mace
07-10-2011, 06:28 PM
Obviously, Coco's third straight blown save, and Dusty's decision to stick with him, are the main talking points of this latest loss. But I believe there was another unfortunate play that may have contributed just as much.
Did you notice, when Bruce hit the ball off the right-field wall leading off the third, that he stood in the box and watched for a while? And then took off in kind of a brisk jog? He stayed in the jog well past first base, then kicked it in only when Hart missed the ball and it bounced toward the right-field line. Carlos Gomez, however, was hustling all the way, ran down the ball and made a nice throw to Weeks, who gunned out Bruce at third. One team played the game right, the other didn't, and we saw the results.
It seems to me that the Reds are too often guilty of that sort of thing. I generally love the way Bruce plays the game, but this time he screwed up. I also love the way Votto plays the game, but multiple times I've noticed him not running out of the box while he watches to see if the ball will land fair. That's simply not right. And they're getting away with it. And losing one-run games.
Chris Welsh pointed out that some of the Reds were watching Derek Jeter clips before the game, and the thing that stood out was the fact that Jeter never failed to sprint out of the box, or to keep sprinting until the ball landed in the seats. Obviously, the Reds didn't get the message.
Did you notice, when Bruce hit the ball off the right-field wall leading off the third, that he stood in the box and watched for a while? And then took off in kind of a brisk jog? He stayed in the jog well past first base, then kicked it in only when Hart missed the ball and it bounced toward the right-field line. Carlos Gomez, however, was hustling all the way, ran down the ball and made a nice throw to Weeks, who gunned out Bruce at third. One team played the game right, the other didn't, and we saw the results.
It seems to me that the Reds are too often guilty of that sort of thing. I generally love the way Bruce plays the game, but this time he screwed up. I also love the way Votto plays the game, but multiple times I've noticed him not running out of the box while he watches to see if the ball will land fair. That's simply not right. And they're getting away with it. And losing one-run games.
Chris Welsh pointed out that some of the Reds were watching Derek Jeter clips before the game, and the thing that stood out was the fact that Jeter never failed to sprint out of the box, or to keep sprinting until the ball landed in the seats. Obviously, the Reds didn't get the message.