three on base in the fifth — a triple, a walk and a single for a run. He was within an out of escaping with only one run, but he gave up a 2-and-2 bloop two-run single to Leury Garcia and the White Sox were within 5-4.

It started to shred in the sixth with Jumbo Diaz on the mound. He gave up back-to-back singles to start the inning. He then retired the next two before Roberto Pena lined one to left field. Tony Renda got his glove on it but dropped it for an error and two runs scored for a 6-5 White Sox lead.

The White Sox scored three in the seventh off Nefti Ogando and that was that, other than for the Reds to make a spirited comeback attempt in the bottom of the ninth.

Reds kick ball to fourth straight loss

By HAL McCOY

Good baseball teams find ways to win. Bad baseball teams find ways to lose.

On Monday at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, a spring training baseball palace in North Scottsdale, Ariz., the Cincinnati Reds found ways to lose their fourth straight spring exhibition game.

They kicked the ball around like a first division English soccer team after playing near flawless defense in thei first three games. Four errors played a major part in all six runs scored by the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 6-1 Reds defeat.

SHORTSTOP ARISMENDY ALCANTARA made two early erros, one on a throw and one on a booted ground ball, that led to Arizona’s first three runs. Alcantara has made three errors so far this spring. He also struck out and hit into a double play in three at bats. The Reds hit into a pair of double plays against the Diamondbacks, who came into the game 0-and-2.

VETERAN SCOTT FELDMAN, logged in as the team’s No. 3 starter, didn’t give up a hit in his 1 2/3 innings but the D-Backs scored two runs because he walked two and threw a wild pitch and Alcantara made an error.

The best part of the day for the Reds was a one-inning performance by left hander Cody Reed, a rotation candidate who has a 0-and-7 major league record. He faced three Diamondbacks in the third inning and went 1-2-3, all three outs on ground balls.

Former Cincinnati relief pitcher J.J. Hoover pitched the fifth inning for Arizona and faced four Reds, giving up a single and striking out one.

IT WASN’T A FUN DAY for Cincinnati’s Billy Hamilton. He walked to lead off the game, but was erased on a double play ground ball by Alcantara.

Then he struck out twice, one on a two-strike bunt attempt on which he fouled the attempt with a runner on base.

Arizona’s third run came in the fifth when first baseman Chad Wallach messed up a ground ball hit by former Reds’ utility player Kristopher Negron. Negron ended up on second and scored on David Peralta’s single.

Reds left hander Wandy Peralta, a solid bullpen candidate, matched Reed’s perfect inning by pitching a 1-2-3 sixth.

THE REDS DIDN’T HAVE a hit through five innings and didn’t score a run until the eighth when Phillip Ervin singled and scored on a single by Sebastian Elizalde. Hernan Iribarren also singled but the inning ended when Gabriel Guerrero, a cousin to Vladimir and Wilton Guerrero, hit into a double play.

Another Reds error helped put the game out of reach in the eighth. Jeremy Hazelbaker singled to start the eighth and third baseman Brandon Dixon made an error. Reymond Fuentes then ripped a three-run home run to right field off Tyler Mahle for a 6-1 Arizona lead.

Mahle, a 22-year-old right hander, was 14-6 in 27 minor league starts last season — 8-3 at Class A Daytona and 6-3 at Class AA Pensacola.

 

The Reds had six hits, five singles and a ninth-inning double by pinch-hitter Sterling Turner. He was batting for bench candidate Ryan Raburn, 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. The Reds struck out 10 times and drew one walk, the game-opening free pass to Billy Hamilton.

 

 

 

 

Reds lose again as Stephenson, Addleman struggle

By HAL McCOY

Winning spring exhibition games is not Priority A for any major league baseball team, especially one like the Cincinnati Reds, a team on a search mission for a 25-man roster.

But at some point it is important to establish a winning environment. Fortunately for the Reds, there are many games remaining to absorb some positive vibes because they are off to an ugly start.

They lost their third straight exhibition game of Spring Training 2017, Sunday afternoon, a 9-5 whacking by the San Francisco Giants.

IT WAS A LESS-THAN-MEMORABLE day for two pitchers trying to win one of two available starting rotation spots.

Tim Adleman started for the Reds and gave up two runs, four hits and one of the hits was a home run.

But the Reds scored four runs in the bottom of the first and turned a 4-2 lead over to Robert Stephenson, a No. 1 draft pick who has been less than impressive in his quest to show he deserved to be a No. 1 pick.

HIS PERFORMANCE SUNDAY was plug ugly — he faced nine batters in the third inning and gave up four runs, three hits, walked two and hit a batter. He walked the first batter and then was torched for a two-run home run by Joe Panik.

San Francisco’s Home Run Derby continued in the third inning, a two-run home run by Jarrett Parker against Nick Routt, a 28-year-old non-roster invitee who was 2-0 with a 0.89 earned run average and an All-Star appearance last season at Class AA Pensacola.

Michael Lorenzen made his spring debut and it was shaky. He walked the first batter on four pitches, retired the next two, then issued two more walks and a run-scoring single.

THERE WERE, THOUGH, a couple of positive pitching performances by Tony Cingrani and Luis Castillo.

Cingrani, the only certified left hander in the Reds’ bullpen for now, walked the first batter he faced, then went 1-2-3.

Castillo was outstanding — six up and six down in the seventh and eighth innings with a pair of strikeouts.

The 24-year-old Castillo, a starter most of last season, was acquired from the Miami Marlins, along with Austin Brice, in a trade for Dan Strailey. In 24 starts, 21 in Class A and three in Class AA, he was 8-and-6 and was listed in some quarters as the Marlins’ No. 2 pitching prospect.

Offensively, the Reds scored four runs in the second inning but only one more via nine hits. Jose Peraza had two hits, the only member of the Reds with more than one.

Lot of hits, no runs for Reds in 8-2 loss

By HAL McCOY

While most teams believe that six weeks for spring training is far too long, a task that becomes drudgery even under Arizona sunshine, the Cincinnati Reds might be an exception.

Is six weeks enough?

In this era of reconstruction and rebuilding, manager Bryan Price and his staff are facing a tough task trying to stitch together a 25-man roster from a camp full of a lot of strangers.

AS SPRING TRAINING BEGAN, only three starting roles were supposedly filled — Anthony DeSclafani, Brandon Finnegan and newly acquired journeyman Scott Feldman. With Homer Bailey out of the picture for now, there are two spots to fill.

And there is that leaky bullpen to build and a bench to build. The bullpen and the bench both were weaker last season than an 80-year-old man’s non-dominant arm.

“In this camp we have so many players that none of us on our major league staff have seen play much,” said Price.

“A lot of them we have only seen them throw a bullpen and a little live batting practice or take a few swings in batting practice,” he said. “We really haven’t seen much of them so we really want to sink our teeth into seeing a lot of these new guys. So I have no idea a week or so into spring training as to who is going to make this club.”

PRICE SAID IT IS LIKELY one or two non-roster players might be on the Opening Day roster — guys like outfielders Ryan Raburn or Desmond Jennings, players with some major league experience who are in camp on minor league contracts, guys who might be usable bench players.

And there is a player like Bronson Arroyo, a 39-year-old pitcher trying to resurrect his career after two years of injury problems, a possibility to grab one of the rotation spots.

“It will be very difficult not to have one or two non-roster players make this team because we have two spots open in the rotation and two spots in the bullpen and four bench spots and a second catcher,” said Price.

“We have guys like Tony Renda and Hernan Iribarren, non-roster guys who are going to compete. I can’t say that zero of those guys will make the club. That’s unlikely.”

SO THE SEARCH FOR usable parts and pieces continued Saturday afternoon when the Reds played their second spring exhibition game and lost for the second time, this time to the Cleveland Indians, 8-2, in Goodyear, Ariz.

Despite outhitting the Tribe, 14-11, it was not a good offensive day for the Reds. They left 13 on base and were 4 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

Amir Garrett, a tall lefthander and former St. John’s University basketball player, is one of the rotation candidates. He acquitted himself well. He gave up a run and two hits over 1 2/3 innings and the run in the first inning was aided by an error by shortstop Armendy Alcantara.

Garrett retired the first two in the second inning but was removed because of his heavy pitch count in the first inning.

RED THIRD BASEMAN Eugenio Suarez, who didn’t play Friday in the opener, ripped the second pitch he saw this spring over the right field wall in the top of the second to tie it, 1-1.

And the Reds took a 2-1 lead in the same inning when Jesse Winker, Dilson Herrera and Hernan Iribarren all singled.

That was it for the day as far as any member of the Reds finding home plate.

Jumbo Diaz pitched the third and loaded the bases on a walk, a single to former Reds third baseman Edwin Encarnacion and a hit-by-pitch of Yan Gomes.

The first run scored on a ground ball by Bradley Zimmer and the second on an infield hit by Daniel Robertson to make it 3-2.

Jumbo’s work sheet was one inning, two runs, two hits, a walk, no strikeouts and a hit batsman.

AUSTIN BRICE, THE YOUNG pitcher acquired from the Miami Marlins for pitcher Dan Straily, pitched the fifth and none of his first five pitches were in the strike zone. He walked the first batter on four pitches and hit the next batter with his next pitch.

After a strikeout, Brice gave up a run-scoring single to Bradley Zimmer to make it 4-2. Zimmer, trying to make the Tribe’s roster as an outfielder, had two hits in three at bats and drove in five runs.

The final three came in the seventh inning against Cincinnati’s Jackson Stephens, an 18th-round draft pick in the 2012. Zimmer ripped a three-run home run to make it 7-2.

Reds regulars Billy Hamilton and Joey Votto, neither of whom played Friday, were in Saturday’s lineup and both went 0 for 3. Suarez and Iribarren each had two hits.

Smith’s overtime work saves Flyers

By HAL McCOY

For 40 minutes, University of Dayton point guard Scoochie Smith was the Nowhere Man.

He sat for 10 of those 40 minutes with foul miseries and in regulation time he took one shot. And missed.

But when his team came back from the graveyard, down 13 points with 7:42 left against Davidson to tie it and send it into overtime, Scoochie pointed to the rafters and said, “Put all the spotlights on me.”

He scored UD’s first 11 points in the overtime, three straight three-pointers and a back door cut for a layup to save the day, an 89-82 victory that had to be seen to be believed.

And even then it was unbelievable.

It was 74-74 when the overtime began after the Flyers outscored Davidson 17-4 in the final 7:43.

The game was tied, 56-56, with 12 minutes left when Davidson guard Jack Gibbs scored 11 straight points to Dayton’s none and it looked as if the Flyers were ready for funeral services.

Then came Dayton’s late charge to tie it when Xeyrius Williams scored with 35 seconds left. Jack Gibbs missed an attempt for a game-winner at :03.3.

Then it was Scoochie time.

—He started the overtime with a ‘3’ from the top of the lane, his first field goal of the game. 77-74.

—He hit another three from the top of the lane at 3:10. 80-76.

—He hit another three, a step-away again from the top of the lane at 1:41. 83-76.

—He cut backdoor to the basket and received a sleight-of-hand pass from Charles Cookie for a layup at 1:41. 85-78.

All the Flyers had to do from there was make a few free throws and they made four of six to close it out.

For the game they made 31 of 45 free throws.

So the Flyers pushed their work sheet to 23-5 for the season and 14-2 in the Atlantic 10, in first place by a half game over Virginia Commonweath, which has a difficult assignment Saturday at Rhode Island.

The Flyers faced a difficult task stopping a couple of Ohio natives in 6-foot guard Jack Gibbs from Westerville, averaging 21.2, and 6-foot-8 Peyton Aldridge from Leavittsburg, averaging 20.7.

And they were as advertised. Each scored 27, but they took 40 of their team’s 63 shots. Gibbs took 21 shots and Aldridge took 19.

Aldridge scored 19 in the first half, but coach Archie Miller switched defensive assignments at halftime and put Kendall Pollard on him. Pollard muscled him away from the basket and held him to eight points in the second half. Pollard also scored 18, grabbed 12 rebounds and snatched four steals.

The Flyers were soft and disoriented in the first half. They committed 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. They average 11 a game. And Davidson scored 45 points in the first half, the most given up by the Flyers this season.

Amazingly, though, when they were down, 38-31, they outscored Davidson 15-7 during a late-half rush and took a 46-45 halftime lead.

Then they fell behind by 13 with 7:43 left and staged the Secretariat finish.

Of Smith’s incredible overtime one-man show, coach Archie Miller said, “The guy who usually shows up in big moments showed up. Those threes were probably the biggest shots of his career.”

And of Pollard’s defensive work on Aldridge, Miller said, “Kendall started to be really physical on their screens. We had a hard time all game matching up with them (Aldridge, Gibbs). Kendall just took it upon himself to bully his way over the screens to make things as hard as possible.

“And Charles Cooke did a really good job in the second half making it hard for Gibbs,” Miller added.

Neither Aldridge nor Gibbs were factors late in the game and in overtime. They both play nearly every minute of every game and were leg weary by game’s end.

While Davidson was a Two-Man Show, Miller said of his Flyers and its ‘True Team’ motto, “Give our guys credit — the way they talk in the huddles, they way they come back to the huddles, it is refreshing as a coach to watch them believe in one another. At the end of the day, it was a team approach.”

Smith finished with 17 points (all six of his points in the first half were at the foul line, Pollard has 18, Cooke scored 17 and Xeyrius Williams scored 13 in the first half en route to 17. That’s not only True Team, it is True Balance — 18, 17, 17 and 17.

Familiar scenario: Reds lose in 9th

By HAL McCOY

For better or for worse, this is how baseball spring training works.

The visiting team takes a skeleton squad on the road while the home team has its full complement of players.

And that’s the way it was Friday afternoon when the Cincinnati Reds opened the 2017 exhibition season with a game in Scottsdale, Ariz. against the San Francisco Giants.

Not that scores and results mean much in these exercises, but there was a familiar pattern to this game. The Reds took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Relief pitcher Kevin Shackleford put two Giants on base with no outs and gave up a game-ending walk-off three-run home run to Chris Marrero with no outs for a 6-4 Giants win.

Where have we heard this scenario before?

THE REDS STARTED THREE regulars — outfielders Adam Duvall and Scott Schebler and second baseman Jose Peraza. The starting pitcher was Rookie Davis, who pitched in Class AA last season.

Manager Bryan Price threw the heavyweights at the Giants in the early going — 6-foot-5, 250-pound Davis, followed by 6-foot-5, 270-pound Sal Romano.

Romano, a Double-A pitcher last year, pitched two scoreless innings and struck out four while walking two, the most impressive performance for the day.

THE GIANTS FIELDED WHAT amounts to almost their Opening Day lineup, including pitcher Madison Bumgarner.

Bumgarner, 15-and-7 with a 2.74 earned run average last season, soaked up the sun for only one inning and the Reds scored two runs.

Outfielder Arismendy Alcantara, claimed off waivers from Oakland last season, doubled and with two outs first baseman Patrick Kivlehan, claimed off waivers last September from San Diego, produced a two-run single.

Hunter Pence singled home a run in the bottom of the first off Davis and the Reds retrieved that run in the top of the second on a triple by Tony Renda and a single by Peraza to make it 3-1.

Cincinnati’s Wandy Peralta gave up a run when the first two Giants ripped hits off him in the fifth to make it 3-2.

From there, as is usual in early spring games, the afternoon finished with a long assortment of Class AA and Class AAA prospects and wannabes.

THERE WERE NO INTENTIONAL walks issued — they don’t do intentional walks in meaningless spring exhibitions.

When the season begins, intentional walks will be no-pitch walks. Instead of throwing four wide pitches out of the strike zone, managers will merely issue a signal from the dugout for an intentional walk and the batter will trot to first base.

It is one of commissioner Rob Manfred’s attempts to speed up the game, which is two steps below ludicrous.

A study revealed that an intentional walk is issued once every three games. And how long does it take to throw four wide pitches? Two minute? So you save two minutes every three games?

REMEMBER THE 1972 WORLD Series? Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench had two strikes on him, but the Oakland Athletics acted as if they were going to intentionally walk him. Instead, relief pitcher Rollie Fingers threw a pitch down the middle and the stunned and shocked Bench took it for strike three — an infamous footnote to World Series history that will never happen again.

Fingers says he never mentions it when he sees Bench but Bench always brings it up and says, “That was the most embarrassing moment of my life.”

When Miguel Cabrera played for the Florida Marlins, he ripped a single on a misplaced ‘intentional walk’ pitch by Todd Williams of the Baltimore Orioles and drove in a go-ahead run.

On September 27, 1973, Phillies catcher and former Reds manager Bob Boone came up against the Pirates’ Chris Zachary in the 13th inning with one out and Greg Luzinski on second. Zachary tried to put Boone on, but Boone slapped the first pitch for a single, moving Luzinski to third. The Bull promptly scored on a wild pitch to give the Phils a 3–2 win.

Those will never happen again.

KANSAS CITY’S BRANDON Moss realizes the implication of taking something away that has been part of the game for 150 years.

“That’s the worst,” said Moss. “What if it’s Game 7 of the World Series, tie game in the bottom of the ninth? Someone hits a one-out triple, and Miguel Cabrera comes up to the plate. That pitcher should have to throw four pitches to Miguel Cabrera, whether they’re intentional balls or not. That’s a nerve-wracking situation, and now it’s gone.”

The traditionalists (and most major league players) wonder why a game designed to be played at a leisurely pace needs speeding up?

MANFRED AND THE OWNERS are concerned that baseball is not appealing to the millenniums, who would rather exercise their fingers on social media gadgets than pay attention to a live baseball game for three hours.

But veteran infield Jimmy Rollins of the Giants is perplexed.

“The beauty of our game has always been that there is no clock,” he said. “So now they want one. If you’re making the game an hour shorter, OK, you’re making an impact. Or even 30 minutes shorter? But five or eight minutes? Come on.”

AND FOR THE 2018 season Manfred wants to implement a 20-second clock on pitchers — a pitch must be thrown within 20 seconds of the pitcher getting the ball after his previous pitch.

Kansas City’s Moss had some pointed words about Manfred’s plans.

“I’m just very glad I will not be playing the game in 10 years. It won’t be recognizable. It’s going in a direction where it’s not the same game. Every year they keep trying to think of some stupid new rule. It’s getting old. Real oldAnd to that I raise an icy cold glass of Yuengling Lager.

Flyers’ defense strangles Saint Louis

By HAL McCOY

On this night, the St. Louis Gateway Arch couldn’t have scored on the Dayton Flyers.

CBS/Sports broadcasters Brent Stover and Bob Wenzel jabbered on-and-on-and on about UD’s defense in the first half Tuesday night at the Chaifetz Arena.

They seemed amazed that the strangling UD defense contested every shot, forced bad shots and made Saint Louis University’s Billikens resemble mere kittens.

The Flyers won, as expected, by 85-63, staying in high-step with Virginia Commonwealth atop the Atlantic 10 Conference at 11-and-2.

With just under 12 minutes left, UD led by 36 points at 64-28 and Saint Louis was shooting 26 percent.

For sure, the Billikens (9-and-17 and 4-and-9 in the Atlantic 10) are not very good. But they had won three of their previous four and four straight at home.

But this one was over before any fan finished their first hot dog,  just 11 minutes into the game when the Flyers led, 18-4. The Flyers hit seven of their first 12 shots and when UD hit 18 it came after five straight Saint Louis turnovers and the Billikens were 2 for 15 on their home court.

Perhaps the biggest factor in this Mississippi Mayhem was the chance for Josh Cunningham to get his feet wet. And he didn’t do it in the Mississippi River. He did it on the floor.

After missing 21 games, the 6-foot-10 transfer from Bradley University returned Friday against Rhode Island and played only two minutes because he drew four quick fouls. His statistical line read: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.

On Tuesday he played 23 minutes and scored 12 points on four of five shooting and four of four from the foul line. And he added four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

“He is very efficient around the basket,” said coach Archie Miller. “He has a unique way of catching the ball around the basket and getting off his shots.”

And the Flyers were masterful despite a less-than-healthy Scoochie Smith, who missed the pre-game shoot-around due to flu-like symptoms.

He started, but played only 22 minutes, the fewest this season. But he still scored 10 points and dished five assists.

Charles Cooke led the way, recovering his missing shooting eye by going 7 for 9, four for four on three-pointers, all in the three-pointers in the first half, on his way to a team-high 18 points. And he contributed seven rebounds and three assists.

Even with Scoochie slowed by illness, the Flyers shared the basketball as if they were all UNICEF volunteers.

Of their first 22 baskets, 21 came with assists.

The Flyers were a perfect machine for 32 minutes and, as Miller said, “Things got a little sloppy for us in the last eight minutes. But our pressure defense in the first half was the key to the game.”

The Flyers, the A-10’s most efficient defensive aggregation, led at halftime 41-17. They hit 14 of 23 first-half shots (61 percent) and were five of eight from three-point distance. And they were 8 for 8 from the foul line.

Meanwhile, the frustrated Billikens were 8 of 29 (24 percent) in the first half and 1 for 9 from three.

As Miller said, the final eight minutes were sloppy, but that didn’t stop seldom-used Trey Landers from coming off the bench late in the game to score five points, hitting both his field goal attempts, in only seven minutes.

And Xeyrius Williams, who hit two mammoth three-pointers in the last 18 seconds at Rhode Island Friday to push the Flyers to victory, got his first start of the season Tuesday.

UD’s season worksheet is now 20-and-5, ensuring the Flyers of their fourth straight 20-win season and they have won 47 of their last 59 A-10 games.

And it was the senior class’s 98th victory over the past four years, setting a school record.

“Those seniors (Scoochie Smith, Kendall Pollard, Kyle Davis) have been the cornerstone for the resurgence of the program,” said Miller. “They do nothing but play to win. In the last four years not one of them has ever complained about shots or minutes. They’ve set a very, very high standard.”