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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 > 2011 > June > 20
Monday, June 20, 2011
Was Wood intimidated by the Yankees?
(McCoy blog)
CINCINNATI — The plane ride from Los Angeles to Cincinnati last Wednesday night was a pain ride for Johnny Cueto.
He walked off the plane with his carry-on bag and a pain in the neck, a pain that has persisted.
And it cost him his start Monday against the New York Yankees. He came down with a stiff neck, but it was easy for manager Dusty Baker and the Cincinnati Reds to do a quick Ali Shuffle.
With Thursday off, Monday was the normal turn for Travis Wood so Baker erased Cueto’s name and scribbled in Wood’s name, with a plan for Cueto to pitch Tuesday night.
Wood pitched the first inning like a guy totally unprepared or totally scared or as if he talked to Edinson Volquez — four runs and five hits, enough to beat the Reds, 5-3.
“It is the Yankees coming in, but I tried to be as calm as I could, just like it was any other game,” said Wood. “But maybe I was amped too much and didn’t know it. I was able to settle down and string together a few good innings.
“There were two pitches in that first inning and I asked (catcher Ryan Hanigan) if they were good pitches where we wanted them and he said they were, that they just put good pitches on them,” Wood added. “Then there were a couple I mislocated and they hit them as well.
“I was on my normal rest and I’m always ready to take the ball, so I wouldn’t say that switching my day affected me at all, he said.
FROM THE SECOND through the seventh, Wood gave up no runs and three hits with one walk, but it was too late.
Why late? Because the Red’ offense has gone into June hibernation. If they went to a run factory with a pocket full of money they couldn’t buy a run.
Over their last four games, they’ve scored seven runs total — 3, 2, 0, 2 — and they’ve lost three.
The Reds were beaten by Ivan Nova, but he looked more like Super Nova — one run, four hits over eight innings. He is a 24-year-old right-hander who has made 20 major-league starts and he mesmerized the Reds on an Easter basket assortment of off-speed stuff — change-ups, sinkers and breaking balls
THE REDS DID force the Yankees to bring in closer Mariano Rivera after the ninth began because Brandon Phillips singled and Joey Votto was hit by a pitch by two different pitchers.
That’s when Rivera entered. Jay Bruce grounded to first, scoring Phillips. Scott Rolen singled to deep short and Chris Heisey forced Rolen at second as Votto scored to make it 5-3.
Pinch-hitter Edgar Renteria struck out on a 2-2 pitch to end it.
After Wood left, Jose Arredondo started the eighth and did what he seems to always do — walked the first batter, Curtis Granderson.
“We’ve talked about that, Arredondo walking the first batter,” said Baker. “After that, he pitches well. We just have to get him to throw strikes to that first batter.”
That’s when the Reds turned into a tee-ball team. Granderson stole second when shortstop Paul Janish dropped his glove too soon to tag Granderson and the ball skittered into center field, enabling Granderson to take third. He then scored on Arredondo’s wild pitch.
“Janish makes that play 99 percent of the time,” said manager Dusty Baker. “And that turned out to be a big run. But the only action we had was in the first and in the ninth. We’re not hitting. We’re not getting our first man of any inning on base to make the pitcher pitch out of the stretch so we can make some things happen.”
AFTER THE YANKEES scored four in the top of the first, Drew Stubbs and Phillips both singled to open the bottom of the first. But the Reds scored only one because Votto hit into a double play (that scored Stubbs) and Jay Bruce grounded to first.
One wonders, of course, what Cueto might have done on this night, with or without a stiff neck.
“Stiff neck. Bothered me for about five days,” Cueto said in his broken English before Monday’s game. “When I throw I feel a little pain. I’m going to throw tonight (Monday) and maybe I can pitch tomorrow.”
Said Baker, “A minor problem. Instead of waiting until the last minute and telling Woody (Travis Wood) to strap it on and let’s go, we made the decision Sunday night. It is Woody’s normal day and it gives Cueto another day to heal.
“He’ll see a chiropractor and get a massage and some heat on it and hopefully he’ll be ready tomorrow night,” Baker added.
AROLDIS CHAPMAN was seated on his dressing stool in the Reds clubhouse before Monday’s game, but he isn’t back. Not yet.
Chapman will drive his Lamborghini with the Ohio license plate ‘105 MPH’ (hopefully not at that speed) to Louisville Tuesday and pitch two innings for the Bats.
And Homer Bailey will start the game, two appearances Baker hopes will be the last on rehab for both.
“And Sam LeCure has been pitching well, three scoreless innings in his last appearance for Louisville,” said Baker. “We have some key decisions to make coming up, but that’s better than not having any decisions to make at all.
“We have some quality guys coming back and it will feel good to get whole and set things up the way we had them set up about three months ago,” Baker added. “Chapman will do some long-tossing and bullpen work today and get some hands-on from (trainer) Tomas Vera. Hopefully he’ll have another good outing and we can make a positive decision.”
BAKER WAS HAPPY to hear that former Reds manager Jack McKeon is returning to the manager’s office, taking over the Florida Marlins as interim manager.
McKeon is 80 and becomes the second oldest manager in major-league history, second only to Connie Mack, who managed the Philadelphia Athletics until he was 89 in 1950. Mack never wore a uniform, always sat in the dugout wearing a three-piece suit and a fedora.
“I happen to like Trader Jack, so I’m happy to see Jack back, but sorry to see one of my colleagues resign and lose his job,” said Baker. “Maybe they are looking for the same magic from Jack that he had before when Jack came back.”
Baker felt that first-hand. It was 2003 and McKeon took over the stumbling Marlins and led them to the playoffs, where they beat Baker’s Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series, then went on to beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.
Unfortunately (for me and all fans), the Marlins already have visited Great American and won’t be back and I’ll miss some nice clubhouse office visits with Jack and me smoking up the premises with Padron Anniversario cigars.
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