Madison graduation 2012
Warren County CC graduation
New Miami graduation 2012
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 > 29
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Did the real Volquez finally stand up?
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while wondering why Fox didn’t give us a shot of Derby Lane with all those touristy views they gave us in St. Petersburg the last three days. Derby Lane, the emporium of greyhound racing in the U.S., reminds me of the greyhound named after me and Chicago Cubs assistant general manager Gary Hughes. Gary’s Real McCoy was an All-American sprinter, but on the one day I got to see him run he finished seventh (out of eight). Too much pressure, I guess.
Who was that guy pitching for the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday? He wore No. 36 and he looked a lot like Edinson Volquez, except on the mound against the Tampa Bay Rays.
This Volquez impersonator was superb during the Reds’ 4-3 victory, enabling them to take two of three from the Rays, Cincinnati’s first interleague series win after losing the first four. This Volquez didn’t overthrow and try to strike out the world.
This Volquez was a pitcher, not a thrower. This Volquez threw strikes instead of falling behind on every hitter he faced. This Volquez didn’t walk the world.
THIS VOLQUEZ was a calm, poised, in-control major-league pitcher, the pitcher he was three years ago when he won 17 games and made the All-Star team.
Fox broadcaster Chris Welsh said Volquez had a closed-door conversation over the weekend in manager Dusty Baker’s office with Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer when the team was in Baltimore.
His message was something like, “With hyour stuff, keep it simple, stupid.” And it clicked. Volqeuz was a wise and intelligent pitcher on this day.
With a smooth, one-piece delivery, Volquez held the Rays hitless until left-hander Casey Kotchman poked a weak ground ball single to left field to lead off the fifth.
Volquez pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up three runs and four hits while walking only three and striking out seven - without really trying to strike everybody out.
And it was needed because the Reds were facing James Shields, who had pitched three straight complete games and in three interleague games was 3-0 with a 0.33 ERA.
The Reds didn’t exactly cuff him around, either. For his seven innings he struck out 10 Reds, who struck out 14 times during the game, four by Jay Bruce.
IT WAS ONE big blow that determined this one, a home run struck by Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan, who missed the last four games with back spasms. The pain this day was delivered by Hanigan to Shields.
It came in the fourth when Joey Votto opened the inning with a single and Scott Rolen, 0 for 10 in the series and playing a rare day game after a night game, also singled.
It looked hopeless, though, because Sheield struck out Bruce on three pitches and also struck out Jonny Gomes.
Two outs, two on - and Hannigan delievered a three-run blast, his third homer and first since he hit two in one game against Milwaukee during the opening series of the season.
THE RAYS scored twice in the sixth. With one out, Johnny Damon singled, his 2,654th hit to pass Ted Williams on the all-time list. Volquez walked Ben Zobrist.
Then came a dubious blooper down the right field line by Evan Longoria that fell for a double and scored two runs and cut the lead to 3-2. And the tying run was on second with one out. Matt Joyce lined hard to second base, but Brandon Phillips caught it and doubled Longoria off second.
The Reds scored an important run in the seventh on a momentary lapse by Shields. He issued his only two walks of the game, back-to-backers to open the inning to Gomes and Hanigan.
Once again the next two Reds made outs, Stubbs when he tried to sacrifice bunt and hit into a force play, and Paul Janish on a strikeout.
But Fred Lewis delivered a two-out single to left, scoring a run for a 4-2 lead. And maybe the Reds have found their leadoff hitter in Lewis, who has been on base 21 times in his last 38 plate appearances.
That run was needed when Volquez gave up a one-out home run in the seventh to B.J. Upton, who was 0 for 9 at the time and put the score at 4-3.
Volquez left at that moment, replaced by Logan Ondrusek, whose second pitch in the ninth inning Tuesday was rocked for a game-winning walk-off home run by Longoria.
This time Ondrusek retired five straight and turned it over to closer Coco Corero, who gave up a one-out single in the ninth to Joyce, then ended it with a double play started by Janish.
So, the Reds were 3-3 on their two-city trip to Baltjmore and Tampa Bay. After a day off Thursday, they finish interleague play with three games in Great American Ball Park this weekend against the Cleveland Indians, who swept three from the Reds in Cleveland in mid-May.
AND DON’T forget those Ask Hal questions for Sunday. Need them now, by noon Thursday. Send them to halmccoy1@hotmail.com.
Permalink | Comments (41) | Post your comment |
Tweet
