The Lizard was filthy tonight

[Jr's Boy]

I just saw the highlights where he struck out seven in a row.His off speed stuff was nasty,mixed it up real good with the Fastball.Lets hope more quality starts from him down the stretch, he had the Astro's all off balance tonight.

[kheidg-]

Yeah, he has been consistant for the Reds all season long. Gives them a quality start most times out. Of course, he was lights out tonight. Most impressive, he is only 22 or 23 years old. I could see him being a fixture of the Reds rotation for years to come.

[Ravenlord]

or he was facing an aneimic offense...that said, he was mixing well, but i think it was mostly just the Astros lineup.

[EKURed]

or he was facing an aneimic offense...that said, he was mixing well, but i think it was mostly just the Astros lineup.

Maybe so, but it didn't look so anemic against Arroyo. Ramirez is pretty good.

[lollipopcurve]

he was mixing well, but i think it was mostly just the Astros lineup.

Did you see the strikeout streak? How about the 5th inning, where he struck out the side, culminating in the 16-pitch K of Biggio? Tremendous pitching -- far, far better than I think most would have thought him capable.

As time goes on, you can see that not all acquisitions made in the O'Brien era were losers. It takes time to fully evaluate -- in my view, Ramirez is shaping up as a solid mid-rotation guy. Not bad for 23 years old.

[BuckWoody]

Did you see the strikeout streak? How about the 5th inning, where he struck out the side, culminating in the 16-pitch K of Biggio? Tremendous pitching -- far, far better than I think most would have thought him capable.

As time goes on, you can see that not all acquisitions made in the O'Brien era were losers. It takes time to fully evaluate -- in my view, Ramirez is shaping up as a solid mid-rotation guy. Not bad for 23 years old.
I loved his reaction when he finally K'd Biggio. He's a pretty calm kid most of the time. It's good to see that unbridled emotion come out once in a while...as long as he doesn't turn into Jose Lima. ;)

[ChatterRed]

Yeah, the Astros offense is anemic. (cough)

They sure were anemic the night before coming back for the win.

Ramirez is a very pleasant surprise. To do what he is doing at age 22/23 is very impressive. And he has had many starts with no run support. Probably should be closer to .500 in record than he is.

[Heath]

I wish he had enough gas to go one more inning and save that bullpen a little more. After the 31st, the next off day isn't until 15 days later.

[RollyInRaleigh]

Ramirez is going through a huge learning process this season, and he really looks like he is starting to understand what it takes to be a big league pitcher. What a pleasant surprise. I think he has a chance to be a pretty good pitcher if he can keep growing and stay away from injury.

[traderumor]

Astros lineup or not, Ramirez was dealing. To minimize it with "weak hitting lineup" is really not fair.

[Ltlabner]

or he was facing an aneimic offense...that said, he was mixing well, but i think it was mostly just the Astros lineup.

So since BA wasn't able to deal with that "anemic" offsense does that mean you think Lizzard is a better pitcher since he dealt with it?

Why is the sucess of the Reds minimized so often here as "the other team giving it away to us"? Is it impossible for the Reds to do anything well unless the other team "lets" us?

[Dunner44]

That 16 pitch AB was straight nasty. It would have been freakishly easy to sit down and allow the walk or toss in a gimme and give up a hit, but he kept battling the whole time, and got him looking on the 16th freaking pitch. His command was good enough after 16 straight pitches to shove one in there to fool Biggio.

He was also pretty good the inning after, where he got through the inning on 5 pitches, which let him come out for one more inning of work... i thought that was just as big, IMO.

[RedsManRick]

Ramirez continually impresses me by his ability to avoid the big inning. Perhaps it's simply been luck to date and he'll get burned at some point. However, it seems like every game he hits a rough spot early on, gives up a run or two, and then locks in and starts dealing. He never seems to implode. He's given up either 3 or fewer runs in 11/15 starts. And even when he has a bad day, he doesn't completely lose it the way Milton, Claussen, or Mays do.

Earned Runs Allowed: Number of starts

0: 1
1: 1
2: 4
3: 5
4: 2
5+: 2

[jimbo]

Astros lineup or not, Ramirez was dealing. To minimize it with "weak hitting lineup" is really not fair.

I agree. The Astros may be at the bottom of the league in offense, but they are still major league hitters. To tear down EZ's performance because of the team he faced just seems unfair. That Biggio at-bat was just a masterpiece and demonstrates the type of poise this young pitcher has.

[Matt700wlw]

Mario Soto gets a lot of credit in my book.

[TOBTTReds]

Mini-Pedro

[VR]

He tied the Reds record for consecutive k's with 7 (w/ John Smiley)

AL record is 8
NL record is 10 (some Seaver dude)