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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 > 2011 > June > 27 > Entry
SHOCKER: Reds win interleague opener
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while remembering the Reds’ last trip to St. Petersburg in 2003 when they stayed at a hotel reputed to be haunted and pitcher Scott Williamson said he saw a ghost in his room. Somebody asked him if it was Luis Apparition.
A funny thing happened to the Cincinnati Reds Monday night in the dump they call Tropicana Field against the Tampa Bay Rays: they won the first game of an interleague series.
It was their fifth interleague series of the year and the first time they won the first game, thanks to Mike Leake and some potent batwork that produced a 5-0 victory.
Leake held the Rays to no runs and four hits, with two walkd and three strikeouts for his six innings.
Sam LeCure, the man who should replace Edinson Volquez in the starting rotation (my opinion), pitched two scoreless innings and Nick Masset closed it out in the ninth.
AND IF I’M Tampa Bay pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, I’d be changing my deodorant or cologne. The 24-year-old rookie has now lost four straight and in those four games the Rays have scored one run.
On Monday, Hellickson struck out nine Reds in six innings, but all it did was add wear and tear on his young arm.
And the Rays are not a feeble offensive team. In their previous game, they beat the Houston Astros, 14-10. They had won four straight and eight of nine and owned the fourth best record in baseball behind Philadelphia, the New York Yankees and Boston. And the Rays owned the best interleague record this season, 9-3 when the night began to Cincinnati’s 3-9. But Tampa Bay was 0-6 all-time in games against the Reds.
But this was a night during which everything went the Reds’ way, aided by one of the best players in baseball, Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria.
Longoria made a two-out error in the fourth that enabled the Reds to score a run. And the Rays had only one real rally, that coming in the sixth when Ben Zobrist doubled and Longoria walked to open the inning.
Matt Joyce lined one deep to left that looked as if it might fall for extra bases, so Longoria took off from first. Center fielder Drew Stubbs chased down the ball and Longoria ran past Zobrist, who was standing near second base. So Longoria was called out for passing a base runner, a rare big-league occurrence.
AND FOR ONCE it was the Reds scoring in the first inning instead of the opposition.
Freddie Lewis, playing left field and batting leadoff, reached base his first three times up and led the first inning with a single. Brandon Phillips, brandishing a bat as hot as a coke furnace (four hits), doubled to score Lewis and extend his hitting streak to seven games. Jay Bruce, 4 for 34 at the time, singled to right to score Phillips and make it 2-0-.
Lewis had two hits and a walk and should have had three hits, but Tampa Bay left fielder Sam Fuld made a stupendous back-to-the-infield snag of a long drive by Lewis.
Jonny Gomes, the designated hitter, received a loud ovation when he came to bat for the first time because he was hugely popular in Tampa Bay after he was the team’s No. 1 draft pick and played for the (Devil) Rays for six years.
They even cheered him in the fourth when he opened the inning with his 11th home run. The Reds scored another run in the inning on Longoria’s error and back-to-back hits by Lewis and Phillips to make it 4-0.
The fifth run arrived in the seventh when Phillips singled again, Joey Votto singled and second baseman Zobrist permitted a double play ball to roll between his legs and into right field for an error.
AND BECAUSE Milwaukee, St. Louis and Pittsburgh were idle Monday, the Reds picked up a half-game on everybody, leaving them 3 ½ games behind first place Milwaukee and a half-game ahead of fourth-place Pittsburgh.
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By jim m.
June 29, 2011 3:00 PM | Link to this
Hal do the Reds fan a huge favor please?? this is reported on mlbtraderumors.com “Heyman says that the Dodgers have not received any calls on Matt Kemp.” Please call Walt and ask him to call the Dodgers about Kemp? Stubbs and Alonso , Wood and another prospect for Kemp and Kershaw… Promote Sapplet and he can help Hiesey in CF/Lf depending where Kemp plays. thanks Reds fans
By ohdave
June 28, 2011 10:08 PM | Link to this
Reminds me of the entire decade before last year. The division is bad and totally winnable. But the players underachieve and the management doesn’t make any moves to replace the underperformers. I’m glad “we just aren’t going to lose anymore.” Whatever.
By ohdave
June 28, 2011 9:51 PM | Link to this
WE SUCK! SEASON’S OVER! See ya next year Hal. Obviously we are terrible offensively and management has no plans to do anything about it.
By DD
June 28, 2011 8:39 PM | Link to this
I gotta say…David Price is flat out NASTY! Watching the game, it’s the 6th and he hit 98 against Votto and 97 against Rolen. Quite a bit of movement on his fastball too. I’ve liked the possibilities of Chapman at the back end of the bullpen in the future, but it sure would be nice to have a top of the rotation guy like Price. Could Chapman be that if he developes some control?
By TYGO
June 28, 2011 12:33 PM | Link to this
Uh, silverquill, you “don’t read the comments anymore”? Then what are you griping about if you didn’t read them? Look, if you have a modicum of intelligence, you must realize that there will be people spouting garbage on any blog. And YOU used the word “idiot” twice. I suggest you take your own advice.
By Florida Buckeye
June 28, 2011 12:30 PM | Link to this
Hey Hal, I have to second the question: What’s wrong with the Trop? I go to half a dozen games a year there, and besides the horrible Catwalks, the place is a prime spot to catch a game. There’s NO charge for parking; You can bring in your own food and drinks; there are ALWAYS good seats available, and the concessions there are top notch…not to mention the AC kicks and it’s easy to get in and out of via I-275…Other than bad attendance, and those catwalks I can’t find a thing wrong with the place…Good win over a Good Rays team last night though: Go Reds!
By Mike-Cinci
June 28, 2011 12:18 PM | Link to this
In defense of Dusty it is hard to say something interesting before and after every game 162 times a year without ticking somebody off. Sparky was the best at it and he never said anything critical of his players. He was a rah-rah man through thick and thin. Boone, Miley, and Narron put a lot of us to sleep as did the play of their teams. I don’t buy into it being hard for the Reds to be the “hunted” as defending NL champ. The Cards, Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox,Braves, and Angels have been hunted for many years now with no ill effects. Hopefully the Reds will be “hunted” for many years and learn to like it! Beats the alternative.
By silverquill
June 28, 2011 12:14 PM | Link to this
For a long time I came to Mr. McCoy’s blog to actually read his blog and read some intelligent comments. I don’t read the comments any more because a few “know it alls” have taken it over and chased everybody else away. It is clear that those posting now don’t even read a Hall of Famer’s blog. They just use the blog as a forum to argue with each other, call each other names and express idiotic idea. It is clear they know nothing about baseball and their constant harping about Dusty Baker is really tired. If I were Mr. McCoy, I’d limit people to one comment a day and I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten fed up and eliminated the comments altogether so the fans who want to read his blog can do that without having idiots posting their inane comments.
By bob
June 28, 2011 11:33 AM | Link to this
“We’ve got 12 more before all-star time. We are going to try to win as many as we can”. Another sign of the great stategy our manager has mapped out. He has one of these gems everyday. What have the fans got to complain about? That and his bedtime revelations on matching left fielders with the pitchers. He needs to throw Stubbs into that mix of ideas. At this rate, Stubbs will have the rec ord for most K’s of all time in the ML’s. How about some bench time and put Heisey in CF and Gomes and Lewis in LF?
By TYGO
June 28, 2011 11:19 AM | Link to this
You may be right DD. But I honestly don’t think what happened last year really has much bearing on this year. Yeah, they won the division, but I just don’t think that means there’s any additional pressure. At any rate, I simply perceive a dinstict lack of emotion, (for lack of a better word) on this team. I do believe that some cages need to be rattled, whether on the coaching staff or the players or both. And I couldn’t agree more with your comment about the Pirates. They’re playing loose and remind me a lot of the Reds last year. I appreciate your thoughtful comments and candor and no, you did not “correct me.” We’re simply fans who love this team, love this game and want to see a winner. All the respect in the world to you, bro.
By DD
June 28, 2011 11:06 AM | Link to this
Nice try. Growing up, I remember a kid who made up his friends. Talked to himself a lot, picked his nose often and flung it at the girls, played dungeons and dragons, quite a bit over-weight, and was generally just a loser. Always wondered what direction life took him. After reading your posts I found out. Up to the same games all these years later… And, how exactly “correct” TYGO? I’m pretty sure I agreed with him. Reading 101 - could have helped you in high school.
By Know It All
June 28, 2011 10:31 AM | Link to this
Yeah,dd, I believe believe it has your number on this one. I thought you were smart until I read that you are bad mouthing other posters, too. You really are Matt, aren’t you? What a disappointment you are. And I thought you were a friend of mine. Guess I’ll have to quit meeting you down by the river side after the games.
By Believe It
June 28, 2011 10:16 AM | Link to this
dd{matt the blog cop}, my thoughts on Lewis have been the same for a month, but of course, I forgot that you cannot read and retain. When are you going to admit to everyone that you are really matt the blog cop? Why just today you are correcting two more posters who disagree with your stupidity…funny how you disrespect players on the team, that you say you support! You really embarrass yourself, matt the blog cop. You talk too much.Try another vacation, a lot longer this time.
By Rick
June 28, 2011 10:09 AM | Link to this
Coming to Reds land in July to watch the Cards. Last year someone gave me a great tip about Hotels. Bringing the whole family this year. Looking for a good bar a grill the guys can have fun at while the gals go shopping. Any ideas?
By DD
June 28, 2011 9:57 AM | Link to this
Great game last night across the board. From starting pitching to the bullpen to the bats - everything went right for a night! Nice to not be playing from behind for a change. Going to be an interesting game tonight with Cueto going against Price. Believe It - funny how you didn’t comment on Lewis after his 0 for 3 appreance in the lead off spot in the Yankee series. I didn’t comment then, but will now since you’re blowing your own horn today. Good call there, Sparky! When are you going to realize how dumb you sound? TYGO, I can see where you’re coming from with the “fire in the belly” comment. But, I kind of think it comes with the territory. Last year, we were the hunters who played loose and had fun because the team was exceeding expectations. Kind of like the Pirates this year? Different story when your the defending division champs who are now the hunted. I think that leads to pressing, adds stress to the team and can take the fun out of the game that was there last year. I know as a fan I’m not having as much fun following the team this year either. Any of the prior 15 seasons I’d be trilled to be 3 1/2 games out at the midway point.
By Question of the day
June 28, 2011 9:39 AM | Link to this
Why would anyone live in Fairborn?
By TYGO
June 28, 2011 7:43 AM | Link to this
Good to see some offense and another quality start by Leake. Granted, a couple defensive gaffs by The Rays sure helped. Just can’t put my finger on it, and perhaps I’m completely delusional, but I just don’t sense the “fire in the belly” I did last year. Bruce and Stubbs flail away and just meander back to the dugout with seemingly no emotion. Votto, by nature, is a quiet guy, Rolen doesn’t seem to have the bench presence he had last year and generally speaking, this just seems like a .500 team content to be a .500 team. Win a few, lose a few. No big deal. Unnacceptable Bob and Walt. Unnacceptable.
By KNOW IT ALL
June 28, 2011 7:30 AM | Link to this
I loved Bakers comments after the game that our pitching has been excellent last four/five games? DUH, Didn’t we give up quite a few runs in Baltimore? Paul In Fairborn you have no clue what comment to make judgement on one game is weak. Do I want the Reds to win of course, but win one game lose two over and over is not going to make the playoffs….
By Paul in fairborn
June 28, 2011 2:00 AM | Link to this
Fire Dusty. Ignore this win. Heisey didn’t start, and only got in for his defence in late innings. An outrage.
By that's cr'AZ'y
June 28, 2011 1:56 AM | Link to this
Visiting family in St. Pete I was able to catch this game at Tropicana Field. Hal, please clarify how this stadium is a dump?? every seat is close to the action, the hotdog toppings buffet is well stocked, the thermostat is set to 75 and their “cheerleader” corp is extremely “talented.”
By Believe It
June 27, 2011 11:09 PM | Link to this
Hmmmm, I wonder who it was who has been strongly suggesting for at least a month that we already have a good leadoff man and left fielder, Fred Lewis. It sure wasn’t that man of many words, but few ideas worth considering,dd, or matt the blog cop, little letters for little boys.Where would matt be without the love of KIA?