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Reds Insider
From news of the day to news of the weird, John Fay provides a glimpse of what it’s like to cover the Cincinnati Reds

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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Friday, August 24, 2007

Reds 5, Marlins 3

The Reds have won four straight and could wake up tomorrow morning 7 1/2 games out in the mighty NL Central.

Aaron Harang pitched seven solid innings to go to 13-3. Jeff Keppinger, Brandon Phillips and Javy Valentin came up with big hits. David Weathers got the save.

But the most encouraging thing for the Reds may have been Gary Majewski pitching a scoreless eighth. Putting Majewski in to protect a one-run lead in his first stint here would have been managerial suicide. But Majewski's looks like a different guy this time around.

"Huge," Pete Mackanin said of Majewski's contribution.

If Majewski, who's got a 3.38 ERA in nine games since returning from Louisville, can join the set-up crew, the bullpen becomes much more solid.


7 Comments:

at 4:37 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

rgJohn Fay;

The entire bullpen has acted as if they have visited the “the fountain of relief” Pete M. looked very confident and his pitches were all at knee level or lower. I mentioned in a previous post that the sounds of the game were different with Jeff K. and Norris in the line up and now it looks as if the results are also different. The basic difference is the relief pitching and stronger defense. I feel sorry for the fan that can only complain and rant. The ball club is playing up to the hopes that existed this spring. If these “fans “ would look around at the pitching that is available from other clubs known for great pitching they would be able to see that except for a reliable third starter the club is not that far away. This resurgence may not last this year but why not enjoy seeing winning baseball as long as we have it. One other thing, has anyone noticed that Ken G. has been making more outs at bat on the left side of the infield. That “seasoned veteran” is trying very hard to go with the pitches to left field. Let’s enjoy this while we can. My patience comes from growing up as a Senator fan and what the walking man (Ed Yost) play third base in Griffith Stadium. Of course I also got to see the 1950’s Yankees 10 or 12 times a year.

 
at 9:17 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

If only the Reds had fired Narron a month earlier, where would they be today. He should have been fired after the team dropped 3 of 4 to the Nationals and 3 of 4 to Pittsburgh back in May.

 
at 10:46 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

With Majewski and Bray finally showing signs of what they can do, the Lopez/Kearns trade is beginning to look far less lop-sided than it once it.

John, with the Reds arguably still in contention, do you think there's a chance we'll see Bailey, Cueto or Maloney before next year?
Thanks.

 
at 10:56 AM Blogger John Fay said...

Bailey, definitely if he's healthy. I'd bring up the other two, but I'm not sure the Reds will. Remember, Bailey did not get a callup last year.

 
at 1:12 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

If If If

So all of a sudden Majewski and Stanton are great pitchers that can be relied upon in the late innings?

LMAO!!!! Very funny!

How short memories can be!

How easily a little 4-game win streak deludes some people!

Listen, every little winning streak this club has managed this year has been followed by a losing streak where the pitching has been dreadful. Instead of losing a game, and then resuming winning ways, the Reds usually take 5 steps backwards after taking 4 steps forward.

Sure, their record under Mac is now really good. And yes, they've managed to begin taking 5 steps forward for every 4 steps back...but this is still the same collection of pitchers that repeatedly blew large leads for 90% of the season.

Nothing MUCH has changed.

Maybe Majewski has figured it out. That would be nice, since we're stuck with him.

This club is probably FAR AWAY from the top clubs in pitching. It figures that a Senators fan thinks he knows about pitching! That's funny!

I used to attend Senators' games in the mid 1960s. I can tell you that the Reds pitching is about as bad as Washington's circa 1967! (Washington was 76-85 that year...it is very unlikely that the Reds will finish 2007 ONLY 9 games under .500).

Even Phil Ortega, who threw a 4-hit shutout for Washington against the White Sox (on 9/29/67), occasionally pitched well.

ANYONE in the majors can have one or two good outings. Big deal!

The Reds have 7 or 8 Phil Ortegas (never won more games than he lost in his 10-year career, lifetime ERA of 4.43) on the team--guys who will NEVER be leading a team any higher than 3rd or 4th place, whether as starters or relievers.

If you don't like the truth, too bad about you! Go back to Minnesota (where the Senators are now), and take Wayne with you!

 
at 1:45 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nothing much has changed? Not that long ago, the Reds were 12 or 13 games out of it, the bullpen was horrible, EE was in the minors, and the sky was falling. Now, Bray, Majewski and Stanton are pitching exceptionally well, Jared Burton looks like the next coming of Joe Nathan, Jeff Keppinger and Norris Hopper look like bright young stars, and the Reds are suddenly back in contention. It's very easy to criticize Reds' management for poor moves earlier in the season, or in the offseason, but let's give credit where credit is due. Mackanin is doing a great job and the club right now is playing better than any team in the Central. Ask the Braves how they feel about the club. Go Reds!!!

 
at 12:47 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

gvyebobJohn Fay;
On Friday I wrote,” I feel sorry for the fan that can only complain and rant.” And sure enough a response was made. It is obvious that some people would whine if the Reds were 25 games over 500. It is a shame that a persons remark are met with the cry of “get out of town”.

 
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