8/18 Game Deux - Reds at Cubs

[KittyDuran]

I believe it was either Brantley or Welsh on the radio who said it was basically two players carrying this team offensively right now: Ludwick and Frazier. After that it's a crap shoot with some players getting lucky with hitting so from a causal glance it looks like a team effort. Right now BP is struggling and Bruce seems to have his mind elsewhere.

[traderumor]

Originally Posted by CrackerJack

It's all pitching and defense with them, slim margin for error with pitching and I'd like to see where they stand in terms of scoring in the first 5 innings versus other winning teams. It almost seems like a psychological block this team has due to the fact they aren't ever expected to score a lot of runs, just about every time out.

Tonight was a good example - lay it on late when the pressure's on, have a couple of weak links that don't come through, and 8 runs are just too much when you can't push a couple more over the plate in the first 5 innings - it's like they just coast along with their starters until it counts. I really think there's something to that with them.

I think it has to do with the other team's starter. Granted, sometimes its a scrub, but I don't think its a realistic expectation to think that any lineup goes out night after night and scores 4-6 runs off a starter. More like 2-3. That's why they're doing better, they can match up against the rest of the league's rotation night after night.