Reds Notes 4.19.2006

Reds win 9-8 on a Edwin Encarnacion double in the 9th inning. The Reds had trailed 5-0 and 8-4. I was busy thinking about what a despicable loss this was going to be and then the Reds up and stole the game. A few thoughts:

- Dontrelle Willis is a cool cat. He's animated and excited about baseball. I hope we get him. He also is a good fielder - he made two great plays. One of which was a line drive that almost hit him in the face.
- thank god the Marlins pulled Willis after 6 innings. He absolutely cruised through the 5th and 6th
- when LaRue K'd with the bases loaded and one out in the 2nd, I thought the game was over
- LaRue is the slowest man I have EVER seen run the base paths. And the worst. He scored on a pass ball in the 4th and he should have walked in - it ended up being a close play. Then he was thrown out at the plate in the 8th when Freel hit a slow ground ball to deep SS. He was clueless on that play and got caught in a rundown.
- LaRue dropped another ball on a pay-at-the-plate. He does this all the time. Freel threw a perfect dart, on the fly, and LaRue dropped it. And then he bitched. LaRue needs to go. And he needs a nickname that represents his terribleness.
- Freel has a good arm. Seriously. So does Dunn.
- The Reds brought up a pitcher from Louisville to replace Mr. Burns. Michael Gosling. He pitched a 1-2-3 5th but two of the outs where sharp drives hit right at a Reds outfielder. In the 6th, some guy named Abercrombie and Fitch absolutely DESTROYED a pitch into the left field bleachers. Dunn did not even move. It was the guys first career HR. The ball traveled 493 feet - the 3rd farthest HR in GABP history. It was a bomb.
- Dunn actually hit a grounder to the right side of the infield to score a run. Problem was, the Reds were trailing 8-4 at the time. I guarantee, if the score was 2-1, that would not have happened
- Phillips is playing well. 2 for 5. 3 RBI. His two hits were weak flares but at least he is getting the bat on the ball. He had the clutch RBI when the Reds were trailing 8-7 in the 8th. Womack is more than expendable.
- Encarnacion reminds me of Aaron Boone. He can pull the ball (both of his doubles were sharp grounders down the line) but he sometimes appears overmatched. And curve balls befuddle him. Pitchers are going to figure him out - just like Boone. He can field well, though
- Harang sucked today. It took him 90 pitches to get through 4 innings.
- Weathers got through 2 innings without giving up a run but it was dicey. He got out of a bases-loaded, one out jam in the 8th. And Florida hit him hard in the 7th.
- Coffey was lights out in the 9th
- Florida banged out 15 hits. 15 F**ING hits. And I can only name one of their starters: Cabrera. And I just went to the game. Hell, I went to all three games. Wait, I can name Abercrombie and Fitch too.

- The Reds scored 9 runs today without the aide of a Home Run. Now THAT is a statistic for this club.
- I love having Aurilia on this team. He plays every infield position well (possibly better than all the regulars, except Lopez) and he makes the pitcher work on all of his ABs. Good stuff.
- Today was the first day I actually missed Sean Casey. Remember when the Reds would win in their final at bat and they would mob the runner and engage in the "bounce" for about 30 seconds? That was all Casey. He made that happen. Our post game celebration was so good that I would laugh at other team's poor renditions when they would win in their last at bat. Well, now the Reds are like all those other teams. Dunn scored the winning run and Cincinnati weakly corralled him (maybe half of the team) before dissipating. It was sad.

9-6. Not exactly the pitching duel that was expected. But the Reds won a game they needed - no team that is serious about playoff baseball can drop a series at home to the Marlins. Now let's go beat some Milwaukee ass.