REDS FALL TO
DODGERS AFTER A 2 1/2 HOUR RAIN DELAY
6.16.10
BY:MEH
"FORGET THIS GAME."
REDS FALL TO DODGERS
AFTER A 2 1/2 HOUR RAIN DELAY
The only Cincinnati Red who will want to remember Tuesday's
12-0 loss to the Dodgers is rookie Jordan Smith. During the ninth inning
of the Reds' debacle, Smith made his major league debut. He pitched one
scoreless inning.
Enerio Del Rosario
was sent down to Louisville to make room for Jordan Smith on the Reds'
roster. Del Rosario allowed seven of his last nine inherited runners to
score.
Before joining the Reds on Tuesday, Jordan Smith was pitching at Double-A
Carolina. In 27 appearances there, Smith went 1-3 posting a 5.08 ERA. The
Reds' sixth round pick in 2006 was a starter in the Reds' organization with
74 straight minor league starts (30-22) prior to this season. During spring
training this year, Smith was assigned to the reliever role, and began
closing games for Carolina. The young right-hander seemed to be
accommodating his new gig of late. During his last six appearances for the
Mudcats, Smith allowed only one run and posted a 1.13 ERA in eight innings.
“I had to adjust my pitches, certain pitches at certain times,”
Smith said.
“I was a bit bullheaded, trying to be too aggressive with my fastball at
certain points. But a couple of weeks ago it started to click and I got into
a nice rhythm.”
Hopefully, Smith's rhythm will transcend into the big leagues.
His nasty sinker could be deadly with a Gold Glove defense behind him.
“I’m just going to keep doing what I was doing down there,"
Smith said.
"Attacking the zone and using my sinker to let ‘em beat it into the ground.”
According to
John Fay, the promotion of Jordan Smith may be the first of several
moves involving the Reds' pitching staff. Travis Wood and Matt Maloney's
have been speculated to become bullpen help
and have statistics superior to Smith's, but both Louisville left-handers
have only four combined relief appearances in the minors. A healthy Homer
Bailey, or Sam LeCure, could also be converted to assist the Reds' feeble
bullpen.
“You hate to have anyone do anything for the first time in
the big leagues,”
Dusty Baker said.
“A couple of guys have done it in the minor leagues. That’s help to get
some basis for fact if this guy can do it.
We still in the fact-finding mode. You wish you have
everything perfectly in order but it’s not.”
Middle relief has been the downfall of the Cincinnati Reds this season.
Besides Arthur Rhodes (0.32) and *Enerio Del Rosario (2.08), no reliever for
the Reds has an ERA under 3.00 this year. Take closer Francisco Cordero
(3.77) who has four blown saves out of the equation, and the remaining
relievers are all above 4.00 this season. The Reds' relief corps currently
ranks 13th in the National League with a 4.96 ERA.
*Carlos Fisher: 9.82 ERA
Logan Ondrusek: 8.10 ERA
*Mike Lincoln: 7.32 ERA
Nick Masset: 7.07 ERA
Micah Owings: 5.27 ERA
Danny Herrera: 4.26 ERA
*Not
on the Reds' active roster
The Reds have lost four of their last seven games and have
let the St. Louis Cardinals slide back into a tie for first place in the NL
Central. At this point, any bullpen assistance is welcomed. Jordan Smith, we
wish you the best and are sorry that your major league debut occurred during
the game
we
don't speak of. Dusty Baker does:
"We just have to forget this game. We need a good pitched game tomorrow,
definitely. We used Micah for a lot of pitches from the bullpen tonight and
used Daniel for a lot of pitches. Hopefully we can jump on Kershaw
tomorrow."
Mike "Godzilla" Leake (5-0, 2.68) will face Clayton Kershaw (6-3, 3.13) and
the Dodgers at 7:10pm on Wednesday.
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MARK SHELDON
-Is
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HAL McCOY
-Importance
of the first pitch strike
RED REPORTER
-Saluting
a couple old dogs
DIAMOND HOGGERS
-Youth
is no obstacle for Leake
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