Wood Will Pitch Today

By: Coop

Johnny Cueto was scheduled to pitch in today's game against the Yankees, but we have got news that Travis Wood will pitch rather than Cueto.

Cueto says his neck has been bothering him for 5 days, but says "maybe I'll pitch tomorrow".

This does not sound like it is too serious, but if we get any further news about this, we will let you know.

Reds Complete Sweep of Dodgers

By:  Coop


The Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers were both sporting throwback uniforms today.  The Dodgers had jerseys on from the days the team was in Brooklyn, while the Reds had 1944 uniforms on.  They were pretty cool.  Something else that was col was the Reds 7-2 win today.  Here is how it all happened.


The Dodgers scored 1st, in the 1st inning the bases were loaded, Wood walked Thames, Either came in, it was 1-0 LA.  That lead would not last long.


The Reds answered right back in the 2nd inning when Scott Rolen hit an RBI double to center, Phillips scored and the game was tied.  Same inning, Fred Lewis hit a double to bring in Rolen, and the Reds had a 2-1 lead.


Scott Rolen would be back at it in the 3rd when he hit an RBI single to left, Edgar Renteria scored, 3-1. Next thing you know, the bases are loaded for Fred Lewis.  He walked and Votto scored to make it 4-1.  Then the next batter, Ryan Hanigan, hit a single to left to bring in 2 runs.  So Cincy put together a 4-run 3rd inning to make the score 6-1.


And guess who drove in the next run.  Who other than Scott Rolen.  In the 4th he hit an RBI double to plate Phillips, 7-1 the score.


That would be it for the Reds offense in this game.


The Dodgers would manage to get a run in the 7th when Juan Uribe grounded out to short, allowing a run to score.  7-2 was now the score, and that is how the game finished.


Travis Wood picks up the win as he went 6 innings, have up 5 hits, 1 earned run, walked 5, and sent down 2 batters on strikes.  T-Wood is now 5-4 on the season.


Chad Billingsley was roughed up today, as he lasted on 4 innings, gave up 7 earned runs off of 9 hits, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts.  Chad is now 5-6.


Cincinnati caps off a 3-game sweep of the LA Dodgers, and complete a 5-2 West Coast road trip.  Pretty good for a team that used to struggle out west.  This was the 1st time sine 2004 that the Reds had swept the Dodgers in LA.


The Redlegs will hop on the plane today and head home.  Tomorrow they will enjoy an off day, then get back to business Friday when the Blue Jays come to town.  Friday's game time is set for 7:10 PM ET and will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.


While the team in on the plane, they will be scoreboard watching, hoping for the Brewers and Cardinals to both lose.  If they both lose the Reds will be only 1.5 games back.  If they both win they will remain 2.5 games back.  If one of them wins and the other loses, I think they will be 2 back but I am not sure.  Well, until Friday, go Reds!

Reds Hold On To Complete Sweep

Travis Wood got the win in the Reds 9-7 win over
the Cardinals, Sunday.

By:  Coop


In front of 24,672 rain-drenched fans, the Reds were trying to complete the sweep of their foes, the St. Louis Cardinals.  Well, they got it, but barley, 9-7 the final, here is how.


Travis Wood gets the win, as he went 6 innings, giving up 2 runs, which were two home runs, on 7 hits, walked one and fanned 3.  T-Wood is now 3-3 on the year.

Scoring Summary

			STL	CIN
	2nd	L Berkman homered to left center.	1	0
	2nd	Y Molina homered to right.	2	0
	3rd	R Hernandez homered to right.	2	1
	4th	S Rolen singled to center, J Bruce to third, J Bruce scored, S Rolen to third on throwing error by center fielder J Jay.	2	2
	4th	F Lewis grounded out to second, S Rolen scored.	2	3
	6th	S Rolen tripled to deep right, B Phillips scored.	2	4
	7th	B Phillips doubled to deep right, M Cairo and D Stubbs scored, J Votto to third.	2	6
	7th	J Bruce doubled to deep right, J Votto and B Phillips scored.	2	8
	8th	C Heisey homered to left.	2	9
	9th	A Craig walked, L Berkman scored, Y Molina to third, G Laird to second.	3	9
	9th	R Theriot doubled to deep center, Y Molina and G Laird scored, A Craig to third.	5	9
	9th	N Punto doubled to left, A Craig and R Theriot scored.	7	9

Francisco Cordero picked up his 7th save of the season.


Another point of interest in this game was the Reds debut of Jose Arredondo.  Jose pitched in the 7th inning, and had a 1-2-3, 12 pitch inning.  Looked good.  


Tomorrow the Reds will play host to another enemy of theirs, the Chicago Cubs.  This will be the 1st of 2 games.  Homer Bailey (2-0, 0.69 ERA) will take the hill for Cincinnati while Carlos Zambrano (4-1, 5.35 ERA) will pitch for the North-Siders. Game time is set for 7:10 PM ET, and will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.

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.

Votto And Cairo Help Reds Beat Cards

Miguel Cairo hit a 2 RBI single, helping the Reds beat the
Cardinals 5-3, Saturday

By: Coop


The Cincinnati Reds were coming off of a tough loss to St. Louis last night, and were looking to even up the series tonight.  The Reds were on national television, as they were on Fox.  Yes Fox, not Fox Sports Ohio, but Fox.  The same Fox that American Idol comes on.  Anyways, Cincy was looking to beat the Cardinals, go over .500, and be tied for 1st place in the Central.  Well, they did win, thanks to good pitching by Travis Wood, and key hits from Joey Votto and Miguel Cairo.  The Reds won 5-3.  Here is how.


For the first time in what seems like forever, the Reds kept a team off the board in the 1st inning.  But, they failed to keep them off the board for too long.  In the 2nd inning, Davis Freese hit an RBI single to right, Berkman scored, it was 1-0 Red Birds.  Then in the 3rd, Chris Carpenter hit a lead-off double, then was bunted to 3rd, then Colby Rasmus hit a sac fly to bring him home.  Great execution by St. Louis, get em on, get em over, get em in.


2-0 would remain the score until the 6th.  Brandon Phillips was on first via walk, and Joey Votto was at the plate.  Joey Votto did what Joey Votto does.  He hit a home run, a 2-run jack, his 4th homer of the season, and the game was tied at 2.  For those of you who like to know how far it was hit, it was about 410 feet to center field.


So the Reds tied it up, but in the 7th, Albert Pujols untied it.  He hit a long, and I mean long, ball to left field, right over the Reds bullpen, 426 feet, and the Cardinals had a 3-2 lead.


After the 7th inning was completed, the game went into a rain delay, after 42 minutes of sitting, we were ready to play ball.  Miguel Bautista was the pitcher, the same guy that started last night.  In a blink of an eye, the bases were loaded for Jay Bruce and the count was full at 3 balls and 2 strikes.  Well, Jay was patient enough to watch ball 4, and bring in a run, the game was tied once again, 3-3.  The next batter, Miguel Cairo, had them loaded, and he delivered.  He hit one into left field, Votto and Gomes would score, it was a 2 RBI single for Miguel, and the Reds had a 5-3 lead.


Logan Ondrusek had a 1-2-3 8th inning, and then in the 9th, Francisco Cordero had a 1-2-3 inning, picking up save number 3.  Alroldis Chapman, who pitched in the 7th, gets the win and goes to 1-0 on the season.


The starter, Travis Wood got a no-decision, but pitched well, as he went 6.1 innings, gave up 3 runs, off of 8 hits, walked one, and had 5 strikeouts.  


The Reds are now 11-10 and tied for 1st place.  Tomorrow they will try and be in first place alone, as they battle St. Louis at 8:10 PM ET.  That game will be nationally televised on ESPN.  Nice to see the Redlegs on national television, even better when it's two nights in a row.

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.