Reds Score All 3 Runs in 9th For Walk-Off Win

Jay Bruce (32) celebrates his walk-off single with his teammates

By:  Coop


In a game that looked like the Houston Astros were just dominating the Reds, somehow those boys from Cincinnati came back and won the game.  Lemme tell ya about it.  Just sit right there, and I'll tell ya all about it.  Travis Wood was on the hill for the Reds, and pitched a solid 6, giving up 2 runs.  The Astros pitchers were great, Rodriguez, the starter, went 5 innings, giving up just one hit.  The Reds did not even have another hit until the 9th.


In the 9th, the Reds had 4 hits.  The pitcher was Brandon Lyon.  The Reds entered the 9th inning trailing 2-0, Lyon struggles started with the 1st batter, as he walked Drew Stubbs.  That was followed by a Chris Heisey single to advance Stubbs to 3rd.  Then came a Joey Votto single that plated Stubbs, and put Chris Heisey on 2nd.  Brandon Phillips then hit one between the 1st baseman and the 2nd baseman, just getting past them for a single.  Heisey was waved around, and scored, 2-2 now.  Had the ball been fielded, it more than likely would have been a double play.  The next batter was Jay Bruce.  His last walk-off hit came on September 28th, 2010 against...The Houston Astros.  That of course was the game in which the Reds clinched the NL Central.  All he had on his mind was a hit good enough to bring the winning run across.  Well, he got it.  He hit a double down the right field line, Votto scored easily, "And this one belonnnnnngsss to the Reds!".  It was pretty exciting.


Oh yeah, and those two runs the 'Stros scored thanks to two RBI singles by Bourgeois and Pence, both in the 3rd inning.


Let's talk about Travis Wood.  He went 6 innings, gave up 5 hits, 2 earned runs, walked 4, and fanned 7.  A pretty decent outing by Wood.  He looked like he would be a tough-luck loser, but he was lucky enough to get the no-decision.  The Reds bullpen looked good, as Bill Bray and Logan Ondrusek both had 1-2-3 innings.  Francisco Cordero was the man who got the win, as he pitched in the 9th, gave up a hit, but that's it. Coco is now 2-0, and is quietly having a great season thus far.


Today was a 12:35 game, and tomorrow it will be the same time.  The only difference is that tomorrow's game will be televised, it will be on Fox Sports Ohio, as always.  The reason why tomorrow's game is on TV, well, Joey Votto said it should be because he says "We'll probably win."  Let's hope so.


The Reds will enter tomorrow's game with a 15-15 record, and either 1.5 games back, or 2.5, it all depends on what St. Louis does tonight.  Let's root for them Fish tonight.

Reds Suffer First Loss Of Season

Sam LeCure got a no-decision in the Reds loss to
Houston, 3-2, on Thursday.

By:  Cooper Ledford 


The Cincinnati Reds were wrapping up their three-game series vs. Houston, as well as their home stand before they head to the desert to take on the D-Backs.  The Reds were 5-0 so far, and were looking to go to 6-0.  If they wanted to do so, they would need to do well against Brett Myers.  They did okay, but not good enough, as they lost 3-2, here is how.


The Astros got on the board first when Hunter Pence hit an RBI ground-out in the 1st, the score was 1-0.


The Reds answered back in the 2nd when Edgar Renteria hit an RBI double to center, allowing Gomes to score, the game was tied at 1.


Houston was able to retake the lead in the 4th when Wallace hit an RBI ground-out to plate Carlos Lee, 2-1.


Cincinnati would tie the game once again in the 7th when Scott Rolen went yard for the 2nd time this season, 2-2.


But the Astros would take the lead in the 9th when Downs hit an RBI double to plate Wallace, 3-2 the score.


In the bottom of the 9th, the Reds tried hard to at least tie it with two outs.  Phillips hit a single, Votto reached as well, then came Ramon Hernandez.  We all know what he did on Opening Day, could he do it again?  Another 3-run walk-off homer?  Nope, he grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game.


Sam LeCure was the pitcher, and he looked pretty good, as he went 5 innings, gave up 3 hits, 2 earned runs, walked 2 and fanned 6.  He gets a no-decision.  Nick Masset pitched the final two inning of the game, and he gets the loss as he allowed 1 run to score in the 9th.  The winner is Abad who went 1.1 innings giving up 1 hit and 1 walk.


So the Reds lose, sending 20,104 people home sad.  But as Jim Day said "161-1 is not bad".  We can hope, can't we?  If you are a Reds fan like me, this is not a big deal, 5-1 is still one of the best records in the National League, and this is only 1 game out of 162.  


Next the Reds will get on the plane and head to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks for a three-game weekend series.  They will play tomorrow at 9:40 PM ET and will be televise on Fox Sports Ohio.  

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).