Reds Sting Rays In Game 1

By:  Coop


The Cincinnati Reds were in the Sunshine State taking on the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Reds had not won the 1st game of an Interleague series this year, but today they were trying to change that.  Well they did, they won 5-0. Mike Leake pitched well, and the Reds offense looked alive.  Here is how it all happened.


In the 1st, after a Fred Lewis single, Brandon Phillips hit one deep to center field, it would be good for a double, Lewis would score, 1-0 Cincy.  Make it 2-0 after Jay Bruce hit an RBI single to plate DatDudeBP.


Cincinnati resumed scoring runs in the 4th when the former Ray, Jonny Gomes, went yard to left for his 11th homer of the year to give the Reds a 3-0 lead.  Gomes by-the-way was a fan-favorite when he was playing in St. Petersburg, maybe not so much anymore.  A few batters later, Brandon came to bat and hit an RBI single to bring Janish home and make the score 4-0.  That would be it for the 4th inning scoring.


The Reds added 1 more run in the 7th when Scott Rolen reached on a fielding error by the 2nd baseman, Phillips would score, and it was 5-0.  And that is how she finished.


Mike Leake pitched well, he threw 6 innings of shutout baseball, along the way he gave up 4 hits, walked 2, and fanned 3.  


Tampa's pitcher, Jeremy Hellickson did not do so well, as he went 6 innings, gave up 4 runs, 3 earned, on 8 hits, 1 walk, and 9 strikeouts.


Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh were all idol today, so they pick up a half game in the standings, and are 3.5 games behind the Brewers, and are in 3rd place alone.


Tomorrow it looks like we will see a good pitching match-up as it is the Rays ace, David Price, going up against the Reds ace, Johnny Cueto.  Game time is set for 7:10 PM ET, and the game will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.

Leake Sensational In Reds Win

By:  Coop


The Cincinnati Reds were trying to go back to being over the .500 mark with a win tonight against the Chicago Cubs.  Mike Leake was on the hill for Cincy, while Matt Garza was pitching for the Cubs.  Mike Leake was nothing less than great.  He pitched 8 innings of 2 run baseball, helping the Reds get the 8-2 win, here is how.


The Cubs had the early lead when Pena hit a sac fly to plate Barney in the 1st, it was 1-0.


The Reds would answer back in the 2nd when Johnny Gomes hit an RBI single to bring Bruce home, the game was tied.  


Yesterday Drew Stubbs hit a home run, and today he did as well.  In the 3rd inning he hit a solo shot to right, his 9th big fly of the year, and the Redlegs had a 2-1 lead.


In the 4th inning, the Reds added 2 more runs.  The 1st run was scored when Mike Leake hit an RBI single to right, Cairo scored from 3rd, it was 3-1.  The 2nd run was plated when Stubbs grounded out, but Hanigan was able to score, and the score was 4-1.


The Cubbies would shorten the lead in the 5th when Starlin Castro hit a sac fly, it was a 2-run ball game.


But not for long.


In the Reds half of the 5th, with two on, Johnny Gomes hit a long ball to left field, a 3-run jack, and it was 7-2 Cincinnati.  Johnny defiantly needed this home run, hopefully his slump is over.


Cincinnati would add a run in the 7th when Paul Janish reached on a fielding error by Ramirez, Bruce would score from 3rd, 8-2 the score.


Mike Leake would pitch in the 8th, and Bray in the 9th to seal the deal.  


Leake gets the win, as he went 8 innings, gave up 2 runs on 10 hits, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts.  He is now 5-2.


The Cardinals did not play today, and the Brewers won, so the Reds only pick up a half game and are 5 games back.


Tomorrow Edinson Volquez will come up and pitch against Doug Davis.  The game will be at 7:10 PM ET and will be on Fox Sports Ohio. 

Reds Win Series, Cordero Picks Up #300

By:  Coop


The Cincinnati Reds were trying to win their first series since mid-May.  In order to do so they would need to beat Marcum the Milwaukee Brewers.  Well they were down early, but fought back and won the game, 4-3.  Jay Bruce and Joey Votto both played a big role in this game, but Francisco Cordero's 9th inning stands out because he picked up career save #300. Here is how the action took place.


In the 1st inning, the very first batter, Rickie Weeks, went yard.  That was the 2nd time this year Weeks has leadoff the game with a home run against the Reds.  Later on in the inning, Braun hit an RBI ground out, the score was 2-0.


That would remain the score until the 4th when the Brewers added a run thanks to a Betancourt RBI single to plate Hart, 3-0 Milwaukee.


So it looked as if the Reds were gonna lose the game, and series.  But the Reds did not give up. 


In the 7th inning, the best player in the MLB right now, Jay Bruce, went yard for the 17th time this year.  It was a 2-run jack to right, and it was a 1-run game.


Next inning, with a man on, Joey Votto hit one deep to center, it was gone and the Reds took a 4-3 lead.  


In the 9th inning, Dusty Baker sent in the closer, Francisco Cordero, in attempts to seal the deal and give the Reds the win.  To lead off the inning, he fanned Lucroy.  Next batter was Betancourt, he got him to ground out for a 1-3 put out.  Then came Counsell.  He struck him out!  The Reds win it, and Francisco Cordero gets his 300th career save.  Congratulations to him.


The Reds will get a much needed off day tomorrow, and will host the Dodgers on Friday.  Game time is set for 7:10 PM ET and it will be televised on FS Ohio.

Why I Think The Cardinals Have Terrible Fans

By:  Coop


Okay, so the St. Louis Cardinals are one of the better teams in the NL, and they have a great history.  Their fans didn't used to bother me at all, and I thought of them of good fans for a good team.  Well, that all changed last year when the Cards came to town to take on the Reds.  Now, we all remember what Brandon Phillips said about the Cardinals, how all they do is b---- and moan about everything, which is somewhat true.  The next day, B-Phil came to bat and before the 1st pitch was even thrown, there was a benches-clearing brawl between the two teams.  This brawl was not Brandon's fault, it could have been avoided if one man did not come out of the dugout.  That man was Chris Carpenter.  The Cardinal fans that were in Cincinnati were booing the Reds, and sure enough when the Reds went to St. Louis, they booed the Reds like crazy.  They were not gonna forget about it.  Some Red Bird fans still talk about that, and brag about how they made Johnny Cueto get suspended, and try and make the Cincinnati Reds sound bad for starting such a terrible incident last year, even though it was their fault.  


But that was the past, and now the Reds are in St. Louis about to take on those Cards, and now the fans of St. Louis are over that and don't care about that, and respect the Reds again, right?  No.   They made tee shirts making fun of Mike Leake's arrest, that just proves that they have no respect what-so-ever of anyone that does not play for their hometown team.  The Reds didn't make tee shirts last year making fun of Mark McGwire's steroid use, and did not make fun of them for being unable to resign Albert Pujols.  So, the Cardinals just had to strike first and be bad sports about this.  


All of that supports my thesis that the St. Louis Cardinals have terrible fans overall.  Not all of them are bad, some are very good and good sports, but most of them are really just terrible.


Oh, and before any Cardinal fans come on here and say "The Cardinals dominated the Reds last year, so what's it matter" or something like that, well I am not gonna deny that they did, the Cardinals dominated the Reds last year.  


There ya have it, just my thoughts.  Oh, and by-the-way, the Cards still have better fans than the Chicago Cubs and the Philidelphia Phillies.

Reds Yield Sweep With Win Over 'Zona

Mike Leake earned the win, Thursday, helping the Reds pick up only their
2nd win in 8 games.

By:  Coop


The Cincinnati Reds had lost 5 of their last 6 games, and were trying to avoid being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks.  If they wanted to pick up a win, and go over the .500 mark, Mike Leake would have to pitch well.  He usually pitches well every time he takes the hill, but this time, he would have to play somewhat distracted.  Why was he distracted?  Because he was arrested earlier this week for stealing tee shirts from Macy's.  Well, despite the nasty signs some fans made, and some boos from the crowd, Leake pitched well, helping the Reds go to 10-9, as they win 7-4.  Here is how.


The Diamondbacks scored in the 1st inning off of a Steven RBI single, Roberts would score, 1-0.  The Reds pitchers have gave up tons of runs in the 1st inning so far this season, not sure how many exactly, but I know the amount leads the NL.


The Reds would answer back in their half of the 1st, where they scored 4 runs.  The 1st run was plated when the bases were loaded, and Jay Bruce walked, 1-1 the score.  The 2nd and 3rd runs came across when Miguel Cairo hit a 2 RBI single, Votto and Gomes scored, the Redlegs had a 3-1 lead.  The final run of the inning was scored when the bases were loaded and Paul Janish walked, 4-1 the score after the 1st.  Not a good 1st inning for the starter Daniel Hudson.


Mike Leake went to school in Arizona, and maybe was kinda hoping the D-Backs would do something, so he helped them out.  In the 2nd inning, Hudson laid down a sac bunt, Miranda would come across to score, 4-2.  Then in the 5th, Johnson hit a long ball to right field, the Reds lead was only by 1.


In the Cincinnati 5th inning, Joey Votto hit a 378 foot home run to right, his 3rd long ball of the year, and the Reds lead was back to 2.


In the 6th inning, the Reds would score twice.  The 1st run came off of Ramon Hernandez's bat, when he hit an RBI double, Miguel Cairo would score, 6-3.  Then the 2nd run scored when Paul Janish hit an RBI single to center, Ramon would score, 7-3.


Francisco Cordero would give up a run in the 9th when Drew went yard, 7-4 the score, and that's how she finished.


Mike Leake gets the win, as he went 7 innings, have up 3 earned runs off of 4 hits, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. Leake is now 3-0 on the season, and 0-1 when it comes to getting away from the cops, well as far as we know.


Tonight the Reds will hop on the plane and head to St. Louis to take on the filthy Red Birds for a 3 game series.  We all know what happened last year, the bench-clearing brawl.  We'll see if any kind of scuffle happens in this series.  Hopefully the Reds put the Cardinals in their place if there is.  Game time tomorrow is set for 8:15 PM ET, and will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio and MLB Network. 

Reds Smack Pirates To Even Up Series

Ramon Hernandez hit a grand slam in the Reds 11-2 win
over the Pirates, Saturday.

By:  Cooper Ledford


The Reds were coming off a disappointing loss to the Pirates last night, today they were trying to get their revenge and even up the series at a game each.  If they were going to do so, they would need to take advantage of the young pitcher, James McDonald, and Mike Leake would need to pitch well.  Well, the Reds got plenty of runs, and Leake looked very good.  The Reds won 11-2, here is how.


In the bottom of the 2nd, Jonny Gomes hit a solo home run, his 4th of the year, 1-0 Reds.  Then in the bottom of the 3rd, Joey Votto hit an RBI single to plate Stubbs, and the Reds had a 2-0 lead.

Jonny Gomes hit 2 long balls in the Reds 11-2 win over
the Pirates, Saturday.

But, Pittsburgh was quick to answer back.  In the 4th inning, with the bases loaded, Garrett Jones walked, that would make it 2-1.  Same inning, Cedneo hit a sac fly, Alvarez score, and that game was now tied at 2.  Until the 5th.


In the Reds half of the 5th, it was a run parade.  To start the scoring, Juan Francisco hit an RBI single, Cairo would score, and the Reds had their lead back.  But that lead would get larger.  Especially when Ramon Hernandez hit a grand slam.  It was a long one, 431 feet to left!  That got the 26,418 fans at GABP fired up, the score was 7-2.  Still in the 5th, when Leake on, Stubbs hit a 2-run jack to right, just clearing the fence, and the Reds increased their lead to 7.  

Mike Leake got the win in Saturday's game against
Pittsburgh.

That would be it for the 5th inning scoring, but in the 6th, the Redlegs were back at it.  Jonny Gomes hit a 2-run home run, his 2nd long ball of the day, 11-2 the score.  Gotta love what Gomes is doing so far this season, being patient, getting on base, and then when he gets that pitch he wants, he delivers, weather it's a single, a sac fly, or a home run, he delivers.  Jonny be good!


Cincinnati's bullpen would hold the Pirates for the rest of the game, allowing the Reds to win 11-2.  They are now 9-5 (what a way to make a living).  


Mike Leake got the win, as he went 6 innings, gave up 4 hits, 2 earned runs, and struck out 6.


Tomorrow the Reds will look to take the series lead.  Edinson Volquez will pitch tomorrow for Cincy, while the 'Burgh will run out Jeff Karstens.  Game time will be at 1:10 PM ET, and will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.

Series 5 Preview

By:  Cooper Ledford


The 8-4 Cincinnati Reds return home after a 3-3 road trip.  The Reds will be looking to win the next few series, but 1st they will need to beat a good Pittsburgh Pirates team.  Yes, that's right, I said a good Pittsburgh Pirates team.  With that, I will preview each and every game in the Reds 4-game series with the Pirates.


Game 1 (Friday, 7:10 PM ET, FS Ohio):  The 1st game of the series looks like it'll be a good one.  Bronson Arroyo will take the hill for Cincinnati, while Charlie Morton will pitch for the Buccos. Both pitchers are undefeated, Arroyo is 2-0 while Morton is 1-0, and both are sporting a 2.08 ERA.  Let's first start with Bronson Arroyo.  He is 6-4 lifetime against the Pirates, and has done very well against the current Pittsburgh hitters.  There are 3 players who have at least 10 at-bats against him, Cedeno, Doumit, and Jones.  Cedeno has 23 at-bats against the hick-kicking righty, with a .217 average, and 1 home run.  So except for that long ball, Bronson has done well against him.  Jones is batting .182 in 11 at-bats, while Doumit has a .100 average in 10 at-bats.  Now onto Morton.  He is 1-4 lifetime against the team from Cincinnati, and has struggled with current Reds batters through out his career.  Jonny Gomes, Brandon Phillips, and Scott Rolen have the most at-bats against him, all with 13.  Gomes is batting .385, Phillips is batting .308, and Rolen has a great average at .462.  Hernandez, Phillips, Rolen, Stubbs, and Votto have all had multiple RBI's off of Charlie, while Bruce and Gomes have hit one.  The Reds should win this game.


Game 2 (Saturday 1:10 PM ET, FS Ohio):  Okay, I underlined the 1:10 time because it is a Saturday game, on Saturday's the games usually start at 7:10.  Back to the game.  Edinson Volquez will be pitching for the Redlegs, while James McDonald will pitch for the Pirates.  As long as Volquez has a better 1st inning that he has in his other starts, and can go about 6 or more innings, and hold the Pirates under 4 runs or so, then the Reds should win.  Ryan Doumit is the only Pirate who has really given Volquez ant trouble, as he has had 13 at-bats against him, with a .385 average.  Okay, now onto McDonald.  No Red has had more than 3 at-bats against him, so no one really knows what he's got.  But he is a young pitcher, and the Reds should be able to take advantage of that, and win it.


Game 3 (Sunday, 1:10 PM ET, FS Ohio): Mike Leake will pitch for the Reds, while TBA will pitch for Pittsburgh.  Leake is 0-1 against the Pirates so far, and will look to go to 1-1.  That's about all I can do, since we don't know who will pitch for Pittsburgh.  Well, hopefully whoever pitches will lose, and the Reds will take the first 3 games of the series.


Game 4 (Monday 7:10 PM ET, FS Ohio):  Kevin Correia will pitch for the Pirates, while TBA will pitch for the Reds.  Correia is 6-1 against the Reds lifetime, so very good against them.  Unless the Reds offense comes alive against him, and whoever pitches for the Reds does well, the Reds will lose.  Hopefully they win though.

Series 3 Preview

By:  Cooper Ledford


The 5-1 Cincinnati Reds will begin their first road trip of the season.  Their first stop will be in Arizona as they will visit the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game series.  So with that, I am going to preview this series, game by game.


Game 1 (Friday, 9:40 PM ET, FS Ohio):  Travis Wood will be pitching for the Reds, while Ian Kennedy will be pitching for the D-Backs.  Wood had a great first start, as he only gave up 1 run and 3 hits through 7 innings.  Kennedy was decent when he started on Opening Day, as he gave up 3 earned runs through 6 innings.  Travis Wood is the better pitcher in this one, so the Reds should win.  The Reds offense was not very good in their last game against Houston, they need to improve a bit.


Game 2 (Saturday, 8:10 PM ET, FS Ohio):  In the 2nd game of the series, Bronson Arroyo will take the hill for the Reds, for the D-Backs, it will be Daniel Hudson.  Hudson lost in his previous start against the Rockies, while Arroyo won in his previous start against the Brewers.  This looks like it will be a great pitcher's duel, but then again, both pitchers have some issues.  As all Reds fans know, Bronson is still recovering from mono, but seems to be fine.  Hudson's issue is not an illness, as it is just the fact that his command is not that great, as he showed against Colorado.  


Game 3 (Sunday, 4:10 PM ET, FS Ohio):  In the final game of the series, Mike Leake will pitch for Cincinnati, his counterpart will be Joe Saunders.  Mike Leake pitched well in his first start against Houston, allowing only 2 runs in 6 innings.  Saunders looked good as well in his first start against the Cubs, as he allowed only 2 runs through 6 innings, yet was handed the loss.  Both pitchers are coming off strong outings, we'll see who does better though.


The game the Reds have the best chance of losing is either the 2nd or 3rd game.  The 2nd because Hudson is a great pitcher, the 3rd because Mike Leake might struggle a bit.  Dunno why I say that, I just have a feeling.  But, I say the Reds take at least 2 games from Arizona, and go to 7-2, or hopefully 8-1.

Series 2 Preview

By:  Cooper Ledford


After the Cincinnati Reds swept the Milwaukee Brewers to open the 2011 season, they look to stay undefeated for 3 more games.  If they are going to have a 6-0 record, they will need to sweep the winless Houston Astros.  So, with that, I will break down each game of the series.


Game 1 (Tuesday, 7:10 PM ET, FS OHIO):  Mike Leake will be on the hill for Cincinnati, while J.A. Happ will be pitching for the Astros.  Carlos Lee and Micheal Bourn have the most experience against Leake, as 9 at-bats with a .111 average, while Bourn 8 at-bats with a .375 average.  Also, Hunter Pence has 9 AB's and a .333 average.  I would have said that earlier in the paragraph, but I just saw that and am too lazy to move the location of that sentence.  Forget about the stats for a minute.  Mike Leake is only in the rotation because of Johnny Cueto going to the DL.  Mike Leake wants to be in the rotation all season, so he needs to get things off to a good start, have an impressive game tonight, so he has a better chance of staying in the rotation.  Okay, now let's talk about the Astros pitcher, J.A. Happ.  If you remember, he came to Houston from Philidelphia in the Roy Oswalt trade.  No Red has more than 3 at-bats against Happ, and Brandon Phillips has the most success against him, as he is 2-for-3 lifetime.  Here is a surprising fact, not even Scott Rolen has played against Happ.  J.A. is also dealing with a minor injury, as he has a strained right oblique, we'll see if that effects him in anyway tonight.


Game 2 (Wednesday, 7:10 PM ET, FS OHIO): In the 2nd game of the series, Edinson Volquez will be pitching for the Redlegs, while Nelson Figueroa will be on the hill for Houston.  Before we talk about stats, let's think about Edinson Volquez's performance on Opening Day.  Remember it?  It was terrible.  He looked like he was a AA pitcher.  He must get better by Wednesday if he wants to get a win, or even a quality start.  Now the Astros are not as good as the Brewers, but still, they are a Major League team, and anything can happen.  Okay, now let's go to stats.  Hunter Pence has the most experience against Edinson, as he had 14 at-bats.  In those 14 AB's, he has .214 average, not much to brag about.  Carlos Lee is hitless in 10 at-bats vs. Volquez, and in 9 at-bats, Micheal Bourn has a .111 average.  So, Edinson Volquez has been very good against the 'Stros throughout his career.  Now let's talk about Nelson Figueroa.  No Red has more than 4 at-bats against him.  Brandon Phillips has gone 2-for-4 in his career, with a--you guessed it, .500 average.  


Game 3 (Thursday, 12:35 PM ET, FS OHIO): Okay, in the final game of the series, the Reds will have Sam LeCure pitching, while Houston will have Brett Myers on the hill.  LeCure had a very solid spring, and has not had much experience against the Astros, or any team.  So, LeCure will just be trying to prove something, as he, like Leake, is trying to stay in the rotation.  Okay, Brett Myers, he has faced a ton of Reds in his career.  He has faced Edgar Renteria more than anyone else.  Edgar has 27 AB's against him, 2 homers, 4 RBI's, and a nice .481 average.  I bet Dusty makes him his starting SS for that game, huh?


Alright, so there you have it.  The game the Reds have the most chance of losing is the 3rd game, since Sam LeCure is not all that great (sorry Sam), while Brett Myers is a very good pitcher (you're welcome Brett).

Reds Beat White Sox

 By:  Cooper Ledford


The regular season is only three days away, but for now, there is still Spring Training Baseball.  With that, the Reds were visiting the Chicago White Sox in Glendale, Arizona.  It looked as if it would be a pitchers duel as it was Mike Leake pitching for Cincinnati, and Danks for the South-siders.  It ended up being a nice batting practice for the Reds, and a struggle for the White Sox, as the Reds won 9-1.  Wanna know how?  Good, here you go.


To start the scoring, in the 2nd inning, Jonny Gomes hit a solo home run, 1-0 the score.  Then in the top of the 5th, with two men on, Drew Stubbs hit a 3-run jack to right field, it was 4-0 Redlegs.


The Sox would answer back in their half of the 5th when Brent Lillibridge hit an RBI single to plate Quentin, it was 4-1.


But, not for too long.  In the 8th inning, some guy I have never head of, his name is Brian Barton, hit a 3-run home run, deep to left field, and the Reds had a 7-1 lead.  And then to make things better, another guy I have never head of, Mike Costanzo, went yard with a man on, a 2-run homer, and that would make the score 9-1, and that's how she finished.  But, not without some sweat and somewhat of a threat.  In the bottom of the 9th, Matt Maloney was pitching, there were 2 outs, and the bases loaded, the batter was Adam Dunn.  But, Matt was able to strikeout Dunn to finish the game.


Mike Leake is the winner, as he had a nice game, going 5.2 innings, did give up 6 hits, 1 ER, walked 2, and sat down 3 via strikeout. 


Tomorrow the Reds will play their final Spring Training Game as they play visitor to the Cleveland Indians.  Game time is at 3:05 PM ET, and will not be televised.  Then the Reds will hop on a plane to go back to Cincinnati and get ready for Opening Day, Thursday.

Leake Makes Great Debut, Reds Win

By: Cooper Ledford

The Cincinnati Reds were hosting the Chicago Cubs in the final game of the series.  The series was even at a game each.  Pitching for Cincinnati was the rookie who skipped over all of the Minors, Mike Leake.  Leake ended up getting a no decision, but the Reds won 3-1 in a great game.  Here is how.

The Cubs started off the scoring with an RBI single by Derek Lee in the 5th inning, it was 1-0 with Chicago on top.  The Reds would tie the game up in the 7th when Cairo was batting, the bases were loaded with one out, Cairo hit it back to the pitcher, and it went off his glove, everybody was safe, that would bring in a run, it was 1-1.  Cincinnati would take the lead in the 8th inning when the bases were loaded and Ramon Hernandez was a walk victom, that made it 2-1 with the Redlegs on top.  The Reds would get another run in the same inning, Jonny Gome hit a sac fly off of Caridad to score Brandon Phillips, it was 3-1.  Then in the 9th inning, Cordero retired the side to give the Reds the victory, and they take two-out-of-three games from the Baby Bears.

Mike Leake went 6.2 innings, gave up a run, four hits, seven walks, and five strike outs.  Leake looked great in his MLB debut.  The Cubs starter, Tom Gorzelanny, had a steller game, he went 6.1 innings, gave up no earned runs, four hits, two walks, and seven strike outs.

Next, the Reds head to South Florida to take on the Florida Marlins.  It is a four game series, all of the games are at 7:10 PM ET and televised on FS Ohio.