Badin vs. Versailles
Law Enforcement Memorial Day
American Idol 2012 finale
Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > May > 03
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Reds pitching: a march of zeroes
Yank the chain and turn out the lights kind of pitching is, as Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker likes to say, “a beautiful thing.”
When the other team can’t score, it takes all the pressure off the anemic offense that takes the field for the Reds.
So that’s what the pitching staff is providing.
For the third time in four games, the Reds pitching staff came up with a shutout, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-0, Sunday. Johnny Cueto went eight innings and gave up no runs and four hits. Arthur Rhodes pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.
On Friday, Bronson Arroyo pitched eight scoreless innings against the Pirates, giving up four hits. Coco Cordero gave up a leadoff hit in the ninth, then went 1-2-3.
On Wednesday, Edinson Volquez pitched eight scoreless innings against the Houston Astros, giving up one hit, then Cordero pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.
Indeed, what a beautiful thing. Of course, the Pirates have been shut out in three of their last four games and have scored in only four of their last 40 innings.
For Cueto, is was his third straight sensational outing, pitching far and above the experience of a 23-year-old who understands and speaks English but refuses to do interviews in English. He uses catcher Ramon Hernandez to interpret.
He is afraid he’ll make a faux pas. But if he concentrates on his English the way he has concentrated on the mound he should be able to teach an English Lit class by Friday.
It was Cueto’s third straight above-and-beyond start since an embarrassment in Houston April 17.
With two outs and nobody on in the fifth inning of a scoreless game, Cueto walked pitcher Roy Oswalt. Then he gave up another walk and an infield single to fill the bases. When he walked Lance Berkman, forcing in a run, Baker removed him.
Asked if that was a message and if Cueto learned from it, Baker said, “That’s not what we’re trying to do, but if he learned a lesson from it then so be it. That wasn’t the reason.”
Cueto was asked about that incident and said, “It made me want to work harder and have better starts. I wanted to go deeper into games and I’ve worked harder to do that.”
After Houston, Cueto pitched seven in Chicago, giving up no runs and four hits in a victory. Then he faced Houston at home and gave up one run and seven hits in seven innings, getting no decision.
Then came Sunday.
“I wanted to pitch the ninth, too, but they said, ‘No, too many pitches,’” said Cueto after throwing 110.
Said Baker, “He wanted to go back out there but we thought that was enough, especially when we need him sharp for his next start, which will be the St. Louis Cardinals.”
Baker was more than upbeat by what her saw from Cueto.
“Great job by Johnny,” he said. “He was locating the fastball and he had a good tempo. Whenever he got behind he’d back off and concentrate harder and relax and throw strikes.
“He walked one and had a number of three-ball counts where he would come back and throw strikes — a matter of concentration and desire right there. He is pitching great, boy.”
Jay Bruce gave Cueto the only run he needed with his sixth home run of the year in the second and catcher Ramon Hernandez provided a comfort zone with a three-run single in the third on which he was thrown out at second.
Hernandez was upset early Sunday morning, still seething from striking out in the eighth inning Saturday night with two on and nobody out in a game the Reds lost, 8-6.
“I just lost it, no good after that at-bat,” said Hernandez. “That was terrible.”
But he made up for it and said, “Last night was a terrible game for me and I wanted to bounce back and help my team,” he said.
Of Cueto, Hernandez added, “The last three games for Cueto has been all about fastball-control, down on both sides of the plate with a four-seamer and a two-seamer,” said Hernandez. “He has been getting ahead of hitters
Permalink | Comments (43) | Post your comment |
TweetRosales No. 2 in the order? Not yet
There were some grumpy folks walking into the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse Sunday morning. There was marathon that wound its way through downtown Pittsburgh and cabs outside the Omni hotel were scarce.
“And if you could find one, I saw some parts of Pittsburgh I’d never seen before,” said manager Dusty Baker.
For the third straight day, it was overcast with the threat of rain and Baker said, “Typical Pittsburgh gray.” When I said, “Maybe that’s why the old Pittsburgh Negro League team called itself the Homestead Grays, Baker said, “That could be right.”
Speaking of marathons, Reds media relations director ran the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati Sunday, his first marathon. His goal was to do it in less than 3 1/2 hours. He made it by one minute - 3:29. And he’s still breathing.
SUNDAY’S LINEUP is very familiar - same-ol’, same-oh:
Willy Taveras, Chris Dickerson, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Ramon Hernandez, Adam Rosales, Alex Gonzalez, Johnny Cueto.
It was different late Saturday night - Rosales was batting sixth, ahead of Hernandez. But after Baker slept on it, he changed it so that Hernandez was sixth and Rosales seventh.
Actually, Baker was asked if he considered moving Rosales up to second in the order.
“It’s very important where he is now,” said Baker. “He can turn the lineup over, get us to the top of the order. And he can get us some important two-out knocks with runners on base. Number two? There are a lot of things to do there, a lot of responsibilitiesl. Rosales is not a taker yet and we need that with Taveras ahead of him. I like speed up there - Chris Dickerson and Jerry Hairston Jr. And Rosales is just learning the pitching. I thought about putting him up there, but then decided - not yet. Let’s let him chill and marinate down there for a while.”
Permalink | Comments (23) | Post your comment |
Tweet
