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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 > June > 30
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
A bad night all around in Cincinnati
WASN’T CINCINNATI once a baseball town? I remember it clearly. Back in the 70s.
What happened? On Tuesday night Joey Votto returned to Cincinnati in the lineup for the first time since his stress-related stint on the DL. I expected a deafening standing ovation when he came to bat the first time.
Instead, there was a smattering of applause. I’ve heard louder applause for a dog standing on its hind legs begging for a bone in front of an ice cream story.
Shameful and embarrassing.
And speaking of shameful and embarrassing, how about those Reds Tuesday night? They didn’t have a hit until Jay Bruce’s two-out single in the fifth and Bronson Arroyo took over the league lead in home runs allowed (20) by giving up back-to-backers during a three-run sixth inning.
The first was hit by No. 8 hitter Miguel Montero and the next was hit by pitcher Dan Haren, who also held the Reds to one run and four hits over seven innings in a 6-2 win. It snapped Arizona’s five-game losing streak and was their second win in the last 10 games.
BRONSON ARROYO, the man who never met a first inning he liked, went 1-2-3 in the first Tuesday. Then he retired the first two in the second before walking the next two. No problem, thanks to Jay Bruce.
Monero singled to right and Chris Young was waved homeward from second. Apparently third base coach Chip Hale forgot to read the scouting report, the one that said, “Run on Jay Bruce at your own risk.” He ran. He risked. Bruce’s throw was so swift and true that Young gave up 15 feet from home plate - just trotted into the tag.
Bruce now has nine assists, tied for the league lead with Washington’s Elijah Dukes.
BEST ARM I ever saw: A one-armed slot machine bandit at the MGM Grand in Vegas that paid me $750 once. Second best arm I ever saw dangles from the shoulder of Josh Hamilton. In spring training two years ago I saw him throw a ball from the right field corner to the third base bag on the fly, the ball starting out about five feet above the ground and reached third five feet above the ground. If there had been a horse standing between the mound and second base, Hamilton would have dropped it dead.
WITH TWO outs and a runner on first in the third, Justin Upton hit a ball between second and first. Second baseman Brandon Phillips made a sliding stop and ended up on the seat of his britches. Instead of holding the ball, he threw it while sitting in the grass and it skipped past first baseman Joey Votto.
Two hits later, the Diamondbacks led, 3-0.
SCOUT’S ASSESSMENT of Phillips: “Too much ESPN-itis. He’ll make the spectacular play and he’ll try to turn the routine play into a spectacular one, too, and mess it up.”
MEANWHILE, the Reds were helpless babes against Danny Haren. They didn’t have a runner on base until there were two outs in the fourth. Haren was perfect until then, 11 up, 11 down. He walked Joey Votto with two outs in the fourth, but that’s it. Nothing else. A no-hitter after four.
Bruce broke up the no-hitter in the fifth with a two-out single.
NO-HITTERS I have covered:
Rick Wise of the Cardinals threw a no-hitter against the Reds in Riverfront Stadium. And he hit two home runs that day.
Tom Seaver, known more as a New York Met than a Cincinnati Red, threw his only no-hitter while wearing a Reds uniform. Oddly, Seaver’s best friend was catcher Johnny Bench (and they remain tight to this day). But Bench didn’t catch that day. A kid named Donnie Werner caught the no-hitter.
Tom Browning’s perfect game against the Dodgers in a rain-delayed game that didn’t start until after 10 p.m. and ended just before midnight. Few fans were left, but Browning says he has had about 400,000 people tell him they were there that night.
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Edwin Encarnacion was scheduled to play today for the Louisville Bats, but he was not in the lineup and didn’t play at all. Adam Rosales played third base.
A setback? Something wrong?
Nobody really knows. The Reds made some quick calls and were told that nothing is wrong with Encarnacion, “Just a manager’s decision.”
A long-time employee of the Reds said he had never heard of such a thing - that when the team sent a player down on rehab he always plays, unless there is a problem.
And the strange thing is that the Bats are off tomorrow, so Encarnacion would get a day off then. Now he gets two in a row.
As was pointed out by a Reds official, Encarnacion played only six innings his first game on rehab, seven innings the next game, he DHed for two games, “So he can’t be tired and can’t be in need of a rest.”
EVEN IF ENCARNACION is OK and on track, manager Dusty Baker said there is no plan to activate him on this six-game homestand against Arizona and St. Louis.
“I’m not counting on him for the homestand,” he said. “Optimistically, maybe the next road trip.”
CATCHER RYAN HANIGAN (.321), outfielder Jonny Gomes (.343) and outfielder Chris Dickerson (.279 - .467 over his last 11 games) were all to be in the dugout when tonight’s game begins against the Diamondbacks.
Willy Taveras was in center and leading off, Ramon Hernandez was catching and Laynce Nix was in left field.
Manager Dusty Baker says he has a plan.
“I’m going to get them in there like I’ve been doing,” he said. “I’d rather have that than a bunch of guys who aren’t hitting. Taveras had success against this team (Arizona) at their place. And the games against the American League helped them all get some at-bats with the DH.
“You can’t play everybody but I have a plan to keep ‘em sharp and productive and a plan to help us at the same time,” Baker added. “We knew this could potentially happen when we started. You don’t have a good team unless you have too many good bodies.
“Gomes is my left fielder against lefthanded pitchers because he has been deadly against lefthanders,” Baker added. “Dickerson is making big progress against lefthanders and that’s why I’m not afraid to throw him in there.”
Even though he continues to struggle, Jay Bruce plays every day and Baker said, “Jay needs the at-bats and experience to be what he is going to be. If not, you’ll be thwarting his progress. And he is starting to swing better - more selective, hitting the ball harder.”
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