Game Thread - 8-25: I bet Jr. homers in his 1st AB

[Razor Shines]

R Freel RF
S Hatteberg 1B
K Griffey Jr CF
E Encarnacion 3B
A Dunn LF
R Aurilia SS
B Phillips 2B
LaRue C
Harang P

[Razor Shines]

Bot. 1st 1-0 Reds

1 down FO to left.

[GOREDSGO32]

Merge my thread into this one someone ... since you beat me by a minute.

[Razor Shines]

Single for Vizquel. I knew as soon as I made one there would be another.

[OesterPoster]

Everyone hit Morris pretty hard that first inning. Hopefully a sign of more good ABs later on.

[Razor Shines]

Vizquel steals 2nd, kind of.

[Razor Shines]

single. 1st and 2nd.

[OesterPoster]

How was that not an out?

[Razor Shines]

Bonds singles to center. 1-1.

[Razor Shines]

How was that not an out?
I went to the kitchen and missed it.

[Razor Shines]

Line out to short. 2 down

[OesterPoster]

Harang did give up a run, but it sure looks like he has good stuff tonight. His fastball was hitting 93-94, and his slider looks active.

If I just jinxed him, you can beat me up. :)

[Razor Shines]

PO to Harang. Inning over.

[Razor Shines]

Harang did give up a run, but it sure looks like he has good stuff tonight. His fastball was hitting 93-94, and his slider looks active.

If I just jinxed him, you can beat me up. :)
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Bonds is the only one who hit the ball somewhat solidly.

[Razor Shines]

Dunn Ks. 1 out.

[Razor Shines]

Wow, nice catch by Omar. 2 down.

[Razor Shines]

Phillips lines out to rf. 3 out.

[Razor Shines]

"Oh Fudgems"

[Razor Shines]

FO to Dunn.

[Razor Shines]

Single to Center.

[Razor Shines]

Morris pops the bunt to Larue. 2 down.

[Razor Shines]

Bouncing single to left for Winn. Already 5 hits for the Giants.

[Razor Shines]

Omar grounds to BP. Inning over.

[Razor Shines]

Nice effort by Feliz, Larue with an infield single.

[GOREDSGO32]

Wow, you can hear Marty in the background it sounds like he was coaching Steve Stewart's call on that basehit.

[Razor Shines]

Harang K's on the foul bunt.

[OesterPoster]

Harang returns the favor. Strikeout attempting to bunt. Argh!

[GOREDSGO32]

2nd and 3rd one out! Yeahh

[Razor Shines]

Double down the LF line for Freel. 2nd and 3rd.

[Razor Shines]

Hatte PO to short right. Could have used a hit there.

[OesterPoster]

Come on Griff. Need a big 2-out hit here.

[GOREDSGO32]

Blown opportunities ... typical Reds LOB inning.

[Razor Shines]

Jr. grounds to second. 3 down. Hate to waste a hit by LaRue.

[Razor Shines]

Hillenbrand homers to left. Not a good pitch.

[GOREDSGO32]

HR Giants up 2-1. How things turn. I wish we could have comfortable 15-0 games more often.

[Razor Shines]

Wow maybe EE can play short. Nice pick. 1 down.

[Razor Shines]

PO to Rich. 2 down

[Razor Shines]

FO to Dunn. inning over.

[Razor Shines]

EE doubles to left.

[OesterPoster]

Nice hit by EE. Now let's not waste a leadoff double.

[Razor Shines]

Dunn K's. 1 out.

[Razor Shines]

RA out 2 down.

[OesterPoster]

Another runner left in scoring position.

:bang:

[Razor Shines]

Feliz with a single.

[Razor Shines]

FO to Dunn. 1 out.

[Razor Shines]

Morris sacrafices Feliz to 2nd. 2 out.

[Razor Shines]

Winn flies to Jr. Inning over.

[Razor Shines]

Larue flies to Winn. 1 out.

[Razor Shines]

Vizquel k's 1 out.

[Razor Shines]

Nice play by Hatte, 2 down.

[Razor Shines]

FO to CF for Bonds. Inning over. Still 2-1 Giants. We really need to make Morris work this inning, and either knock him out now or make this his last inning. So many of our guys don't hit him well.

[Razor Shines]

Hatte grounds to 2nd. 1 out.

[Razor Shines]

Jr. grounds to Morris. Not making him work very hard.

[Razor Shines]

EE grounds the 2nd pitch to 3rd. I think he threw 6-7 pitches that inning. Not too good.

[Razor Shines]

Infield single for Finley.

[Razor Shines]

GO to EE, Finely to 2nd. 2 down.

[Razor Shines]

IBB to Alfonzo.

[jesusfan]

Harang up over 100 pitches now... Hopefully we get to Harang's spot next inning and Narron is forced to make a decision...

[jesusfan]

Morris grounds to RA... Dunn-Rich-BP due up! Run's please!

[Razor Shines]

Morris GO to Rich, inning over.

[jesusfan]

I wish Dunn would get ahold of one right here!!

[Razor Shines]

Dunn grounds to Short.

[Razor Shines]

RA grounds to 3rd. 2 down.

[jesusfan]

Matt Morris is owning us right now... Hopefully we play the role of "cardiac kids" again...

[Razor Shines]

And BP grounds to 3rd.

[Razor Shines]

Yeah I don't know what his pitch count is, but it can't be very high.

[jesusfan]

78 pitches... pitiful!

[jesusfan]

Harang back out there...

[jesusfan]

Winn pops to Hatte... 1 down

[Razor Shines]

Winn pops to Hatte, 1 down.

[RedsFanatic]

Is anyone else severly irritated by this game? Morris is absolutely owning us. He is not this good.

[jesusfan]

single by Vizquel...

[jesusfan]

SB easy for Omar...

[Razor Shines]

Just go ahead and do it my lord. I'm watching too much of The Big Lebowski on another channel.

[Razor Shines]

I gotta say I think he was safe too.

[jesusfan]

well here we go!

[Razor Shines]

Oh I can't believe he's leaving Harang out there.

[jesusfan]

5-4-3 dp

[Razor Shines]

Huge DP there. Nice turn.

[BigREDSfaninKY]

For a guy a with a bad knee, Bonds got down the line pretty quick. Closer than I thought it would be.

[jesusfan]

LaRue's out and he's mad... I just seen him walk down into the tunnel!!

[GOREDSGO32]

Hollandsworth K's for ninth time in 20 plate appearances.

[Razor Shines]

Larue could have watched a third strike.

[BigREDSfaninKY]

Harang's inability to lay that bunt down earlier is looming larger and larger as each out is made.

[jesusfan]

This is the worst offensive performance I have seen all season... Hands down, after Griffey's homer nothing has happened!

[Razor Shines]

As good a job as we did against Pettite the other night of making him work even though he was on his game, we're doing the opposite tonight. Morris is on but we're not fouling off pitches and working the count.

[jesusfan]

88 pitches through 8 innings... Hopefully we see Benitez for the 9th... I seriously doubt it though....

[jesusfan]

Franklin in once again... Maybe a good luck charm, everytime he comes in we find a way to get him the win...

[jesusfan]

Durham grounds to 2nd.. 1 down

[BigREDSfaninKY]

88 pitches through 8 innings... Hopefully we see Benitez for the 9th... I seriously doubt it though....


Out of those 88 pitches, 64 are for strikes. Impressive.

[jesusfan]

Franklin walks Finley...

[Razor Shines]

Benitez throwing

[Razor Shines]

Phillips has got to stop that ball, no matter what.

[Razor Shines]

Big K by Franklin.

[jesusfan]

Now walk this guy, force Felipe to make a move!

[GOREDSGO32]

Game over boys. Back in 2nd, lose a game in the WC. We give up a freaking 2 run hit to a freaking pitcher. What a friggin joke.

[Razor Shines]

Well maybe that running will wear him out some.

[jesusfan]

I don't know what to think anymore...

[Billy_Bearcat]

Chris Welsh said it best..."You walked the number eight hitter for a reason....and it wasn't to throw a first pitch cookie to the pitcher."

[Razor Shines]

We've got the right part of the order up.

[Razor Shines]

I'd love to see a walk here.

[jesusfan]

Hatte grounds to 1st... batting .260 this month...

[corycrozier]

Wow, it was nice being in first place for 24 hours! This game sucks!

[Razor Shines]

2 down.

[jesusfan]

Yeah... we sure play well when the pressure is on dont we!

[Razor Shines]

EE pops out to end the game.

[GOREDSGO32]

Wow this game was just complete junk. Now is about the worst time to start losing games because teams behind us, like SD and Philly are playing some pretty hot baseball. If we even play mediocre baseball like this, the rest of this roadtrip, you can forget the playoffs with the way the phillies and padres are playing.

[MississippiRed]

Game over boys. Back in 2nd, lose a game in the WC. We give up a freaking 2 run hit to a freaking pitcher. What a friggin joke.

I really wish we could hear what Hume said to Franklin when he made his mound visit. Do you think it was something like this? "Just lay one in there on the first pitch and get ahead. He won't be expecting it." Or maybe it was, "He's had a lot of trouble in the past with mediocre fastballs down the middle." Or it could have been, "Let's let them get some more runs this inning so we don't risk an extra inning game with a day game tomorrow."

I am so frustrated that every time we get a smell of first place, we seem to forget how to hit (or sacrifice). Harang, without his best stuff, gives us a great chance to win and keep a share of the NL Central lead. :bang:

[Razor Shines]

Wow this game was just complete junk. Now is about the worst time to start losing games because teams behind us, like SD and Philly are playing some pretty hot baseball. If we even play mediocre baseball like this, the rest of this roadtrip, you can forget the playoffs with the way the phillies and padres are playing.
We've still won 5-7. Do you think we're going to win the rest of the games this season? Yeah it was a frustrating loss, but the season's not quite over. But you and I have been through this before.......so oh well.

[RedsFanatic]

How do you only get 3 hits off of Morris? I know Morris had it working, his hook was good. But MM is a mediocre pitcher. The top of the order hit rockets off of MM in the first inning but everything after that was weak.

[GOREDSGO32]

We've still won 5-7. Do you think we're going to win the rest of the games this season? Yeah it was a frustrating loss, but the season's not quite over. But you and I have been through this before.......so oh well.

I didn't say the season was over, the point is as decent as we are playing, the Phillies and San Diego are sure not letting up. And losing the series to the Cards, and with a golden opportunity with 7 against the Cards and going 3-4 just made it much harder. When you don't take advantage of opportunities, 5 of 7 itself isn't even good enough to get breathing room.

You can't lose on just stupid stuff like this. The lack of offense's ability to drive in RISP (broken record) is just ridiculous. And giving up two runs from a friggin pitcher is absolutely crazy. I just don't get this team .. we have a decent team with offensive runs per game, but the differential is crazy. I think I saw a display that said in losses we average around 2 runs per game, and in wins we average about 7. It's either sink or swim with this team offensively. And to beat a dead horse, if you know who were still here maybe we would have a little more flexiblity offensively than we do now.

[TeamBoone]

Wow this game was just complete junk. Now is about the worst time to start losing games because teams behind us, like SD and Philly are playing some pretty hot baseball. If we even play mediocre baseball like this, the rest of this roadtrip, you can forget the playoffs with the way the phillies and padres are playing.

Oh for Pete's sake... just stop it!

They are NOT, I repeat, NOT going to win every game from now until the end of the season. Morris was lights out... and Harang kept them down to two runs until the BP came in.

It is not the end of the world (or the season).


the Phillies and San Diego are sure not letting up.

They'll probably lose some along the way too.

[GOREDSGO32]

Once again, I say I NEVER SAID IT WAS THE END OF THE SEASON at the start of every freaking one of my posts, but yet I'll get the same old 'stop saying its the end of the season' posts. Seriously, how dense are you?

Point being, when you have teams that are playing hot behind you, you have to play hot just to stay that much above them. And if you wanna put some distance there, you have to play even hotter.

[Razor Shines]

Once again, I say I NEVER SAID IT WAS THE END OF THE SEASON at the start of every freaking one of my posts, but yet I'll get the same old 'stop saying its the end of the season' posts. Seriously, how dense are you?

Point being, when you have teams that are playing hot behind you, you have to paly hot just to stay that much above them. And if you wanna put some distance there, you have to play even hotter.
They are hot right now. And you brought up the RISP, well I do know before tonights game in their last 7 games, they were hitting something like .460. You're going to get shut down by a pitcher on top of his game every now and then. And no matter what you think of Morris, he pitched like a top notch pitcher tonight.

And you said if we play like this "you can forget the playoffs". I think if we win 5 out of 7 the rest of the season we'll easily be in the playoffs. But then again I'm "dense".

Edit: And this was my 666th post so now the season probably really is over. Great.

[GOREDSGO32]

Grrr .. whatever, I'm sick of arguing with you. Playing like this mean's todays game, I guess you don't get that. And any given team can have a 5 of 7 streak during the year, but obviously if the Reds had a 5 of 7 winning precentage this entire year we'dd be in the playoffs now easily.

[Razor Shines]

Grrr .. whatever, I'm sick of arguing with you. Playing like this mean's todays game, I guess you don't get that. And any given team can have a 5 of 7 streak during the year, but obviously if the Reds had a 5 of 7 winning precentage this entire year we'dd be in the playoffs now easily.
I guess I don't get that. I'm sorry I didn't realize you would say "you can forget the playoffs" because of one game. A game in which they got beat by a good pitcher who pitched a great game. I'll bet that as far as stuff that's the best Morris has pitched all year.

[Always Red]

How do you only get 3 hits off of Morris? I know Morris had it working, his hook was good. But MM is a mediocre pitcher. The top of the order hit rockets off of MM in the first inning but everything after that was weak.
Matt Morris has been a very good pitcher for a number of years. He has been mediocre this year, as you say. But even average pitchers have games where they just pitch lights out.

Last night Morris pitched a great game, against a team that has been swinging the lumber well lately. Like almost all pitchers who are pitching well, your best shot to get them is early; we did but only one run. Morris adjusted, and pitched a great game- as a fan of pitching, I enjoyed watching it, but not of course, watching the Reds lose.:cry:

Tip your hat and go on and keep winning or splitting series. It's only one game, and not a devastating loss, such as a game you thought you had sewn up and the bullpen loses it by giving up 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th, for example.