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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 > 28
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Reds waste a strong effort by Cueto
Real McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while wishing Logan Ondrusek had faced Eva Longoria instead of Evan Longoria in the ninth inning Tuesday night as the Cincinnati Reds lost a tear-inducer to the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3. But I hear Eva Longoria is a heavy-hitter, too.
As advertised and promised, the Johnny Cueto-David Price match-up was a pitching clinic. The Price was right and Cueto was Johnny-on-the-spot.
As so often happens, though, neither pitcher was around at the finish when the game was decided, a lead-off walk-off game-winning home run by Longoria, the second time on this trip that the Reds lost on a walk-off home run (Derrek Lee did it to them in Baltimore).
IT LOOKED as if the Reds wouldn’t score on this night. Price retired the first 14 Reds until Jonny Gomes reached on an error with two outs in the fifth (It should have been a hit, the ball was hit so hard at the shortstop. But official scorers won’t rule anything a hit unless it is a clean hit).
The next batter, Ramon Hernandez, singled sharply to right field for the first hit. But Drew Stubbs struck out on three pitches.
Meanwhile, Cueto retired the first seven before issuing a walk to Sam Fuld with one out in the third.
Tampa Bay’s first hit was a leadoff home run by Johnny Damon in the fourth and it looked as if that 1-0 score would withstand the game’s entirety.
PRICE WAS a strikeout machine, throwing mostly fastballs (29 of his first 30 pitches were fastballs) against a fastball-hitting team.
But the Reds broke through in the eighth with two runs. Stubbs, who had struck out his first two times, ripped a triple over center fielder B.J. Upton’s head. Edgar Renteria tied it with a single to left. Chris Heisey, asked to bunt, failed miserably on his first two efforts, then struck out. Then Price struck out Brandon Phillips, his 12th strikeout.
Joey Votto, who hadn’t touched a pitch while striking out twice and walking once, slashed a 0-and-2 double to score Renteria to give the Reds and Cueto a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, Cueto struck out Upton, but John Jaso singled and Fuld singled. Cueto got the second out and manager Dusty Baker decided to bring in left-hander Bill Bray to face left-hander Johnny Damon. Cueto had not thrown 100 pitches and he didn’t want to come out, but Baker wanted the lefty-lefty match-up.
Bray made Damon look bad with two outside pitches, but on a third outside pitch Damon reached out and poked a blooper to left. Shortstop Renteria lost it in the lights and Heisey tried to make a diving catch, but it ticked off the tip of his glove and both runners scored for a 3-2 Rays lead.
Game over? Not yet.
Jay Bruce, who hadn’t homered since June 1, led the ninth against closer Kyle Farnsworth with a home run over the 410 sign in center. At the time, Farnsworth was 16 for 17 in saves with a 2-1 record and a 1.99 ERA. He had given up only one home run.
So it was a 3-3 tie entering the bottom of the ninth and Longoria reversed Ondrusek’s second pitch into the left field seats. At the time, the struggling Longoria hadn’t had a hit in the series.
He began the series not wearing batting gloves. When that didn’t work, he put on a pair for his at-bat in the seventh and flied deep to left. Still wearing his work gloves, he cleared the left field wall in the ninth.
CUETO PITCHED 7 2/3 innings and gave up three runs (two coming when Bray was pitching), four hits, walked one and struck out six.
For his effort he was handed a no-decision.
Defensively, third baseman Scott Rolen made three straight amazing plays in the fifth inning.
So the series is tied at a game apiece, with Edinson Volquez drawing Wednesday afternoon’s assignment to see if the Reds can win their first interleague series of the year after losing their first four. It won’t be easy. Tampa Bay pitcher James Shield is even better than Price.
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