Reds Win With A 6-Run 11th

Jonny Gomes (31) scores from 1st on a go-ahead double by
Ryan Hanigan.

By:  Cooper Ledford


After the Reds beat the Padres 3-2 in game 1, they were looking to get the series win.  In order for the Reds to get the win, they would need Sam LeCure to pitch well, and they would need to get some runs off of Clayton Richard.  Well, LeCure pitched great, but the Reds did not get many runs off of Richard, they got them off of the San Diego bullpen in the 11th inning.  This was a crazy game, the game was tied at 2 until the top of the 11th inning, where the Reds scored 6 runs all with 2 outs! Now that is amazing.  The Reds win it 8-2, here is how.


In the 1st inning, Jonny Gomes put the Reds on the board with an RBI double to plate Phillips, 1-0 Cincinnati.


The Padres would answer back in the 2nd when Gonzalez hit one into right field, Hundley would score, to tie the game.  But on that same play, while Gonzalez was going toward 3rd base, there was a throw that got past the Reds 3rd baseman, Scott Rolen, Gonzalez would try to take advantage of it and go home, but Scott Rolen gunned the ball to home plate for Hanigan to apply the tag for the out.  That is why Scott Rolen wins Gold Gloves.


The game would remain tied until the top of the 5th, when Drew Stubbs grounded out, but Bruce was able to come home from 3rd, 2-1 Cincinnati on top.


San Diego would once again tie it up in the 8th when Patterson hit an RBI ground-out Hundley scored, the score was 2-2.  But, the Padres would have taken the lead if it wasn't for the awesomeness of Brandon Phillips.  With a man on 3rd, and Venable was the batter.  Venable hit one to 2nd, almost in shortstop territory, Brandon Phillips barehanded it, and made the off-balanced throw to 1st for the out.  It was crazy, go to Reds.com to see the play.  


Okay, so the game still tied at 2, and we are going to the 11th inning.  There are two outs and a man on.  Hanigan is batting.  Hanigan hit one to left, it would be an RBI double, Gomes would come in to score, and the Redlegs had a 3-2 lead.  But, that was just their first run of the 6 they would score in this inning.  The next run would score when Chris Heisey hit an RBI single, Hanigan scored, 4-2.  The next run scored when Edgar Renteria hit an RBI single to center, Jay Bruce scored, 5-2.  Then, with two on and two out, Drew Stubbs made this one a laugher.  He hit a 3-run home run to center, 406 feet, and the score was 8-2.  That would be how the game finished.


Everyone is talking about this 6-run 11th, but right now I am going to talk about Sam LeCure.  Sam did great, going 6 innings, giving up only 1 hit, 1 earned run, 2 walks, and struck out 8, a career high for him.  Unfortunately he got a no-decision, but he proved a lot in this game.


So the Reds are now 8-3, and are 2.5 games up on Pittsburgh and Milwaukee for 1st place in the NL Central.


The Reds will look for the series sweep as Travis Wood will pitch for the Reds, while Stauffer will pitch for San Diego.  Game time is set for 6:35 PM ET and will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.

Two Homers Lead Reds Past Padres

Reds OF, Chris Heisey, hit a two-run home
run in Cincy's 3-2 win over San Diego.

By:  Cooper Ledford


The Cincinnati Reds were coming off of a losing series in Arizona, and were looking to rebound in this series vs. San Diego.  It would be big if the Reds could take game 1.  In order to do so, Edinson Volquez would have to pitch better than he has in his first two starts, and the Reds top ranked offense would have to be able to get some runs off of San Diego's top ranked pitching staff.  Well, the Reds did not get very many runs, only 3, but it was enough for them to get the 3-2 win and go to 7-3, here is how.


San Diego got both of their runs in the 1st inning.  The 1st run came across when the bases were loaded, and Ryan Ludwick was hit by Edinson's pitch, 1-0.  The 2nd run was plated when Hawpe hit a sac fly to bring in Hudson, it was 2-0.  So Edinson Volquez's 1st inning struggles continue.


The score would remain 2-0 until the top of the 4th, when Jonny Gomes hit a 371 foot home run to left, a solo shot, his 3rd long one of the year, and the Reds were within a run.


Then in the 5th inning, with a man on, Chris Heisey hit a two-run home run, his 1st of the year, the Redlegs had a 3-2 lead.  


Edinson Volquez would last until the 6th inning, then in came Jordan Smith for 1.1 innings, Bill Bray for .2 innings, and Francisco Cordero for 1 inning, all of them scoreless innings, allowing the Reds to hold on for the win over the Padres.


Despite Edinson Volquez's shaky 1st, he was very good from then on out, as he went 6 innings, gave up only 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, and had 5 strikeouts, and earned the win.  He is now 2-0 on the year, but is lucky he is not 0-2.  


Next the Reds will send out Sam LeCure, while the Pads will send out Clayton Richard.  Game time is set for 10:05 PM ET, and will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=91ead217-02d2-422b-bf89-2d49dfb4c189" target="_new" title="">Reds roll over Padres</a>

Series 4 Preview

By:  Cooper Ledford


The Cincinnati Reds continue their road trip, as they go to San Diego, California, to take on the Padres.  The Reds are coming off of their first losing series, and look to rebound in this one.  With that, here is the series preview.


Game 1 (Monday, 10:05 PM ET, FS Ohio):  In the first game of the series, Edinson Volquez will pitch for the Reds, while Mat Latos will pitch for the Padres.  Let's talk about Edinson first.  Even though he has done pretty well against Padres batters through out his career, he has not done well this season.  On Opening Day he looked very poor, and in his last start allowed a 4 run 1st inning, but was lights out from there.  In order for him to go to 2-0, he will need to pitch much better.  Now let's talk about Mat Latos.  Only 4 Reds have faced him in their careers, all of them without a hit.  Latos has a 1-0 record lifetime against Cincinnati, but that means nothing.  The Reds have a good opportunity to take advantage of him, as he does not know how to approach them all that well.  Also, the Reds need to take advantage of Latos by making him work.  This is his first appearance of 2011, after he was on the DL for pain in his right shoulder.  If the Reds make him work, his shoulder will feel weaker, and will have to be taken out of the game sooner.


Game 2 (Tuesday, 10:05 PM ET, FS Ohio):  Sam LeCure will take the hill for Cincinnati, while Clayton Richard will take the hill for San Diego.  LeCure has only faced Rob Johnson and Ryan Ludwick in his career, Johnson has not hit off of him, while Ludwick has a .333 average in 3 at-bat's.  So LeCure has not faced many Padre hitters, and has never faced the Padres in his career.  As for Clayton Richard, he has faced plenty of Reds, and all of them have had success against him for the most part.  Cairo, Hanigan, and Bruce all have at least a .600 average against Richard, while Votto, Phillips, and Heisey all have a .500 average against him.  As long as LeCure can pitch well, as well as the bullpen, the Reds should be able to score some runs in this game and win it.


Game 3 (Wednesday, 6:35 PM ET, FS Ohio):  In the final game of the series, Travis Wood will pitch for the Redlegs, while Tim Stauffer will pitch for the Pads.  Only 5 Padre batters have faced Wood in their career, none of them having more than 4 at-bat's against him.  But let's forget about the stats for a second, and just talk about Travis Wood so far this season.  He was great in his fist start against Milwaukee, going deep into the game and only allowing 1 run.  Then, in his 2nd game against a much weaker Arizona team (sorry D-Backs), he did absolutly terrible.  His location was his bug issue, while he did not walk too many batters, he did allow quite a bit of hits, a home runs.  He needs to be better in this game if he wants to get the win.  Okay, now we will talk about Tim Stauffer.  Tim is 2-0 lifetime versus the Reds, but has not faced many current batters.  In-fact, he has only faced 8 Reds batters, none of them having more than 6 career at-bats.  


All-in-all, I think the Reds should win at least two games of this series.  The two they have the best chance of winning is the 2nd and 3rd game.  But, any of these games could go either way, be prepared to watch (well, if you stay up that late to watch them play) a fun and exciting series.

Reds Tear Up Harang, Beat SD

By:  Cooper Ledford


Remember Aaron Harang?  Of course you do.  Who could forget his Cy Young Caliber seasons, or shall I say season with the Reds, and then his....terribleness for the following years.  Well, Harangatang was starting for the Padres today.  The Reds scored 7 runs off of him, and went on to win 15-5.  Yeah.


I am not gonna say all the scoring plays, as I do not have time (seriously, I gotta go eat dinner in 30 minutes), but I will give you some good bullet points to what happened in this game.

• Aaron Harang went 3 innings, gave up 7 hits, 7 ER, walked 1, and struck out 1.  He is the loser.
• Reineke got the start for Cincinnati, and had 2 scoreless innings of work, his only blunder was one walk.  He picks up his 2nd win of the Spring.
• Dave Sappelt looked good once again, as he had 2 RBI's.
• Ryan Hanigan, Chris Heisey, and Juan Francisco all hit home runs.
• Todd Frazier got in on some action today, as he had an RBI single. 

Tomorrow the Reds will head back to Goodyear to play host to the San Francisco Giants.  Game time is at 3:05 PM ET, and sadly there will be no TV...again.