Bottom of the 9th, man on 1st, Pujols up, Rolen on deck, what's the move, meat?

[WMR]

Walk the guy. Rolen is good, but at least Tackleberry has a shot. Any strike to Pujols ends up in the stands.

[KronoRed]

Considering what had happened in the game before that, I walk him and let someone else win it for them.

[reds44]

pitch to him

[TeamBoone]

It was a no brainer... and apparently JN didn't know that.

The guy had already hit two homeruns for Pete's sake. So in the bottom of the 9th with a runner on and up only one run, Narron decides to pitch to him. My God! It doesn't get much stupider than that!

Nothing like just handing this game to the Cards on a silver platter. I blame no one but Narron for this one. The offense worked their butts off in this game and IMHO, Narron blew it.

[SteelSD]

You pitch to Pujols and don't pump him a meatball when ahead in the count. You have to. Folks, the guy hitting behind Pujols is named Scott Rolen and Scott Rolen can tie it up more easily with a runner on 2B than can Pujols with a runner on 1B. At minimum, if Rolen manages to advance Marquis to 3B with one Out, you've set yourself up for a suicide squeeze or the opportunity for a Sac Fly, Error, WP, or Passed Ball to tie it up. And all because you just chose to put the tying Run at 2B with none out.

What you don't do is pitch to Pujols earlier in the game with a base open. If the Reds had played those other PA smartly, this thread wouldn't exist.

[Red in Chicago]

i would have pitched to him...the inexcusable part of the inning to me, was letting marquis get on in front of albert in the first place...i really don't understand the "need" for weathers to have been brought in to close it out in the ninth...he's not dennis eckersley...

[Newport Red]

In hindsight, I walk him.

[savafan]

i would have pitched to him...the inexcusable part of the inning to me, was letting marquis get on in front of albert in the first place...i really don't understand the "need" for weathers to have been brought in to close it out in the ninth...he's not dennis eckersley...

I agree. Can Coffey not go two innings? In my opinion, the role of the closer is way overrated in baseball these days. I'm still relatively young, but I can still remember the days of closers going two and three innings.

[kyred14]

I was thinking about Pujols after the Reds took the lead in the 8th. I knew if the Reds didn't score again and Pujols got to the the plate, the Cards win if you pitched to him. They did and they did.

The way I see it:

Pujols: Sure HR
Rolen: Maybe something better

[savafan]

The big problem is the way the Reds pitch him. Who wrote the Reds' scouting report on Albert Pujols, Helen Keller? Why pitch him up and out over the plate? That's suicide. Pound him low and inside pitch after pitch. If he walks, fine, but make him hit your pitch.

[WMR]

The big problem is the way the Reds pitch him. Who wrote the Reds' scouting report on Albert Pujols, Helen Keller? Why pitch him up and out over the plate? That's suicide. Pound him low and inside pitch after pitch. If he walks, fine, but make him hit your pitch.

Stevie Wonder?

[lollipopcurve]

You have to pitch to him. No way do you go first and second, no outs, with Rolen coming up.

Weathers had him 1-2, and all he had to do, with multiple chances, was execute with his best pitch, a slider, down and away.

[2001MUgrad]

You can second guess the move now. But, its against every concept in baseball to intentionally put the tieing run in scoring position and the winning run on base(although there are cases for putting a guy on 1st if its open). But the other times he hit a HR is what bugs me about not walking him. He'll end up hitting .350 this season because he'll face the Reds 16 more times and so far I've not been impressed with some of the philosophies used this year.

[Strikes Out Looking]

Brush him back--even if he isn't on top of the plate. Make him pay for the previous homers.

[MWM]

No brainer, pitch to him. He still makes an out almost 60% of the time.