October 4, 2009: Pirates at Reds, Game 162

[mbgrayson]

Per Mark Sheldon:
Lineup for game No. 162:
1. Stubbs 8
2. Janish 6
3. Votto 3
4. Phillips 4
5. Rolen 5
6. Bruce 9
7. Nix 7
8. Miller 2
9. Bailey 1

[Scrap Irony]

Like to see Bailey throw a gem here and end the season well. Nice to see the A lineup, for the most part.

[nate]

I love Ocrober baseball!

:cool:

[nate]

Even though it's Sunday and week 4 in the NFL, chat is open for the final game of the season.

Wall to wall

Floor to ceiling

Neighbor to neighbor

[mbgrayson]

Pirates 1st:

Lead off single to right by McCutchen. Bruce hustles to cut the ball off and hold McCutchen to first.
Andy LaRoche strikes out swinging at a curve ball.
Garrett Jones lines a single the other way to left on a full count.
Milledge flies to Stubbs in center.
Moss flies to Nix in deep left.

Bailey struggled a little in the first. Took 25 pitches to escape with no damage.

[mbgrayson]

Reds 1st:

Stubbs with a single thru the hole between 3sd and SS.
Janish sac bunts Stubbs over to 2nd. 1 out.
Votto walks on 4 pitches.
Phillips lines a double to the base of the right field wall, Stubbs scores.
Rolen pops out to short.
Bruce bounces out to first.

Reds up 1-0

[mbgrayson]

Pirates 2nd:

Young bounces out to Phillips.
Diaz bounces out to Janish.
Cruz strikes out on three pitches.

Nice 8 pitch inning for Bailey.

[WVRedsFan]

Poor John Fay barely said hello in his 2nd inning segment. 7 more innings like this please.

[mbgrayson]

Reds 2nd:

Nix strikes out swinging.
Corky pops out to 2nd on the 1st pitch.
Bailey strikes out swinging.

After two innings, Reds 1, Pirates 0.
Bailey at 33 pitches, 20 strikes.
Karsten at 36 pitches, 22 strikes.

[mbgrayson]

Pirates 3rd:

Karstens strikes out looking.
McCutchen walks on 4 pitches.
McCutchen steals 2nd on the 1st pitch.
LaRoche strikes out swinging.
Jones grounds out to Phillips.

Bailey's fastball is hitting 92-93 mph. Bailey up to 55 pitches after three innigs pitched.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Stubbs 2 for 2 now.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Good question by Marty. If we bunted Janish with 0 outs and Stubbs at first in the 1st inning, why not there? Flyout to right.

Single for Votto. 1st & 2nd for Brandon.

[WVRedsFan]

Janish is a black hole in the two spot. Surely, Dusty and Walt know this. What gives? No one else to bat there I guess. Another question is why he wasn't bunting now when he was in the first. Questions, questions.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Karstens is done. Awfully quick hook there.

[nate]

Yeah, that was weird taking Karstens out there.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Wild pitch advances both runners

[_Sir_Charles_]

Phillips grounds out, but Stubby scores. 97 Ribbies for Brandon.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Rolen flys out to McCutchen to end the inning. 2-0 Redlegs

[mbgrayson]

Reds 3rd:

Stubbs lines an off speed pitch into left for a single.
Janish pops out to shallow right.
Votto bloops a single to short left.

Oddly enough, Karstens is done after 44 pitches. New pitcher is another righthander, Steve Jackson.
Phillips nearly nails Mark Berry with a foul liner. Wild pitch by Jackson, both runners advance.
Phillips then bounces out to 3rd, with Stubbs scoring. Votto has to stay at 2nd.
Rolen flies out to center.

After three innings, Reds 2, Pirates 0.
Bailey at 55 pitches, 32 strikes.
Jackson (new) at 7 pitches, 5 strikes.

[_Sir_Charles_]

As shaky as Homer looked early, still no runs allowed, only 2 hits, 1 bb and 4 K's. Getting stronger as he goes. I've really liked that aspect of his pitching in the second half.

[mbgrayson]

Janish is a black hole in the two spot. Surely, Dusty and Walt know this. What gives? No one else to bat there I guess. Another question is why he wasn't bunting now when he was in the first. Questions, questions.

Janish is very good defensively. They showed that he leads all NL shortstops in fielding percentage. Not bad in the newer defensive metrics either.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Bob C in the booth. Paying respects to George Grande. Classy.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Milledge leads off with a single up the middle.

[WVRedsFan]

Janish is very good defensively. They showed that he leads all NL shortstops in fielding percentage. Not bad in the newer defensive metrics either.
No doubt and that makes him valuable--but not in the two hole.

George Grande not coming back next year. Wow.

[WVRedsFan]

Does George have a sick family or something? Castillini said he "had to take care of his family."

[_Sir_Charles_]

Uh-oh. Moss with a single. 2 on no outs.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Bunt to Bailey. 1 down. Both runners advance.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Nice play Homer. Grounder right back to him and he goes home for the out. 2 down. 1st & 3rd.

[mbgrayson]

Pirates 4th:

Milledge grounds a single up the middle.
Moss singles through the right side hole, two on, no outs.
Young bunts the runners over. Second and Third, one out.
Diaz bounces one in front of the plate, Homer grabs it and throws Milledge out at home. Two outs. Nice play.
Cruz flies to center. No runs score...

Commissioner Selig on the phone with the TV crew saying how much he will miss Grande.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Nice Houdini there from Homer. Flyout to Stubbs to escape unscathed. This kid is really showing some maturity here in the second half. I'm really looking forward to a whole season of him next year.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Dumatrait sighting.

Jay pops out to third.
Laynce grounds back to Phil.

[TheNext44]

Grande gets a call from Selig, visits from Marty, and Cast, then showered with gifts from the Reds, two jerseys, one signed by all the players, one by the crew. He truly is choked up by it. A real nice moment.

[_Sir_Charles_]

The Corkster draws the walk.

[mbgrayson]

Reds 4th:

Lefty Phil Dumatrait in.
Bruce pops out to LaRoche in foul territory.
Nix bounces out to first.
Corky walks.
Bailey strikes out swinging.

After 4 innings, Reds up 2-0.
Bailey at 67 pitches, 41 strikes.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Homer goes down swinging. 2-0 Redlegs.

[Raisor]

If the season is over, what the hell am I supposed to do tomorrow?

[_Sir_Charles_]

Steve Pearce hits a deep fly that hits the wall...triple. Just missed going out.

[_Sir_Charles_]

If the season is over, what the hell am I supposed to do tomorrow?

Prep-work for 2010 smart-*** comments? :O) j/k

[_Sir_Charles_]

McCutchen walks...close call there. Homer got squeezed a bit there. 1st & 3rd with 0 outs.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Tigers up 5-0 in the 6th
Twins up 4-0 in the 2nd

Currently tied.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Should've been a K looking right there.

[_Sir_Charles_]

It took a couple extra pitches, but strikes out swinging. 1 down.

[nate]

Nice K of LaRoche.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Pretty pitch. Jones strikes out looking. 2 down.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Homer paying a lot of attention to the runners. But after all the tosses over...he takes 2nd without a throw. McCutchen's got some nice wheels.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Yikes. That was about as close to a double as I care to see. Juuuuuuust foul.

[nate]

In indirect fashion, Homer strikes out the side.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Man, that was NICE. ANOTHER Houdini! K swinging. He clearly doesn't have his best stuff and he's still got a shutout and 7 K's.

[mbgrayson]

Pirates 5th:

Pearce pinch hitting, flies a 'triple' to left center. Stubbs and Nix both look at each other and neither catches the ball as it bounces off the wall between them.
McCutchen walks.
LaRoche strikes out swinging. (3rd K today for LaRoche).
Jones strikes out looking at a 92 mph fastball.
With Milledge batting, McCutchen steals second, no throw by Miller.
Milledge then strikes out swinging on a 93 mph fastball.

After four and a half innings, Reds 2, Pirates 0.
Bailey at 95 pitches, 57 strikes, with 7 Ks and 2 BBs.

[Raisor]

Reds won't make any annoucments tomorrow, so I guess I'll go see Zombieland.

[_Sir_Charles_]

The Pirates pitching merry-go-round continues. Donald Veal in.

[nate]

After four and a half innings, Reds 2, Pirates 0.
Bailey at 95 pitches, 57 strikes, with 7 Ks and 2 BBs.

I'm liking that line.

[Raisor]

The Pirates pitching merry-go-round continues. Donald Veal in.

Don't need to save anyone for the playoffs. I'd like to see Janish pitch again myself.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Stubbs k's looking at 3 straight strikes.

Veal comes right back and walks Janish on 5.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Don't need to save anyone for the playoffs. I'd like to see Janish pitch again myself.

LOL. Ummm...I'll pass. NO lead is safe with Paul on the bump. :O)

[_Sir_Charles_]

Oh my god. Janish with a steal! Stop the presses! :O)

[Raisor]

LOL. Ummm...I'll pass. NO lead is safe with Paul on the bump. :O)

makes for an exciting final game though.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Grounder to 2nd, goes off the glove and everybody's safe. 1st & 3rd for Phillips.

The quest for 100 continues.

[mth123]

Grounder to 2nd, goes off the glove and everybody's safe. 1st & 3rd for Phillips.

The quest for 100 continues.

If he hits a HR here he gets it.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Phillips going out with a bang. Double scores Janish. Votto to third. 3-0 Reds

[mth123]

Double scores Janish. 98 RBI for Bphil. Votto on 3B.

[nate]

Rolen with a BASES CLEARING 3-bagger!

[_Sir_Charles_]

Liner past McCutchen & Milledge. 5-0 Reds! A triple for Rolen. Wow, when was the last time Scott had a 3 bagger?

[_Sir_Charles_]

Single up the middle by the Jaybird! 6-0 Reds

[nate]

Bruce RBI single.

That was Rolen's first triple this year.

[Raisor]

Reds are playing like they want to play tomorrow.

Maybe they'll barnstorm over the winter.

[mbgrayson]

Reds 5th:

Lefty Donnie Veal in to pitch.
Stubbs strikes out looking on three pitches.
Janish walks.
With Votto batting, Janish steals second.
Votto bounces a single off the glove of second baseman Delwyn Young, Janish to third.
Phillips again goes the other way and doubles off the right field wall, Janish scores, Votto to third.
Rolen triples past a diving McCutchen to left-center, Votto and Phillips score.
Bruce bounces a single up the middle(off a lefty!), Rolen scores.
Nix pops out to center.
Corky grounds out to short on the first pitch.

After five innings, Reds 6, Pirates 0.

[mbgrayson]

Phillips in a drive to get 100 RBIs for the year, has been stuck at 95 for quite a while. Today, three RBIs. One for him each time up...Now at 98 RBIs....Still has a chance....

[mth123]

I hope this is Homer's last innng.

[nate]

YESSIRREE

[Raisor]

YESSIRREE

bob?

[_Sir_Charles_]

Okay, I missed something, who's in the booth with Marty doing PbP?

[TheNext44]

Reds are playing like they want to play tomorrow.

Maybe they'll barnstorm over the winter.

Dusty Baker and Traveling All-Stars! I'd go see them.

[mbgrayson]

Pirates 6th:

Bailey back out there, approaching 100 pitches.
Moss walks on 4 pitches.
Young lines a one hopper that almost handcuffs Phillips, but Brandon recovers, 4-6-3 double play.
Diaz bounces a single through the right side.
Cruz bounces a hard single off Scott Rolen's glove.
Neil Walker, pinch hitting, flies out to left on an off-speed pitch.

After 5 and a half, Reds 6, Pirates 0.

Bailey at 112 pitches, 67 strikes, 7 Ks, 7 hits, 3 BBs.

[Raisor]

Dusty Baker and Traveling All-Stars! I'd go see them.

only if Dusty plays.

[mth123]

Francisco hitting for Bailey. Homer ends up with an ERA 4.53. Not bad considering his awful beginnings.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Francisco with a leadoff PH walk.

[mth123]

Francisco walks. Take that naysayers.

[vaticanplum]

I just want to jump in here to point out that this game, the last game for six months, is NOT being broadcast in Pittsburgh. They pulled like the whole last week of games from the TV schedule. Friday and Saturday it was in favor of the Penguins, which is fair, but today they're showing, like, interviews with farm animals about the Steelers.

This is Pirateland.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Liner to right by Stubby. 3 for 4 for Drew today. Making a point that not only Brandon's going out with a bang.

1st & 2nd for Janish. Bautista pitching btw.

[nate]

Well, BP couldn't have a better opportunity to get his 100 RBI.

[_Sir_Charles_]

single from Votto. Bases jacked for...guess who? Phillips! :O)

Joey is quietly 3 for 3 with a walk. I've just come to expect it. *grin*

[nate]

nosirree

[_Sir_Charles_]

Ah, darn it. grounder to 2nd. DP. 6-0 reds heading to the 7th.

[mbgrayson]

Reds 6th:

Righty Denny Bautista in to pitch.
Juan Francisco, pinch hitting for Bailey, walks.
Stubbs lines a 92 mph fastball for a single the other way to right.
Janish pops to left.
Votto lines a single to right, bases loaded.
Phillips, with a chance to get #99 and #100, hits into a 6-3 Phillips.

After 6, Reds 6, Pirates 0.

[_Sir_Charles_]

McCutchen having a really nice last day. 2 for 2 with 2 walks and 2 SB's. This kid's got a great future in front of him.

Single off Burton.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Nice play by Rolen. I can't believe that they ALMOST turned that into a DP.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Tigers won 5-3.
Twinkies still up, 7-1 now.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Crummy luck there. 1-2 and Burton's breaking ball breaks sharper than he wanted. HBP off the foot.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Sheesh. Another near DP. 1st & 3rd with 2 down now.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Walk to load the bases.

Baker out. He's leaving Jared in though. He should be out of the inning already to be honest. He's gotten squeezed this inning too.

[nate]

That 2-2 pitch sure looked like strike 3 to me.

[_Sir_Charles_]

That 2-2 pitch sure looked like strike 3 to me.

I agree. There've quite a few today that didn't go our way. Homer had a bunch of them.

[mbgrayson]

Pirates 7th:

Jared Burton in to pitch.
McCutchen bounces a single in front of the plate that Burton can't handle bare-handed.
LaRoche two hops one over the third base bag and Rolen grabs it, to Phillips for one, nice turn but not in time at first.
Jones takes a 1-2 pitch off his shoe, HBP.
Milledge grounds to Votto who gets the force at second, not in time at first. First and third, two outs.
Moss walks, bases loaded. Dusty visits Burton, and leaves him in.
Young flies out to Stubbs.

After six and a half, Reds 6, Pirates 0.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Fly out to Stubbs. Man, how many runners have the Pirates stranded today. Sheesh.

~edit~ Just checked. 12 LOB for the Buccos.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Vasquez pitching. Let's see, Karstens went 2, then we've had a new pitcher every inning since then. Early spring-training tryouts for the Pirates?

[_Sir_Charles_]

Rosales PH'ing for Rolen.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Adam battled, but eventually whiffs.

Bruce up.

[_Sir_Charles_]

That's the first ball out of the zone I've seen Jay swing at in a week or so.

He ends up flying out to Milledge near the line.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Nix with a doyble! Had to stick a "y" in there someplace. :O)

Hanigan PH'ing for Miller.

[mbgrayson]

Reds 7th:

Righty Virgil Vasquez in to pitch.
Rosales, pinch hitting for Rolen, strikes out swinging.
Bruce flies out to left.
Nix doubles to the wall in right-center.
Hannigan, pinch hitting for Miller, strikes out swinging on three pitches.

After seven innings, Reds 6, Pirates 0.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Ramon Ramirez pitching. Rosie at third & Ryan behind the dish.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Vazquez pinch hitting for, ummm... well, for Vazquez. :O)

[_Sir_Charles_]

1 down, 2 on now after 2 singles.

[_Sir_Charles_]

YESSIRREE!

[nate]

Yessirree!

[mbgrayson]

Pirates 8th:

Ramon Ramirez in to pitch for the Reds, Rosales at third, Hannigan catching.
Diaz lines a single to left, just beyond Janish's diving reach.
Cruz flies to Stubbs in center-left.
Vasquez substitution: Ramon for Virgil, singles over Votto's glove into right. First and second, one out.
McCutchen bounces to Phillips, who tags Vasquez, and then gets McCutchen at first for a 4-3 double play. Nice.

Reds 6, Pirates 0 after seven and a half.

[WebScorpion]

Meanwhile, the Bungles extra point is blocked with 1:55 left in the game to leave them tied with the previously winless Browns.

Hey, do they have a decent farm system at least?? :(

[_Sir_Charles_]

Another inning, another Bucs pitcher. Eric Hacker facing PH'er Kevin Barker.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Barker K'd.

Stubbs, already 3 for 4, draws a walk.

Sutton PH'ing for Janish.

[_Sir_Charles_]

FC gets Stubbs at 2nd. Throw pulls off the 1B and Sutton's safe at first.

Votto up, going for the 4 for 4 (plus a walk) game.

[mbgrayson]

Reds 8th, likely their last AB of the year:

Righty Eric Hacker in to pitch for the Bucs.
Kevin Barker, pinch hitting for Ramirez, strikes out swinging at a low and outside breaking ball.
Stubbs works a full count, then walks.
Drew Sutton in to pinch hit for Janish, bounces back to Hacker, Stubbs forced at 2nd, bad throw to first, Sutton safe. Two outs.
Votto grounds out to 2nd. Three outs, leaving Phillips on deck with 98 RBIs.

Reds 6, Pirates 0 after 8.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Votto grounds out to end the inning.

Well, hang up the bats fellas. It's been a fun season. But just for fun, let's flash the leather for 3 more outs. :beerme:

[_Sir_Charles_]

Reds turn to their closer. Carlos Fisher. :O) Sutton stays in at short. Barker at 1st.

[WebScorpion]

Stubbs, Votto, and Phillips put a stong offensive finish on their seasons...Bruce kinda looked like he was ready to go home.

:beerme:

[_Sir_Charles_]

Flashing the leather #1. Check.

Nice play by Rosales

[nate]

Rosales with a nice diving catch and a rail gun throw to get the out.

[BCubb2003]

I wonder if Rosales should try to become a pitcher?

[_Sir_Charles_]

Shallow pop out to left, Sutton ranges out to snag it.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Last out of the season. EVERYBODY UP!!!

[_Sir_Charles_]

0-2!

[_Sir_Charles_]

And this one belongs to the Reds!

[nate]

Reds win!

Reds win.

[mbgrayson]

Pirates 9th:

Carlos Fisher in to pitch.
LaRoche lines a one hopper which Rosales dives to his left and gets, throw to first, one out.
Jones pops out Sutton in short center, two outs.
Milledge flies out to Bruce in right.

And this one belongs to the Reds, 6 to 0 over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Reds end up 78-84.

Good luck George Grande! Good luck Hal McCoy!

[WebScorpion]

...and this one belongs to the REDS!!!

Nice exclamation point ending to the season. A shutout and Bailey finishes the season 8-5.

It's going to be a looooong winter, but at least the team is young and not a bunch of retreads. HOPE! :D

[_Sir_Charles_]

It's been a fun ride with lots of positives to look forward to in 2010. We've gotten all the bad luck injuries out of the way hopefully. Let's hope the guys build on the way we finished the season, 27-13 over the final 40 games by the way. As usual, there's always next year, but this is always one of the saddest days of the year for me.

[CTA513]

Another sunday with a Reds and Bengals win.

:beerme:

[nate]

One last smiling scoreboard for George!

[Tony Cloninger]

Phillips had like what....10 runners out there to drive in today. He almost homered in the first and that was the difference in not getting that 100 RBI.

Good way to finish.......Bengals gave me the Red Foxx special though.

[TeamBoone]

I know a lot of you didn't like George, but I always did and will miss him big time. Live long and prosper, George!

[nate]

I know a lot of you didn't like George, but I always did and will miss him big time. Live long and prosper, George!

Yeah, I thought the Reds sendoffs for him and Hal McCoy were classy.

[WVRedsFan]

The doldrums of June and July sunk the Reds this year. They actually started out well, stayed within the hope of contention, and then fell apart. Many will say it was because of the injuries, but the flawed roster and lineup became the main culprit as we saw as the middle of August approached. Hope for next year? Yes.

The sendoff of George Grande was touching. The guy appeared to be the most beloved of the Reds broadcasters. Same with Hal McCoy. Both caught flak on these boards, but their peers loved them, and that's the measure of a man. As I said in another thread, winning would have tempered that somewhat, but both are good guys and I wish them well. They asked George if he'd come back to help if needed and he said yes. We've probably not heard the last of George on FSO.

Same with Hal McCoy. It would be hard to believe he won't be around in some capacity, even if he is on the downside of 60.

And so the saddest day of the year has come and it's time to start the countdown to spring training. I can't wait because we're in first place so far.

[SirFelixCat]

So utterly angry right now...



Set this up to record, verified that it was recording on my DVR and when I go to watch it play...nothing but 6 hours of a black screen.


So pissed right now :angry:

[_Sir_Charles_]

Depressing stat of the day


–Joey Votto had three hits to finish the season at .323. He’s the first Red to over .300 since Sean Casey and Ken Griffey Jr. did in 2005.

Obviously Fay once you notice a typo. :O) 3 years and NOBODY topped .300? Just sad. But brighter days are on the horizon.

[NJReds]

Well, that's a wrap. But it was nice to get some W's down the stretch and see the following:
- Improvement from Bailey
- Some positive signs from Bruce
- Votto being Votto
- Nice bounceback from Cueto, who hopefully will avoid winter ball and rest his arm this winter
- Stubbs making the most of his callup

[HeatherC1212]

I had a GREAT time at the game yesterday although I didn't win any free stuff, LOL :p: Joey had a great day and I loved that he looked like he was having fun. I worry about him sometimes as the resident Joey Votto fangirl but he was just playing hard like always and having a blast. All the guys actually looked like they were having fun yesterday which was pretty cool. :) I actually went to all three games this weekend and aside from the offense being asleep on Friday night, everyone still looked pretty strong and ready to play more games. I have a lot more thoughts about this weekend's games and the Reds in general but I went to bed last night (and woke up this morning) with a sore throat so my thoughts and a few great pictures I got at the games will have to wait until I feel a little better. I'm struggling through work today so hopefully I survive the day without feeling any worse. :(

This game was a GREAT way to end the season though and I have to tell you something else. The crowd yesterday (all 20,000+) was on their feet cheering and going bonkers for that last out yesterday and if the Reds can play well and put themselves in a good spot for next year, the crowds WILL be there and they will be awesome. The games I've been to with small crowds this year have been some of the most enthusiastic fans I've ever seen at GABP. Can you imagine how rowdy we'll all be if we're cheering for a contender next year?! That would be awesome. GO REDS. :jump:

[cumberlandreds]

As usual, there's always next year, but this is always one of the saddest days of the year for me.

Same for me. Always one of the saddest days of the year. It's a mark on the passage of time. When you have 46 years passed, like myself, you know that the majority of those years for you have gone by. Time does fly by and next spring will be here in a blink of an eye.

By any chance did anyone record the entire game? I would like to have a copy since it was Grande's last game. Just PM me if you do and I will reimburse any expenses.