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Message #: 29718
In a series which alternated football and baseball scores, the Reds get the type of results we should have been getting all season long (it just took us 23 weeks to get warmed up), taking 4 games from the usage-depleted Rockies, who were playing without several starters. Without expansion this season, the utterly luckless and monstrously underachieving Reds, a team with approximately .500 talent, might have set new records for futility: Cincy was 21-9 vs. Florida and Colorado, and is 44-74 vs. experienced teams that know how to take full advantage of our rotten luck (and not over .500 against ANY of them). The new teams will learn soon enough.... Game 1: John Smiley tossed an ugly complete game, but got a win for all his trouble. That 'trouble' was illustrated by the quite divergent efficiency of the two offenses. The Reds clobbered 4 very Rockie pitchers for 20 hits, 8 doubles, 3 home runs; drew 5 walks while Smiley allowed just 1, and got some more baserunners via HBP and 1 non-costly Colorado error. In what may be a record, the Reds stranded FOURTEEN TIMES more runners than the Rockies did. Smiley permitted only 11 baserunners in 9 IP, 2 were erased on DPs, 8 scored and just a single, solitary 1 was LOBbed by the home team. Despite all that, and although Smiley blew 100% of a 6-0 lead, the Reds eventually held on for a 12-8 win. The pinball-machine of a ballpark aside, only the Reds could amass such tremendous offensive advantages and then still nearly pull off a successful choke. ============================================================ Game 2: Even with a couple of slugs on the mound (Tom Browning, Kent Bottenfield), this contest somehow remained scoreless through 3 innings and resembled an actual baseball game instead of some other sport the rest of the way as well. The Reds took a 4-1 lead into the late innings, and then did what we always do. When Browning faltered in the CON 8th, future closer Jeff Brantley and his 7+ ERA (it probably won't be much better in the future either), did what HE always does and choked up the tying run with -- of course -- 2 outs in the inning. We racked up double-digits in LOB again, excelled greatly in the 'RLISP 2-Out' category as is customary, but put together a couple of hits and a walk in the 10th to pull out a rare one-run (5-4) win. Larry Luebbers notched his 7th relief win of the season and his ERA is now below 3.0 (!). Colorado outhit the Reds 13-10, but -- in an oddity for this ballpark -- all 13 of the home team's hits were singles. Cincy's 11 hits were good for 17 total bases, including Willie Greene's 3rd homer of the season. The Reds also duplicated our 5-1 walk advantage from the opener. ============================================================ Game 3: The Andre Dawson Show, as documented earlier. The 24-9 final score featured 28 hits by the Reds (and double-digit LOB yet again) with 7 doubles from 7 different players, 2 triples and 3 home runs. The visitors scored in every inning but the 3rd. CIN starter Bobby Ayala allowed just 2 runs through 5+ innings, but began severely hemorrhaging and ran out of blood in the 9th. Ayala was one of many Cincy batters who had a nice line in the boxscore, however: 4 3 2 0 with a triple. Joe Oliver (7 2 4 3) and Barry Larkin (6 4 3 2) were other examples. For Colorado, Tom Prince, the #9 hitting catcher, entered the day with 0 gophers to his credit, left with 2. ============================================================ Game 4: As in game 2, the margin in hits was 13-10 (this time the Reds had 13), and the vast majority were singles. CON pitcher Armando Reynoso, who said "no mas" to Andre Dawson in the final inning of game 3, started for the Rockies and performed decently after being touched for 4 runs in 2 IP; he would allow just 1 more in the next 5 innings. Kevin Gross had a very good start by Mile High standards (6 IP, 7 baserunners, 3 runs) and Jose Rijo finished up with 3 scoreless innings to earn his first save. Final score: 7-3. Rijo also was the key in getting a couple of late and important insurance runs (no Cincy lead is ever big enough, anywhere) by collecting an RBI double and scoring later on a Felix Jose single. Alan |
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