4-12-2006 Reds and Cubs: Game 8

[redsfan30]

Sounds like the wind is blowing out heavily again today at Wrigley and it could be another offensive display. Brandon Claussen goes up against the future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. The game is being broadcast by WGN.

For the Reds:

1. Tony Womack 2B
2. Felipe Lopez SS
3. Ken Griffey, Jr. CF
4. Adam Dunn LF
5. Edwin Encarnacion 3B
6. Scott Hatteberg 1B
7. Austin Kearns RF
8. Javier Valentin C
9. Brandon Claussen P

For the Cubs:

1. Juan Pierre CF
2. Jerry Hairston, Jf. 2B
3. Derrek Lee 1B
4. Michael Barrett C
5. Angel Pagan RF
6. Matt Murton LF
7. Neifi Perez 3B
8. Ronny Cedeno SS
9. Greg Maddux P

[BRM]

USA Today has the typical lineup vs righties posted - Womack and Hatteberg at 2B and 1B.

[NJReds]

Cincinnati
T. Womack 2b
F. Lopez ss
K. Griffey Jr. cf
A. Dunn lf
E. Encarnacion 3b
S. Hatteberg 1b
A. Kearns rf
J. Valentin c
B. Claussen p

Chi Cubs
J. Pierre cf
J. Hairston Jr.
D. Lee 1b
M. Barrett c
A. Pagan rf
M. Murton lf
N. Perez 3b
R. Cedeno ss
G. Maddux p

[BRM]

For what it's worth, Womack does have a higher career .OBP against Maddux than Freel.

Womack - .293 OBP
Freel - .278 OBP

Freel has a higher SLG though.

Womack - .308, 1 double in 39 at-bats
Freel - .556, 2 doubles and a homer in 18 at-bats

[redsfan30]

Javier Valentin has hit Greg Maddux very well in his career. In 10 at-bats, Javy is hitting .600/.636/1.800 with 4 homers and 5 RBI.

Junior has had some success off Maddux too. He's hitting .450/.542/.800 with 2 homers and 4 RBI in 20 career at-bats.

[cumberlandreds]

If the Reds get into a slugging match with the Cubs today I like our chances. After Lee there doesn't seem to be a lot of power in that Cubs lineup.

[baron23]

Even though I would much rather see these games live on television, following the gametracker at the office makes the day go by so much faster. Especially now that ESPN has completely redesigned the gametracker to show pitches and animations of what happens on the field...

[Casey_21]

6. Hatteberg
7. Kearns

[registerthis]

Why Hatteberg hitting in front of Kearns?

[BRM]

It's that whole L-R-L-R thing.

[Red Leader]

I'm hoping Greg Maddux gets absolutely lit up today to the tune of at least 8 ER in less than 3IP.

[membengal]

Hard for me to complain about that at this point. Hatteberg is getting on base nicely, and Kearns is in a nice spot to do some damage with guys on base. Reds have to have one of the top line-ups through seven games, I yield to Narron at this point.

[BRM]

Hard for me to complain about that at this point. Hatteberg is getting on base nicely, and Kearns is in a nice spot to do some damage with guys on base. Reds have to have one of the top line-ups through seven games, I yield to Narron at this point.

He's simply not mucking with what has been a winning formula so far. He's got some straight platoons going with set lineups and he's not going to change it unless the Reds start losing or some guys really start to fade. That's my opinion of what's going on at least.

[smith288]

Gamecast is here

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/gamecast?gameId=260412116

[redsfan30]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.