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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > April > 22
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Off the canvas they came again
Just when it looks as if the Cincinnati Reds have fallen on their faces and can’t get up, they leap to their feet and karate-kick somebody, somebody tough like the Chicago Cubs.
On Tuesday they looked moribund in a 7-2 defeat.
On Wednesday they looked like world-supremacists, shutting down the mighty, might Cubs, 3-0.
Johnny Cueto, who struggled in his first two starts, held the Cubs to no runs and four hits over seven innings. Best of all, he didn’t walk anybody. Nor did David Weathers or Coco Cordero. Nor did any of the Cubs pitchers.
It was the first game involving the Reds and any other team where no walks were issued since July 8, 2001, in Minnesota when the Reds beat the Twins, 7-1.
LOT OF GOOD THINGS:
Cueto was the best.
Manager Dusty Baker finally dropped Brandon Phillips out of the cleanup spot and after making an out in his first at-bat to go 0 for 22. Hhe had two hits the rest of the night. But Edwin Encarnacion, now batting cleanup, was 0 for 4.
While something surely had to be done about Phillips, he and Encarnacion have about the same numbers - Phillips is hitting .174 with one homers and five RBIs and Encarnacion is hitting .159 with one homer and six RBIs.
- WITH THE score 1-0 in the eighth, Joey Votto doubled home a run and in the ninth Jay Bruce homered for a third run - big, big insurance.
“Those two runs, one in the eighth, one in the ninth — that was big,” said Baker. “Especially in this ballpark. At 1-0 against that team you are sitting on the edge of your seat. And 3-0 isn’t enough but you feel more comfortable with three than one.”
So the Reds beat Lilly, despite the fact he is lefthanded, always a dilemma for the Reds, and the fact he was 2-0 before Wednesday.
The Reds accomplished what Baker wanted them to accomplish after he said before the game, “We have to get Cueto on the board, big-time.”
They did. He is 1-1 now.
“He stayed ahead all night with first-pitch fastball strikes,” said catcher Ramon Hernandez. “You fall behind on this club and you get damaged pretty bad.
“He was aggressive in the strike zone, got ahead with fastballs and put them away with fastballs,” Hernandez added.
And how did Cueto feel about all this, including his two hits?
“Relaxed,” he said.
David Weathers gave up no runs and one hit in the eighth and Coco Cordero no runs and one hit in the ninth for his 100th National League save, becoming only the 11th pitcher with 100 saves in both leagues.
“That means he has gotten good hitters out in both leagues and that’s quite an accomplishment,” said Baker. “He has been throwing the ball great (six saves this year in six opportunities).”
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TweetFinally: Phillips dropped out of cleanup
After waiting longer than many folks (mostly fans) thought he should wait, Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker made THE MOVE Wednesday: He dropped Brandon Phillips out of the clean-up spot in the batting order.
Even though Phillips was 0-for-Houston and hit the ball out of the infield only one time in four games, even though he was 0 for 21, even though his batting average was .143, Phillips remained in the four-hole.
Probably because the Reds were winning - two of three in Milwaukee and three of four in Houston. Baker is superstitious and hates to tempt fate. But when the Reds lost Tuesday to the Cubs, 7-2, and Phillips was a feeble 0 for 4, Baker slept on it and decided it was time.
Usually the lineup is posted in the clubhouse by 3 o’clock, but at Wrigley Field it wasn’t hanging on the wall at 3:30. And Baker usually meets in his office with the media at 3:40 for night games. He pushed it back to 4:30.
Phillips wasn’t in the clubhouse and the speculation was that Phillips wouldn’t play and Baker was waiting for the team bus to arrive so he could tell Phillips before the card was posted.
That was nearly the case. The scenario was just a bit different. Instead of benching him, Baker dropped him from fourth in the batting order to sixth and replaced him with Edwin Encarnacion.
Phillips walked into the clubhouse and before he could get past Baker’s office he was called inside. Baker told him, “You’re batting sixth tonight and Edwin Encarnacion is batting fourth.
Phillips entered Wednesday’s game 0 for 21, hitting .143, and in four games in Houston he hit one ball out of the infield.
“I don’t care what your name is, we’ve all been there,” said Baker. “I just want to take a little pressure off Brandon. We’ve all been there. Plus Brandon is 1 for 28 and he is 1 for 19 off Ted Lilly (Chicago’s pitcher Wednesday) doesn’t help.
“I told him, ‘Hey, when you start banging on it again, we’ll move you back up. We’ll try this a couple of days.’”
Asked if he considered giving Phillips a day off, Baker said, “Not really. He ain’t tired. And he is still a good option in this ballpark to scald one. I believe in the law of averages and they are definitely on his side.
“This is too big of a series to take any of your big boys outs,” he said. “Brandon is OK with it. You know when you’re struggling. I know he got a hit in Milwaukee on this trip, but that seems like a month ago.”
So what is the new cleanup hitter, Encarnacion hitting? .175. One homer. Six RBIs. Lilly was not quaking in his spikes.
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TweetThe first test earns Reds an ‘F’
The first test against The Big Boys (Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals) was a big, red ‘F’ for the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night on the banks of Lake Michigan.
Chicago Cubs 7, Cincinnati Reds 2. Not even close. It seemed like 17-2.
Winning two of three in Milwaukee (fifth place) and three of four in Houston (last place) is a nice ego boost for the 2009 Cincinnati Red — even if it could be a mirage.
Winning division games and winning on the road last year was something the Reds did only in their dreams or in their imaginations.
So this kick-start early in the season is welcomed, even though the team is hitting .215, the bottom feeders of the National League.
Now, though, is the time to see how the Reds stack up against a real team, the Chicago Cubs. They played the first Tuesday night and have two more chances to show some muscle.
The Cubs aren’t as likely to roll over the way the Astros did. The Reds won the last two 4-2 and 4-3 as Houston went 0 for 16 with runners in scoring position and stranded 19 runners.
Manager Dusty Baker, former manager of the Cubs, knows what lies ahead.
“Now we have three tough games and we’re facing their big dudes,” he said, referring to pitchers Rich Harden, Ted Lilly and Carlos Zambrano.
The test against Harden was a big fat flop - three hits in six innings, which is how the Reds have hit most of the season.
Baker acknowledges that on paper the Cubs are the National League Central favorites after winning the division the last two years.
But on paper only.
“We’re supposed to be a pitching team and so far that’s the way it has been,” he said. “Before it’s over we’ll be a hitting team, too.
“The Cubs should be the favorite,” said Baker. “That doesn’t mean they’ll win, but they should be the favorite. The thing with the Cubs is that they are able to go get what they want and what they need, which they’ve done the last couple of years.” So the next two days mean a lot to both sides — a chance for the Reds to shout, “Hey, look at us, we’re for real,” and a chance for the Cubs to say, “Ah, you’re a bunch of frauds beating up on weaklings.”
So far it is the Cubs doing the shouting. Jay Bruce, fresh off of missing three games in Houston with a swollen right hand, had two of the three hits off Harden. His homer gave the Reds a 1-0 lead and his single tied the game, 2-2.
Reds starter Micah Owings wasn’t electric, or even a bright bulb, but he deserved better. Left fielder Chris Dickerson dropped a routine fly ball that would have been the second out of the fifth inning, then the Cubs scored three unearned runs to take a 5-2 lead and never looked back.
Instead of taking a half-game lead in the NL Central at 8-5, the Reds fell back to 7-6 and are in third place, 1 1/2 games out of first.
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