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John Fay
John Fay has been the Reds beat writer for the Enquirer since 2001. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles for the Enquirer: backup Reds writer, UC beat writer, backup Bengals writer and as a general assignment reporter. He is a Cincinnati native and a graduate of Elder High School and the University of Dayton.

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Saturday, May 12, 2007

Dodgers 2, Reds 0

LOS ANGELES - Starting pitcher Randy Wolf struck out a season-high 11 batters without a walk over seven shutout innings and the Dodgers beat the Reds, 2-0, before 49,588 fans tonight at Dodger Stadium.

The Reds had hoped the shred of momentum generated by a winning end to their last homestand would carry into the start of a nine-game road trip. Instead, they managed just five hits and lost for the eighth time in 10 games.

Reds starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo labored during the first two innings – he needed 42 pitches in the first inning alone – but salvaged a quality start.

The right-hander allowed two runs on six hits, struck out two and walked a season-high four over six innings.

Wolf entered with a 5-2 record and 3.58 ERA in 11 career starts against the Reds, but none of those came close to rivaling his performance Friday.

The Reds got four hits – three singles and a double – when Wolf was pitching.

Right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. singled in the first. Left fielder Adam Dunn singled with one out in the second. Second baseman Brandon Phillips extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the third.

Third baseman Juan Castro, a late addition to the Reds’ lineup after Ryan Freel was scratched with the flu, led off the fifth with a double down the left field line.

Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito each contributed a scoreless inning in relief of Wolf. The Reds had runners at first and third in the ninth when Saito struck out Castro to end the game.

Both of the Dodgers’ runs came in the first inning against Arroyo.

A single and two walks loaded the bases for Dodgers catcher Russell Martin with two outs in the first inning. Martin lined a single to center field that scored two.

Arroyo walked the next batter, right fielder Andre Ethier, to reload the bases before striking out third baseman Andy LaRoche to end the inning. He stranded runners at second and third in the second inning.


20 Comments:

at 7:50 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

We hear alot about season highs and personal records, when it comes to the opposing pitching...

 
at 8:50 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

The losses of Rich Aurilia and Jason LaRue, not to mention Kearns and Lopez, has really hurt the Reds offense. David Ross needs to be benched in favor of Valentin. Narron needs to do a better job of manufacturing runs, sometimes known as small ball. They lost the Central Division last fall because they couldn't manufacture runs, and this year is no different. Josh Hamilton needs a day off? Give me a break. He's only 25, and last time I checked, he took 4 years off. Narron needs a night off. Let Bucky Dent manage, and let's get this thing turned around.

 
at 9:20 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice lineup Jerry put out there on Friday night! Wouldn't want to try to maximize output. Good thing Eddie is in the minors so that we have to turn to Castro to backup Freel. Conine cleanup and Gonzalez 5th is a joke.

Unable to hit Randy Wolf, also a joke.

 
at 11:05 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just read that Livingston was getting the two starts in Milton's absence. What more does Bailey have to do to even get a couple of spot starts up here? Livingston is pitching well, but is 0-3. Bailey has pitched really well and it would be good for him to get a couple of major league starts worth of experience. If he gets beat up, then we know he needs the rest of the year in AAA to improve, but "heaven forbid" he should continue to dominate..then the Reds' management will be in a real sticky situation with the worthless Milton coming back in a few weeks. I think that is the real reason for not making the move to Bailey. If Livingston does good...well it was just for a few starts anyway...but if Bailey does well..this town will be all over management to get the phenom up here permanently. How does a $9 million dollar long reliever sound to you Mr. Krivsky cause we certainly won't find any takers for Milton? MB

 
at 11:10 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous #2 I agree on Bucky Dent over Narron, but Valentin over Ross would be a huge mistake. Ross might not be hitting right now but he's far better defensively and I think some of the bullpen meltdowns could be attributed to having him behind the plate. Narron tends to use him as a pinch hitter late and then put him behind the plate instead of Ross. He called that horrible pitch Coffey threw for the three-run homer against Houston.

 
at 11:21 AM Blogger Don said...

The loss of Jason LaRue has hurt this team?

You can't be serious.

 
at 11:42 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

The loss of Jason LaRue has hurt the offense??? He's hitting .104 for KC! Looking up stats isn't that hard. SERENITY NOW!!!

 
at 11:46 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

By the way, Hamilton and Gonzalez are hitting WAY better than Kearns and Lopez so that was pretty silly also. What's hurting the offense is Jerry Narron's ridiculous lineup construction.

 
at 12:53 PM Blogger John said...

This "breaking up the lefthanders" obsession is absolutely ridiculous. I'd understand if we were talking about breaking up, say, Hatteberg and Valentin, but we're talking about Ken Griffey, Jr. and Adam Dunn. One's a HOFer and the other can hit the ball to the moon. If lefthanded batters are such a liability that Narron has to bat Brandon Phillips, Jeff Conine, or Alex Gonzalez 4th or 5th...

Well, really, what's the bigger liability?

Is this SO hard?

Hamilton CF
Phillips 2B
Griffey RF
Dunn LF
Conine 3B (look up his stats playing 3B)
Hatteberg 1B
Gonzalez SS
Ross C
Arroyo P

Gee, Jerry, I did that in about 15 seconds. What's so hard about it? Norris Hopper? Juan Castro?

Josh Hamilton, who has played every other day all season, needs a rest?

You simply can't put a sub-par lineup out there just because there's a freakin lefthander on the mound. If you're not gonna put your best out there and you're gonna get scared every time the guy throws with the other hand, you might as well forfeit the game and not waste people's time.

 
at 1:08 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

The adverse impact of the Kearns/Lopez departures can't be measured merely in year-over-year statistical comparisons. Kearns was Dunn's best friend, and Lopez had good speed. Other than Freel and Dunn, the Reds have little team speed. The players the Reds got for Kearns and Lopez are no where to be found. But Aurilia is the real loss. Great hitter. Good fielder. Pro's pro. Narron benched LaRue last year when he got off to a slow start, but refuses to bench Ross despite his woeful hitting, and backs Coffey despite the fact that Coffey seems to have lost it. I agree with the insightful comment about the Reds' real agenda for calling up Livingston instead of Bailey (i.e., if Bailey does well, the Reds' fans will insist on dumping Milton ... his contract, and Larkin's last contract, were killers. Brook Jacoby has proven a real upgrade over Chris Chambliss as the Reds' hitting attests. Somewhere, Woody Woodward is licking his chops (i.e., thinking he has a shot as Jacoby's replacement).

 
at 1:32 PM Blogger John said...

If Livingston comes up and is lights-out, fans will still insist the Reds dump Milton.

In fact, fans will insist that until they dump him, no matter what. With his albatross of a contract expiring after this season, you know he's gonna walk. I bet he's gone by the trading deadline.

 
at 4:31 PM Blogger Don said...

Or if Livingston comes up and pitches lights out, does that mean that Homer would spend the rest of the season in AAA?

 
at 5:27 PM Blogger docproc said...

The writer who brought up "the loss of Jason LaRue" should remain anonymous--for good reason.

Tell me you're kidding.

 
at 6:41 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Two things:

Kingseyeland you're right on. Too bad it looks like they're sticking with Narron. But it ust goes to show anyone can manage better than Narron. And seriously, he's better at filling out the lineup card than he is at managing the bullpen... What is it with the Reds and micromanaging morons. First Bob Boone, now Jerry Narron. With Narron only a shade better than Boone.

Second, when will people let the Kearns/Lopez trade drop? Seriously folks. It's over and if you really think the Reds would be better offensively with Kearns and Lopez you're a fool. Kearns is hitting .269 with 3 HR and 13 RBI. So stats comparable to Conine and nowhere near good enough to play over Griffey, Dunn and Hamilton. Lopez is hitting .252 with 2 HRs and a whopping 5 SBs. And he's hot 5 errors. Oh and I forgot the immortal Ryan Wagner and his 5.74 ERA. Reds could use him right now couldn't they?

Dunn's stats so far this year are comparable to where they were this time last year with his best buddy. And there is no way not having his best buddy on the team impacts a professional player.

Let it go Reds fans. Bray was the best player in that deal and when he's healthy you'l be singing Krivsky's praises. Plus it was the right move to make last season when the Reds had a shot at the playoffs.

 
at 6:47 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Don: Even if Livingston is lights out and takes the fifth spot and the Reds dump Milton there will be another rotation spot in June or July when the Reds deal Lohse to a contender.

Which leads to my question:

They'll probably deal Lohse, Hatteberg and Conine. If anyone will take them, they'll deal Milton, Weathers and Stanton.

But the big question is will they deal Dunn? And if so what would they get for him?

 
at 9:02 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you idiots think the Reds will just eat a $9 million dollar contract you're smoking something with no name on the wrapper! Trade maybe but don't forget that the guys you think are saviors are "minor league" players. Give me a break and just enjoy the game!

 
at 9:18 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wish people would quit with the "trade Dunn" commentary. Name 10 players in baseball who will average 40HRs and 100RBIs over the next 5 years (although notably Dunn has not mastered the RBI hit quite yet - I am still hopeful). There just aren't that many out there. Sure I would like him to drive in 130+ and strikeout about 120 times versus the 200+ he is on pace for. But Dunn has the potential to be truly great (50HRs and 130 RBIs per year) and I know people hate the potential tag, but it isn't like he is a slouch and from what I have seen, he has truly improved in the outfield this year. Give the guy a break and worry about the other glaring holes we have (3rd Base and Relief) - MB

 
at 9:15 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm not saying I necessarily want them to trade Dunn. I'm just wondering if it will happen. If Krivsky is looking to make a bold move to revamp his team that would be it. What the Reds need more than anything is a Carlos Lee type guy who is money in RBI situations.

 
at 11:01 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't care if Kearns was Dunn's best friend and I'm not even sure how that's relevant. Dunn is having a better year this year than last, so maybe it's helping. The bottom line is that Kearns and Lopez are stinking for Washington, and their replacements (Gonzalez and Hamilton) are outplaying them in every possible way. Speed is overrated when you're not reaching base anyway.

 
at 7:55 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's all about philosophy.

The Reds have to change their philosophy. This ball club is a bunch of free swingers who don't hit for contact. In a hitters park like GA, you need hitters who try to put the ball in play, not swing for the fences. With a band box of a stadium we'll still hit plenty of HR's. If we do that then when we go on the road & play a quality team we will be able to manufacure runs instead of flying out to center every other at bat!

We also have to change this stupid righty/lefty crap that Narron is pulling. He plays too much by the "book" & not enough by instincts. You have to watch the game!

Friday night is a perfect example. Lohse is pitching ahead in every count, 2 outs no one on first & EVERY batter that inning he gets ahead on 0-2! 1 batter he'd walked on a good at bat against a proven Reds killer & another was a fluke single. Keep pitching with confidence. Nibble on the strike zone & see if LaRoche can beat you. Lohse was in a rythem. IBBing ruined his groove.

The Reds have to change their philosophy!!

 
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