* I was told there's nobody new in the clubhouse yet. But we'll see. I don't expect anything major today.
Today's storylines
* Arroyo by night: Reds starter Bronson Arroyo had a better outing in his last start, allowing two earned runs in five innings in Pittsburgh, but it wasn't enough for the win. Arroyo missed a dreaded daytime start on Thursday, but instead drew Brewers' ace Ben Sheets. Arroyo is 6-3 lifetime against the Brewers with a 3.57 ERA. He won both of his starts against the Brewers in 2007.
* Holy Sheets: Brewers ace Ben Sheets is 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA so far this season and is 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA in four career starts at Great American Ball Park. If that's not bad enough, no Reds batter with 10 or more career at-bats has a batting average better than .300 against Sheets. Ryan Freel, who isn't in the starting lineup, is best of that group, going 3-for-11 (.273) against Sheets.
* Prince awakening: The Reds hope Prince Fielder hasn't woken up from his early-season slump. He had been 3-for-30 before an RBI double in the eighth inning of Thursday's game against St. Louis and then hit his first home run of the season in the 10th inning. Fielder has two homers in 18 career at-bats against Arroyo.
Notes and such
* Norris Hopper gets the start in center field for the struggling Corey Patterson. Patterson is 1-for-20 in his last seven games and hasn't had a hit in his last 13 at-bats. Statistically, today wasn't the day for Patterson to break out of his slump -- he's 9-for-40 lifetime against Brewers starter Ben Sheets with 19 strikeouts and one walk. Hopper is 3-for-4 with a walk against Sheets.
"(Patterson) may have been trying too hard in Chicago," Baker said of the former Cub.
* Ken Griffey Jr. chided Hopper and Ryan Freel for their free-swinging ways.
"Can you give me enough time to get my left batting glove on," Griffey said, referring to Thursday's game against the Cubs when the two combined to see three pitches before him in the first and fifth innings.
After both players made outs on the first or second pitch, Griffey said he had to take at least the first pitch.
"Everyone in the place knew I wasn't swinging," Griffey said. "He threw an 81 mph fastball (right down the middle). The catcher threw it back to him harder."
In the fifth inning, he said he made sure to take extra time to get to the plate and then between pitches.
"I looked up there and my man (Volquez) had 100 pitches," Griffey said. "I knew he needed some rest."
Junior also gave Volquez some grief as he watched the young starter go out for batting practice -- "didn't you get enough swings in yesterday?" Griffey said to Volquez, who smiled and said no. Volquez and fellow starter Johnny Cueto have shown off their big swings early this season, taking the theory of swinging hard just in case they hit something.
* When Joey Votto came up with the bases loaded with one out in the fourth inning, all he could think of was that he needed to help his team out. The Reds have been brutal so far this young season with runners in scoring position, but Votto knew he could help his team out with a hit and his team down a run.
"I didn’t want to come up there with bases loaded situation and not put at least one run across the board to tie it up or put us ahead," Votto said. "That was my main priority."
He delivered a bases-clearing double off of Cubs starter Ted Lilly. He added a two-run homer in the seventh inning, also against Lilly.
Votto has hits in eight of his nine starts, batting .406 when he starts and .351 overall.
"I liked what I’d heard about Votto and in spring training I saw it sometimes, but not as much as what I’d heard he’d done in September," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "He almost won that game by himself (Thursday) and that’s capabilities he has. I see more bat speed, more aggressiveness, more confidence. I see it coming all the time. He’s one of the young, future guys for our team here. He’s a future run producer. He works hard, he studies. I’ll still have Hatte in there sometimes, but his upside is more. I’ve always like him, but it’s a matter of him doing it."
Starting the season as part of a platoon with Hatteberg was difficult for him, Votto said, but he understood the situation. But playing more makes him more comfortable.
"(Sitting on the bench) is something I'd never done before," Votto said. "I have played for a little while now. I didn’t think (the slow start) was a matter of something that would last. I thought I’d get it going as long as I got games in. I had to prepare for every pinch hit at-bat, I treid to do the best I could then."
Thursday was also a positive because it showed he could hit against left-handers. Early in the season, he'd sit in favor of the veteran Hatteberg against lefties. He's now hitting .444 against lefties (4-for-9), the best among the Reds.
"By no means am I going to tell you I’ve got a handle on them, it’s something I work at," Votto said. "I’m glad I got through in that situation."
Norfolk (Orioles) 7, Louisville 6: (11 innings)...The Bats just wouldn’t go quietly...they erased a 4-1 deficit to send the game into extra-innings, then matched Norfolk’s 10th inning run with a run of their own...but when the Tides plated 2 runs in the 11th, the Bats could only push across 1...One bad inning marred an otherwise solid outing by LHP Adam Pettyjohn - he gave up all 4 of his runs in the 5th (7ip, 6h, 1bb, 5k, 1hr)....LHP Bill Bray retired all 3 batters he faced (2k)...LHP Scott Sauerbeck (0-1) gave up the winning runs in the 11th (1.1ip, 3h, 2r)...2b Andy Green paced the offense with 3 hits...1b Kevin Barker (2r, 2rbi) and SS Paul Janish (2rbi) both homered.
Chattanooga 6, Huntsville (Brewers) 4: Trailing 4-2 and down to their last 3 outs, the Lookouts ate a can of spinach and scored 4 times courtesy of the long ball...9th inning homers by 2b Drew Anderson (solo) and 1b Luis Bolivar (3-run) won the game and tied the series...RHP James Avery started for Chattanooga and recorded a quality start, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits in 6.0 innings (3bb, 4k, 1hb, 1hr)...RHP Josh Roenicke (2-0) earned the win in relief with 1.2 scoreless innings (2h, 1bb, 2k).
Sarasota 1, Off 0: The SaraReds were off yesterday enjoying National High Five Day...they begin a brief 2-game series tonight vs. Ft. Myers (Twins)...IF Justin Turner ranks second in the Florida State League with a .375 batting average (15-40)...IF Juan Francisco leads the league with 10 extra-base hits and a .625 slugging average.
Dayton 1, Off 0: The Dragons were idle yesterday (Victoria Beckham’s birthday)...they’ll kick off a 3-game series tonight vs. Clinton (Rangers)...OF Keltavious Jones is currently riding a 6-game hitting streak (12-25, .480, 9r) and ranks second in the Midwest League with a .412 batting average (14-34).
Organization's top pitchers PLAYER CLUB(s) W-L, ERA Daryl Thompson CHA 2-0, 0.51 Justin Lehr LOU 2-0, 0.60 Jeremy Horst DAY 1-0, 0.77 Matt Belisle LOU/CHA/SAR 3-0, 1.09 Jordan Smith SAR 2-1, 1.40 Homer Bailey LOU 2-1, 1.42 Luis Montano DAY 2-0, 1.76 Danny Herrera CHA 2-0, 3.55
Appologies to Stef:
In Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Norfolk, Louisville’s Kevin Barker made his season debut, and was mistakenly listed in this report as being the only player in franchise history to play for the Redbirds (1998), RiverBats (1999) and Bats. Actually there are 2 - along with Barker, current Reds bullpen catcher Mike Stefanski has also appeared with all 3 nicknames on his uniform (Redbirds 1996-97, RiverBats 2000 Bats 2002-03).
* Voltron's shot: Edinson Volquez went five scoreless innings in his last outing, but it wasn't enough as reliever Jared Burton surrendered a homer and the Reds lost 1-0 to the Pirates to start the current losing streak. In his two starts, Volquez is 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA.
* The sweep? The last time the Cubs swept the Reds at Wrigley Field in 2004, that was a two-game sweep. The last three-game sweep by the Cubs in Chicago was 2001.
Notes and such...
* Ken Griffey Jr. has 595 home runs in his career, none against today's Cubs starter Ted Lilly. Griffey is 3-for-10 all-time against Lilly.
* During the losing streak, the Reds are hitting just .189 (10-for-53) with runners in scoring position, stranding 47 runners.
* Catcher Paul Bako has tied a career-high eight-game hitting streak, hitting .462 during the streak (12-for-26). Also with streaks are Edwin Encarnacion (six games, .348) and Ryan Freel (five games, .500).
I e-mailed with Rick Sweet last night, he said Jay Bruce "will be fine in a day or two."
Bruce jammed his right (non-throwing) shoulder diving back into first in the fifth inning of last night's 6-1 victory over Norfolk, Bruce was 3-for-3 with his third homer, a triple, two runs scored and two RBIs.
He will probably take tonight's game against the Tides off.
In addition, here's your Jamie Ramsey Express:
Louisville 6, Norfolk (Orioles) 4: Louisville’s improved their record to 10-4, giving them their best start since 1998...RF Jay Bruce went 3-for-3 with a home run (#3), a triple, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored...he’s hit safely in 11 of 13 games (18-54, .333, .345obp, .593slg)...for the second night in a row, RF Jerry Hairston (2-for-4, 3rbi) hit one over the fence...he’s batting a cool .429 (18-42)...1b Jolbert Cabrera (2-for-4) tripled, scored twice and swiped a base...LHP Matt Maloney picked up his first victory, as he allowed 3 runs on 6 hits over 5.1 innings (1bb, 6k)...RHP Jim Brower notched his second save (2ip, 1h, 1k)...Brower, for the season has pitched 8.0 scoreless innings of relief (6h, 3bb, 9k, .207oba).
Huntsville (Brewers) 7, Chattanooga 4: With a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the 7th, Chattanooga allowed 6 runs in the inning and couldn’t recover...RHP Ramon Ramirez started and allowed a run in 5.1 innings (3h, 0bb, 2k)...RHP Carlos Fisher (0-1) suffered the loss, giving up 5 runs in 1.1 innings of relief...LF Sean Henry homered for the 2nd straight day...RF Cody Strait also went deep...CF B.J. Szymanski (1-for-4) extended his hitting streak to 12 games (17-44, .386, 3hr, 13rbi)...he remains the Southern League’s leading hitter.
Lakeland (Tigers) 6, Sarasota 2: 2b Justin Turner continues to swing a hot bat, he went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and now has 8 hits in his last 14 at-bats to lift his average to .375 (15-40)...Sarasota stranded 8 runners...LF Carson Kainer went 2-for-4...SS Chris Valaika doubled, walked and drove 1 in...RHP Daniel Guerrero (0-2) started for the SaraReds and surrendered 4 runs on 6 hits in 4.2 innings (3bb, 7k)...Sarasota is off today (National High Five Day)...they’ll resume action tomorrow night vs. Ft. Myers (Twins).
Dayton 9, Beloit (Twins) 2: DH Brandon Waring (3-for-5, 3r, 5rbi) hadn’t hit a home run since 4/8, but last night he made up for it by belting 2 bombs - 1 of which was a grand slam that landed in Rockford...Overall, the Dragons cranked out a season-high 15 hits, 3 each from Waring and RF Denis Phipps (3rbi), who also homered...RHP Luis Montano improved to 2-0 as he fired 5.0 innings, allowing 2 runs (1er) on 5 hits with 2 walks and a strikeout...Dayton’s bullpen continues to get it done, LHP Jeremy Horst (3ip, 1h, 6k) and RHP Terrell Young (1ip, 1hb) combined for 4.0 scoreless innings...in the last 36.1 innings, Dragons relievers have given up just 4 runs...Dayton is off today (Blah, Blah, Blah Day)...they play Clinton tomorrow.
MINOR LEAGUE NEWS
• Jay Bruce, Jolbert Cabrera and Jerry Hairston collect 7 of Louisville’s 9 hits in the Bats’ 6-4 win over Norfolk...Louisville is off to their best start in 10 years. “Sometimes it’s like, ‘Who are you going to pitch to?’ All three of us can hurt you.” -- Jay Bruce (Louisville Courier-Journal) • B.J. Szymanski (Chattanooga) is riding a 12-game hitting streak and leads the Southern League with a .386 average. • Hairston, Chattanooga’s Sean Henry and Dayton’s Denis Phipps have now homered in consecutive games. • Brandon Waring (Dayton) belted 2 homers yesterday at Beloit -- 1 of which was a grand slam...he and teammate Todd Frazier share the Midwest League lead with 5 homers apiece.
Organization's top batters PLAYER CLUB(s) AVG Jerry Hairston LOU .429 Kel Jones DAY .412 B.J. Szymanski CHA .386 Justin Turner SAR .375 Brandon Waring DAY .373 Jolbert Cabrera LOU .359 Chris Valaika SAR .345 Juan Francisco SAR .339 Jay Bruce LOU .333 Todd Frazier DAY .333
I'm not a panic guy, but this early, there are still some things you can do, if not to help the club win as much to make things cosmetically better.
* It's only three starts, but it's two terrible starts and one OK one. Josh Fogg, thanks, but you're back to the bullpen. What I do differently than maybe some others, although Matt Belisle has thrown well in the minors, I do activate him, but he is a long reliever, paired with Jeremy Affeldt until Affeldt is ready to go 6 innings. We've seen Belisle and I think he has talent, but I'd rather have the lefty Affeldt in there.
* Todd Coffey, you know the way to Louisville. Work on things. It's not your arm, it's your head. While you've got the door open, take Jared Burton with you. Both of you have the stuff, but get the other things ready to be big league late-inning pitchers. Burton skipped some minor league lessons as a Rule V pick last season, he could use them.
* To fill the spot of Affeldt in the bullpen, bring up Bill Bray. Bray's got nothing left to prove in the minors. He's one of the best pitchers in the organization and is ready to help the big club.
* Stick with Edwin Encarnacion. It's tough, but you need the patience for him to come around.
* David Ross is back, there's got to be a taker for Scott Hatteberg. This platoon isn't working. Hatteberg's a great clubhouse guy, a great influence on the young players, but the two left-handed hitting first baseman platoon isn't working. Javier Valentin can play some first, as can Jeff Keppinger. Keep Paul Bako, who the pitchers like, and he and Ross split time behind the plate. Valentin can work behind the plate in a pinch.
* Corey Patterson is not a leadoff guy. Shake up the lineup. Why can't Brandon Phillips hit leadoff? He's a lot like Jimmy Rollins, and it works for the Phillies. An odd thought, but how about this lineup, just for a day to see how it works -- Phillips, Dunn, Keppinger, Griffey, Encarnacion, Votto, Patterson, Ross/Bako. There are lefties back-to-back lower in the order, but still not too bad. I'm not huge on lineup tinkering, but I like Phillips at the top spot and going from there.
* A right-handed bat from the minors, perhaps Jolbert Cabrera (who can play third and first) and send Norris Hopper down. It's not that Hopper isn't doing well, it's just that he's a redundant piece. If not Cabrera, then Jerry Hairston Jr., who is playing well and can play outfield and some infield.
* Soon enough, you'll see Jay Bruce and Homer Bailey, but it's not that time now.
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* With a chance at the cycle, Jay Bruce was pinch-hit for in the seventh inning Wednesday night in Louisville. Bruce told the Courier-Journal's C.L. Brown that he was OK, but he jammed his right shoulder sliding back to first in the fifth inning. Bats manager Rick Sweet said he'd probably give him the day off tomorrow.
