THE REDS ARE OFF
TO WRIGLEY FIELD FOR THE FINAL TIME THIS SEASON
8.5.10
BY:MEH
PUT THE "WIN" IN "WINDY CITY"
THE REDS ARE OFF TO
WRIGLEY FIELD FOR THE FINAL TIME THIS SEASON
After defeating the awful Pittsburgh Pirates two out of three games earlier
this week, the Cincinnati Reds reclaimed sole possession of first-place in
the NL Central over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Reds are now 12-7 and have
won ten of twelve series since the All-Star Break. During their three games
in Pittsburgh the Reds scored 19 runs.
On Monday against the Pirates, Travis Wood (2-1, 2.42) received his second
career victory as he pitched seven innings of two-hit scoreless baseball.
Temporarily filling in for Joey Votto, Miguel Cairo drove in two runs during
the Reds'
4-0 victory. Russ Springer made his 2010 debut and pitched one scoreless
inning while allowing one hit. Orlando Cabrera tweaked his left oblique
muscle during the game and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Juan
Francisco was called up from Louisville to replace Cabrera on the Reds'
roster. In July Francisco hit .320 with 11 homers and 28 RBI.
While facing Paul Maholm on Tuesday after eight days of rest, Mike Leake
struggled with his control. Leake pitched five innings and allowed seven
hits while tying his career high of six earned runs. In the second inning,
Scott Rolen missed an opportunity to end the inning on a ground ball hit to
third.
Rolen admitted he made a mistake, but it was not scored an error as the
Pirates went on to score six runs in the inning. If an error would have been
charged to Rolen, all six runs would have been unearned. The Reds' offense
attempted a comeback scoring twice in the sixth, once in the seventh, and
twice again in the eighth. After Scott Rolen reached base as the tying run
with no outs in the ninth, a Jonny Gomes pop-out and strikeouts from Jay
Bruce and Chris Heisey confirmed a
7-6 Cincinnati loss.
During Johnny Cueto's first two starts this season against the Pirates on
May 11 and May 27 he pitched fifteen scoreless innings and allowed just four
hits while striking out seventeen. Cueto continued his Pirate dominance on
Wednesday afternoon. Pitching six innings and allowing one earned run on
three hits, Cueto (11-2, 3.24) notched his eleventh victory of the season.
Paul Janish went 3-3 with 4 RBI and a homer filling in for Orlando Cabrera
as the Reds
beat the Bucs 9-4. Russ Springer had to leave the game during the
seventh inning as his hip flexor locked up. He will be sent back to
Cincinnati for examination. If Springer goes on the disabled list, it could
be
time for Aroldis Chapman.
The Reds have Thursday off
before facing the Chicago Cubs (47-61) for three day-games over the weekend.
In ten games this season against Chicago the Reds are 7-3. The Cubs are
currently 13.5 games behind the Reds in the NL Central and recently traded
away Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot to the Dodgers prior to MLB's July 31 trade
deadline. The Cubs tried to trade Derrek Lee to the Angels, but he
blocked the transaction with his no-trade clause.
FRIDAY: Bronson Arroyo (11-6, 4.01) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (6-5, 3.48) @
2:20pm
SATURDAY: Edinson Volquez (2-1, 6.35) vs. Randy Wells (5-9, 4.40) @
1:05pm
SUNDAY: Travis Wood (2-1, 2.42) vs. Thomas Diamond (0-1, 4.50) @
2:20pm
Bronson Arroyo has faced the Cubs just once this season. On July 2 at
Wrigley Field, Arroyo hurled six scoreless innings and allowed just three
hits while receiving the victory during the Reds 12-0 annihilation of the
Cubs. During his career, Arroyo has 18 starts and has posted a 8-6 record
with a 2.91 ERA against Chicago. Arroyo's counter-part on Friday, Tom
Gorzelanny, has faced the Reds once this season and just twice in his
career. He allowed three runs on nine hits against Cincinnati on May 8 of
this year as he received the loss and the Reds crushed the Cubs 14-2 in
Cincinnati.
Saturday's match-up of Randy Wells and Edinson Volquez should be interesting
as both pitchers have dominated their opponent in the past. In two starts
against the Cubs in his career Volquez is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA. In twelve
innings pitched, Volquez allowed just one run on eight hits while striking
out 17 batters. He has not faced the Cubs this season. Randy Wells has faced
the Reds just once this season on July 3. In 7.2 innings, Wells received the
win as he allowed just one run on five hits while striking out five. Over
Wells' three seasons in Chicago, he has faced the Reds five times. In five
starts, Wells owns a 3-0 record against Cincinnati and a 2.30 ERA.
Two rookies with only eight combined starts between them will face-off on
Sunday afternoon. Thomas Diamond will be making his second career start and
first against the Reds. During Diamond's debut on August 3 while facing the
Brewers, he received the loss as he hurled six innings and allowed three
runs on seven hits. Diamond became only the second player since 1900 to
strike out ten or more batters during his major league debut with the Cubs.
Mark Prior did it in 2002. Travis Wood made his major-league debut against
the Cubs on July 1. Wood pitched seven innings and allowed two runs on two
hits.
The St. Louis Cardinals are also off on Thursday before they begin a
three-game series against the Marlins (53-54) in Florida. Following the
weekend, the Reds and Cardinals will meet up to play three games starting
Monday.
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