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Game 44, 2011: Pirates 5, Reds 3

May 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[PBC Blog] [Cincinnati.com] [Red Reporter] [Redleg Nation]

Observations:

This was another one of those afternoon games that the Reds play in the daylight, and so often come up short before heading out of town. I can’t blame this one on a Dusty Baker lineup. Johnny Cueto and the Reds just didn’t have the winning ingredients yesterday, and now first place belongs to someone else.

James McDonald is hardly a guy who is going to scare anyone, but he went 6 and 2/3 innings on this day in baseball history and it stood up as good enough to get the win.

The Reds wasted the 11th multi-home run game of Jay Bruce’s career in this one. Joey Votto only had 1 hit, an RBI single late in the game to cut the deficit to 5-2. Don’t look now but Jay Bruce actually has 6 home runs in the month already. It would be really nice to see him somehow hit four more before the calendar turns. I don’t know that he’s ever hit 10 in a month before. You would have to think that if he continues this type of power surge, he’ll get some consideration to be an All-Star for the Reds. That’s really important.

Highlights:

Jay Bruce homers in the 2nd inning to give the Reds a lead (9)

Bruce takes a 98 MPH fastball from Joel Hanrahan the other way for HR #10

Andrew Mccutchen’s RBI double

Ryan Doumit’s home run

Diamond Hoggers Song of the Game:

Potpourri:

-Remember Reds fans, vote 25 times (and make up other fake e-mail accounts to vote more times than that) for all Reds. You know those buttheads in St. Louis are going to be voting all day long for Lance Berkman, Colby Rasmus and Tyler Greene to be on the All-Star team, so do your part.

-Heading to the game in Cleveland tonight. More on this later, but excited to see some interleague baseball.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , , ,

Game 43, 2011: Pirates 5, Reds 0

May 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com] [PBC Blog]

About a week ago, I added Charlie Morton on my fantasy baseball team in my 19 team league. He had an ERA in the low 3′s, and four wins. I said what the Hell, I’ll pick him up and when the right spot comes along, I’ll spot start the guy. He’s shown flashes that he can shut a team down for games this season. He’s not a guy to build your staff around, but in the right spot he can give you solid innings and production. In a 19-team league, that’s all you’re looking for some nights.

When the Reds scratched Jay Bruce before the game due to illness, I knew last night was that night.

Another guy I had a feeling about was Pedro Alvarez. I had a feeling that he would do something big at Great American but I didn’t expect a 3-run home run. Sometimes you luck out, and sometimes it all falls into place.

My team lost and the 5-game winning streak is history. Charlie Morton threw a shutout for me, and Pedro Alvarez got only one hit. But sometimes if you have watched baseball long enough you just know the result before it plays out. I knew the Pirates were going to beat the Reds last night. If I were a richer man I would have bet some big time money on it. Just like today–the Reds play at 12:35–and they’ll win before going on the road for three games in Cleveland. I would bet anyone that Cueto is good again and the Reds get a big home run out of someone to win a tight ballgame.

There isn’t much to touch on as far as the Reds offense goes. Andrew Mccutchen made a couple of nice plays in center field and hit a rocket 2-run home run late in the game to really cement the sale for the Pirates. But the Reds got only five hits and the only rally to speak of was back to back hits by Chris Heisey (who was a pinch hitter once again) and Drew Stubbs. Of course, looking at the final score you realize it didn’t result in any runs.

It’s time for Jay Bruce to return to the lineup and get truly hot. We’ve all been waiting long enough. It’s pretty much a ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ moment for Bruce. He’s sitting on 8 home runs. The rest of the league leaders in the category are getting theirs right now. We really want to see Bruce in double digits by the end of the weekend. Keep the pace, and we would bet the Reds win 3 of the next 4.

We’ll see what happens. But another night in which the Reds belonged to their keeper Charlie Morton. He of Roy Halladay mechanics.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Fantasy Baseball, Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , ,

Pirates looking to lock up Andrew Mccutchen for the long-haul

May 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Andrew Mccutchen is definitely the type of young player that you head to the altar with if you’re the Pittsburgh Pirates. There was a day when we thought that Nate Mclouth was that guy, but he tricked us like a nasty temptress.

Cutch is that guy. And that’s fine by him.

“I’m willing to be here for my whole career,” McCutchen said Sunday at Coors Field. “I really love it in Pittsburgh. I love playing there. I love the city. I love how things are starting to turn around for us. That’s one of the things I feel that they know, and they have the same feeling I do. We’re very open to working something out, but we just want to make sure it’s something we want. That’s basically what we’re looking at right now.”

The most likely type of extension would be one that carries McCutchen through next season, plus his three arbitration years. He still would be eligible for free agency in 2016, based on his current status.

That’s not going to be the rest of his career, but it’s definitely a long-term contract in terms of the Pittsburgh Pirates usual course of business. Because like, getting them to cough up more than the minimum amount on a player nowadays or commit past arbitration with any type of good faith is asking a lot out of them. All signs are pointing to something getting done with this young beaut’ of a center fielder. And that’s good for baseball.

Filed Under: Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With:

Game 15, 2011: Pirates 7, Reds 6

April 18, 2011 By 1 Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com]

Observations:
In the worst way I wanted the Reds to come away with this game and I wanted to be able to say that these are the same old Pirates that we’re talking about. But once again as they so often seem to do, the Reds will send me to work on a Monday following a Sunday loss thinking about what might have been.

These are not the same old Pirates. It’s a long series and we’ve all had a good look at the likes of Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, Ronny Cedeno, Garrett Jones, Joel Hanrahan, Pedro Alvarez and the new and improved tandem of Jeff Karstens and Charlie Morton.

Today, the guy that went off was Mccutchen. It’s pretty much his team now even though he’s only 23. It’s funny because today was a microcosm of Mccutchen vs. Bruce. Both guys firing back and forth with blows in a heavyweight title fight. Both guys who figure to face off for the next decade or so and be tops at their craft in the NL Central.

It doesn’t help that Edinson Volquez put the Reds in yet another hole this afternoon. They trailed 4-0 after the first inning, and Volquez’s first inning ERA is now 29.25.

For all the qualities of imperfection the Reds will have to deal with to be one of the best teams in the National League this year, one that they have that so many don’t is that they grind, and they fight and they claw back into ballgames time and again.

When they were in the 4-0 hole, I was sure that the Pirates would need more than that to hang a loss on them today and I was right. Miguel Cairo–a super sub for Brandon Phillips that got on base four times today–homered to get them on the board. It wasn’t a cheapie either.

With two outs a few innings later Jay Bruce singled and Paul Janish followed his single with his own that would make it 4-2. A few innings later Scott Rolen’s RBI double would tie it. Then the Reds took the lead on a Bruce single to make it 5-4.

Garrett Jones homered off Volquez who had settled down and we were tied again. A few hitters later the Pirates would have their lead back at 6-5. Again, there were too many frames left and I knew the Reds would be back.

Jay Bruce’s confidence looks like it’s surging right now. After he lined the single to right field to give the Reds a lead, we just had the feeling that he would have a day. When he came back to the plate with the Reds trailing by one and Jose Veras gave him a high fastball, he launched it into the seats in right centerfield and the Reds had tied it once again.

Logan Ondrusek got out of trouble with a nice play on a squeeze by the Pirates to keep it tied. But as I said to myself, I’ve seen this game so many times. Too often I’ve seen my team battle and get a heroic play like that only to lose it on a single with two outs. That’s exactly what happened. Mccutchen strikes again. The Reds got bested by a good player today.

It is a testament to their character that they weren’t done yet. The Redlegs loaded the bases up in the bottom of the 9th off Joel Hanrahan, and he went 2-0 to Drew Stubbs before Stubbs flied out to the man of the hour in center to end it.

We’re 15 games in and it seems like there’s been a million big moments already. The Reds play all week long instead of having tomorrow off, so that made this one just a little easier to take. Beyond that, when this lineup really goes off it’s all over. No one will be able to play with the Reds on some nights because they’re all going to hit and it’s going to be scary the type of runs they score on a good day. The starters need to start going more than six innings and they need the same good clean bill of health that they were blessed with mostly last year.

Top Plays:

Miguel Cairo’s bomb gets the Reds on the board

Bruce singles the Reds to an early 5-4 lead. All the way back.

Jay Bruce ties it at six with a bomb to center (2)

The heartbreaking but predictable beginning of the end

The Cardiac Reds fall just short

Classic Oldie Song That Should be Played on Loud Speakers at a Ballpark near you:




“Woman, hold me in your arms. Rock it baby.”

Hang with these Reds. They’ll get ‘em tomorrow. They’re that kind of team.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Heartbreak, Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Game 13, 2011: Pirates 6, Reds 1

April 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Red Reporter] [PBC Blog]

Observations:

Bronson Arroyo just didn’t have his best stuff on this Friday evening, Jackie Robinson Day. Charlie Morton looked like a different pitcher than the guy that the Reds roughed up on Jay Bruce Day 2010. Morton was the whole damn show as we like to say, and he almost had a shutout in front of 21,312 at Great American Ballpark.

The Reds didn’t have much offense to speak of tonight. Drew Stubbs had a couple of hits and a couple of steals. Miguel Cairo singled back up the box. Scott Rolen blooped one in. And the Reds grounded out pretty much the rest of the night or flew out harmlessly. It was fun to watch the outfielders battle the wind. I remember playing those conditions as an outfielder and it was awful. These guys make it look easy.

Jose Tabata is one Hell of a ballplayer for the Buccos. Andrew Mccutchen got himself a golden sombrero courtesy of Bronson Arroyo (Cutch is 0 for 12 against him lifetime).

In the 9th, we saw light at the end of the tunnel. Jay Bruce broke up the shutout with a 2-out bomb to centerfield off Morton, and while there was no victory, tomorrow will bring better things.

Top Plays:

Bruce homers to center (1) with 2-out in the 9th

Reds turn an ugly double play

Neil Walker bombs Bunny Arroyo

Potpourri:

Quiet Friday night at home watching this one. I had the flu all week. Flu’s that hang on forever are absolutely awful, and I’m good for about one a year.

The weather and game result didn’t do much to make me feel better either. Glad the week has came to an end and I can head to Cincinnati to watch the ballgame. I love Saturday afternoon home ballgames, and there aren’t many on the Reds schedule typically.

On another note, I had a really HUGE night on the fantasy baseball front. Momentum!

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Pittsburgh Pirates 2011 Season Preview

March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Leading up to the start of the 2011 Regular Season, Diamond Hoggers will preview each of MLB’s 30 teams . Today’s preview features the Pittsburgh Pirates. Stay tuned as Diamond Hoggers previews every team division by division until the start of the regular season. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , ,