Cubs vs. Reds - Wednesday 9/14/2011

[texasdave]

Line 'em up:

Brandon Phillips 4
Edgar Renteria 6
Joey Votto 3
Jay Bruce 9
Chris Heisey 7
Juan Francisco 5
Drew Stubbs 8
Ramon Hernandez 2
Johnny Cueto 1

A couple of notes of interest from Fayblog:

Reds officially eliminated from the Central Division Crown last night. The dream of back-to-back and the fantasy of wire-to-wire die hard. Reds put up a good fight defending their title. Okay, not really.

You can tell Fay went to Elder. It's moved up, not pushed back.

The Reds are trying to get Opening Day pushed back from Friday, April 6, to Thursday, April 5, to avoid the Good Friday conflict.

Go figure. You get in shape and you might just play better. What a novel concept. Too bad Austin Kearns and Adam Dunn were never told about that approach.

“Jonny did get better. Jonny got a whole lot better,” Dusty Baker said. “When Jonny got here, he was predominantly a DH. Jonny lost weight. Jonny got more mobile and he became a pretty good outfielder. That’s the same thing we’ve discussed with Alonso.

Looks as if Yonder is gonna be the Reds starting left fielder next season.That might be a tad premature but things are pointing that way.

The Reds are hoping for a slimmer, trimmer, faster Yonder Alonso in 2012.
“That’s the plan right now,” Alonso said. “It’s going to be an offseason where I’m going to do a lot of things differently. I hired a chef. That’s going to help me out.”
“I’m going to get faster. My offseason workout regiment is going to be very different. A lot more running. It’s going to be a left fielder-type attitude coming into the offseason. I’m very excited. We’ll go from there.”

[Stray]

You know, I don't know if it'll work. From what we have in house Alonso is who I want to start LF though. The one promising thing from him, at least from what I've read/heard, is that he seems excited to put in the work to do whatever it takes to play everyday up here.

[texasdave]

You know, I don't know if it'll work. From what we have in house Alonso is who I want to start LF though. The one promising thing from him, at least from what I've read/heard, is that he seems excited to put in the work to do whatever it takes to play everyday up here.

He certainly says all the right things. Gomes did seem to play the outfield better though. So, who knows.

[texasdave]

Castro with a leadoff single. He can play a little.

[texasdave]

Reed Johnson bounces into a double play 5-4-3. Aramis Ramirez bounces a single up the middle. Pena lifts a major league can of corn to Stubbs in center. Cubbies retired in the first.

[texasdave]

Casey Coleman, the Cubs starter, is 2-7 with a 6.65 ERA. His very unorthodox delivery doesn't seem to be helping. Reds can't lose to this guy, can they?

Phillips Ks.
Renteria shows that he wants to be back, singling with one out.
Votto sends Soriano to the warning track. ER scampers back to first.
Bruce flies to shallow center.

One inning in the books. No score.

[texasdave]

Soriano flies to left. Byrd singles. Barney strikes out and Byrd is hung out to dry on a hit-and-run. Cubs second is history.

[texasdave]

Heisey flies deep to center on the first pitch. One out.

[texasdave]

Juan Francisco doubles to left as Soriano gives a pathetic effort. I guess all those millions in his pocket were slowing him down. Stubbs come back from an 0-2 precipice to work a walk. First and second, one down.

[texasdave]

Razor!!! 3 zip Reds.

[Stray]

Homerun? Figures it would happen right when a storm knocked out my satellite haha.

[texasdave]

Razor touched them all.

[texasdave]

They had to rock this guy. Coleman had a 6.65 ERA coming in. Phillips strikes out for the second time. 3-0 after two.

[texasdave]

Soto fans. Coleman bounces to Votto. Castro to the plate. Castro walks. Reed Johnson's jersey is hit by a pitch. Cueto's 10th HBP on the season because he is not afraid to pitch inside. Ramirez pops the first pitch up. Chicago gone.

[texasdave]

Edgar grabs some bench.