We got Castillo going tonight and game started on time. Problem is they are about to get slammed by storms and get delayed meaning Castillo probably wouldn't come back in.

This is a hard game to watch. Reds went up 3-0 but from the 7th inning on the Reds look like crap. The relief pitchers can't throw strikes and the fielding just stinks. Somehow it is 3-2 going into the 9th. It goes without saying Reds need to win the game against Houston that Castillo started. They need to escape this game with a win.

Iglesias will be asked to pitch 1 and 2/3 innings for a no run allowed save. We will see. He still has to go the 9th. These last few innings have not been good baseball as the Reds implode with bad fielding and walks. Get this thing over with a win

WOW, Iglesias gets an out and Bell brings in Lorenzen. Strange move.

Well, it worked. 2 up, 2 down. Reds get the much needed win. The last 3 innings was not a thing of beauty. They escape with a win.

Gennett played in a minor league game tonight. That is extra good news. Reds need Disco or Mahle to give them a good game to win this series.

For those who didn't see the game. The last 3 innings were rough as Reds took a 3-0 lead and then pitchers were wild not coming close to the plate. The left fielder let a ball drop in most would catch. Several double play balls that the fielders botched and even let runs score. Balls getting past the catcher to move runners up. It was as if the Reds were trying to lose. They Escape With A Win. That said, GO REDS.

I brought the Reds good luck!
OMG. This team almost gave me heart attack. The rain was coming down. We got soaked. but it was a nice game until the error. This team. My gosh.

Oh yes, Reds avoided some sweeps lately. That won't be an issue with Reds winning game 1 from Houston. They still have to face Verlander. Still, GO REDS.

So the Reds eeek out a win with Castillo pitching against Houston, good. Bad news is they're facing Verlander tonight ! Who knows ? maybe lightning can strike twice.

(06-18-2019, 08:50 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: So the Reds eeek out a win with Castillo pitching against Houston, good. Bad news is they're facing Verlander tonight ! Who knows ? maybe lightning can strike twice.

There was lightning for real last night.  Peraza has become a liability.  They say Gennett is close to returning, i say Peraza is expendable.  

So Bell pushed the right button last night swapping Iglesias out for Lorenzen.

Iglesias...1 inning, 21 pitches, 2 walks, 0 k's

Lorenzen...2/3 inning, 7 pitches, 0 walks, 1 K

Can't ask for a better start off of Verlander. 3 run first.

Disco's pitches have no movement it seems. Great start against Verlander.

Reds win series and go for the sweep tomorrow! First series Astros have lost since the end of April.

GO REDS

The Reds have climbed back to 5 under .500 instead of going to 10 under. What a difference avoiding Rangers sweep Sunday and getting after Houston makes.

Nice series win, but even a lucky cat can scratch a big dog on the nose once in awhile. We'll see how they do the rest of the way to the ASG.. 3rd place would be nice.. 2nd even better.

(06-17-2019, 02:53 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Baseball players drive me crazy.  Their production will fluctuate wildly for no apparent reason.

Take Schebler for instance.  Coming into this season he had over 1100 major league at bats with a career .768 OPS.  He was no "one-year-wonder" or a "flash in the pan".  He had played 4 seasons and never had an OPS lower than .762.  For those of you who don't know a .762 OPS would be good for 21st among all NL outfielders right now.  It is not All-Star level, but it is very solid production.  So why the hell was he just hitting .123 when we demoted him this year?

Winker had only had about 400 major league at bats before this season but he had a career .299 avg.  Now he is hitting .244.

Tucker Barnhart had 1500 at bats coming into this season.  He had hit between .248 and .270 each of the last 4 seasons and had a career average over .250.  Now he is benched with a .199 avg.

Puig had a career .279 avg and had never hit lower than .255.  He is only hitting .231 right now and that is just because he has 10 hits in his last 20 ABs to raise his average from ,210 just 5 games ago.

It's always been like this. We as Reds fans got spoiled with the BRM and the 1990 season and a handful of HOFers, but the league averages don't look too great for fringe players on last place teams.

They did it ! A sweep would be great but with Mahle facing Cole it's a big hill to climb, Cole strikes out a bunch every game.

Then 4 against Brewers on road, it would be great to split. Then 2 at Angels, they're just a .500 team so let's hope we can split there.Then we need to come home and sweep the Cubs. Going 6-3 thru that stretch would help a bunch.


Suarez badly needs to come out of his extended slump !

Altuve expected to be back for Houston against Reds today. He has played 5 rehab games in minors with no issues. Word is he will be in line-up. Houston missed him, he is their modern day Pete Rose getting a lot of hits every year. He has been off since May 20th with hamstring issue which Reds fans may remember with Ken Griffey Jr often. Altuve was off longer than expected because some minor issue with his surgical repaired knee. They brought him back slower and the bad news is he rejoins the team against the Reds instead of day after this series.

Some things to consider about Iglesias closing that Reds TV announcers haven't mentioned. In last 2 games Garrett didn't get the job done and was way off his game. So this put Reds in the 8th innings both nights needing to bring in their best reliever after Garrett had go ahead runs on base with few outs. That best pitcher is Iglesias. So as Reds announcers talk of manager Bell moves, a great deal of this was Mr. Garrett not getting his job done on the mound in his 8th inning set-up man role.

Another thing though to consider besides manager Bell is the pitching coach Reds got from Milwaukee Brewers. His best reliever by far was Hader but he felt it wise to use Hader to get to the 9th inning. This pitching coach has a history of using his best reliever to get out of situations in 7th or 8th inning of go ahead runs on base and few outs. It makes sense. What good is saving Hader or Iglesias for the 9th if you blow the game in the 7th or 8th. When I heard this was our new pitching coach in off season, to me it was great news because he did great in Milwaukee getting more out of their pitchers than anybody else ever did, and hopes were he could get more out of Reds pitchers, which he has. I did wonder if he would use Iglesias like Hader before the 9th.

Again, the last 2 nights going to Iglesias early are because Garrett was about ready to lose both games in the 8th. Hopefully this is just a minor slump for Garrett who has been rock solid up to these 2 games against tough Houston.

Hats off to Iglesias getting Garrett out of these jams, and Lorenzen closing out the 9th. This Brewers pitching coach now with Reds will not sit in the dugout watching relievers blow ball games. He will go to his best reliever early if needed and ask someone else to pitch the 9th. Considering Reds went from worst pitching in 2018 to best pitching so far in 2019, he is again getting more out of pitchers as he did in Milwaukee. This guy knows pitching and actually corrects pitchers mistakes and shows them things, unlike past Reds pitching coaches. If anybody can get Garrett back on pace, it is also him.

As Reds announcers did say, the Main Thing is Reds won first 2 against Houston. We owe a lot of that to this great pitching coach and Bell making the late game needed pitching moves when Garrett struggled. Of course Iglesias and Lorenzen bringing home the wins. It is not that Lorenzen is now considered better than Iglesias. It is that Iglesias was the best fireman to put out the fire Garrett had going in the 8th both games.

Reds walk off in the 9th and complete the sweep!!!

(06-19-2019, 04:47 PM)cinci4life Wrote: Reds walk off in the 9th and complete the sweep!!!

Huge win.  Huge series.  All 3 games were one run wins.

I believe Houston had the best record in the AL coming into this series.

First Place Brewers are up next.  They have lost 4 of their last 5, and we play them 8 times over the next two weeks.  If we stay hot as they cool off this could get interesting.

I know there are three teams in front of us, but none of them are playing that great.  And we are only down 5 games in the loss column.

The Reds pitching has been fantastic so far. They can’t be content, they need to win this next series against the Brew Crew. If they take 3 of 4, it puts them 2 under .500 and in contention of that wildcard race. The big hump is eventually getting above.500 and passing the Cards in the standings. If they take the Brewer series then I’d skim for an add now trade on a player that also figures in on the next couple of years. I can see this working out as being a stand pat type of deadline with the Reds having minimal assets and not being an obvious buyer or seller. Hold may be the outcome. It feels nice to not be out of it yet!

First series sweep of Astros for the season. Huge sweep by the Reds. Reds will get Gennett and Wood in a couple weeks. They have a chance. Winker came through. Wow.