Cincinnati Reds
Notes: Cards complain again
By C. Trent Rosecrans and Scott Priestle, CNATI.com Posted April 5, 2010 5:21 PM ET
St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter threw out a number of baseballs during the course of the game Monday. Then he threw a fastball at the Great American Ball Park operations department.
Chris Carpenter
The Cardinals ace criticized the balls for being too slick, echoing comments he made a year ago.
"I don't know if they do it intentionally or unintentionally," Carpenter said following the Cardinals' 11-6 win over the Reds. "It's no big deal. I know Aaron Harang is throwing the same balls.
"If they're not doing it intentionally, they have to look at it. If they are doing it intentionally, it's unprofessional."
Carpenter said he has too much respect for Reds manager Dusty Baker and general manager Walt Jocketty to think it is intentional. He insisted it "isn't going to affect me mentally." He said his motive for complaining is out of fear that the balls will lead to injury.
Major league baseballs are rubbed with dirt prior to every game to remove the sheen and make them easier to grip. Carpenter said he had a few baseballs Monday that "were like cue balls," which made it more difficult to throw a breaking pitch -- and a breaking pitch that doesn't break is the easist pitch for a batter to hit hard.
"I hope they look into it and make an adjustment, because ultimately somebody is going to get hurt," Carpenter said.
Last season Cardinals manager Tony La Russa accused the Reds of "shenanigans" with the rub-down of balls. Then-Cardinal pitcher John Smoltz complained about the balls and the Cardinals pointed toward Bronson Arroyo and his use of pine tar.
ROLEN ROBBED -- Scott Rolen was pretty sure he was going to join former teammate Albert Pujols in hitting two homers in Monday's game, but Cardinals centerfielder Colby Rasmus robbed him of a homer with two outs in the sixth inning.
Rolen was a Cardinal when former St. Louis centerfielder Jim Edmonds repeatedly robbed Reds of homers at GABP.
Scott Rolen
"I saw him do it in back-to-back innings once, I think," Rolen said. "It's a lot more fun on the other side. Those are tough when you get one robbed, those don't come around too often."
Rolen and Joey Votto both homered in the fourth inning.
Roeln, a native of Jasper, Ind., took part in his first Opening Day as a Red.
"It's pretty cool," he said. "It was a nice ceremony, classy and not too gimmicky out there, I like that. It's just baseball. The fans came out and they were excited to be here and you could hear a buzz in the crowd all day even when things weren't going our way."
RELIEVERS ROCKED -- Reds relievers didn't have a great day on Monday, allowing seven runs, all earned. Last season the Reds' bullpen was third in the National League in ERA.
Mike Lincoln allowed two runs in the seventh, his second inning of work and Nick Masset gave up five in the ninth, including a grand slam to Yadier Molina.
Lincoln is coming off a bad year and didn't have a great spring, finishing with a 5.84 ERA after the Reds tried him as a starter. He got out of the first inning after allowing a leadoff infield single to Molina. But in his second inning of work, he allowed a single to Brendan Ryan to start the inning and then a home run to Pujols.
"I needed that second inning so I didn't go through my whole bullpen," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "You need that second inning bad."
Lincoln gave up a single to Matt Holliday after Pujols' homer and was taken out of the game. Daniel Ray Herrera came in and retired all three batters he faced. Rookie Logan Ondrusek pitched a perfect eighth in his big league debut before handing the ball over to Masset in the ninth.
Masset, who led the Reds with 74 appearances in 2008, gave up three hits, walked two (one intentional) and allowed the grand slam to Molina. Masset didn't give up his fifth earned run until June 20 of last season.
"If he gave up five, he's not giving up any more this year," Baker quipped.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES -- Baker calls catcher Ramon Hernandez "Clutch Man Monie" for his hitting in the clutch. Again and again, Baker has said after Votto, the next guy he wants up with runners in scoring position in Hernandez.
Baker's man was up twice Monday in those clutch situations, but flew out to end the inning both times.
With the Reds down 3-2 in the fourth, Hernandez came up with runners on first and third and two outs. He got ahead of Carpenter 3-0 in the count, batting eighth he had the green light and for a split second thought he'd gotten the perfect pitch to hit.
"I got a little bit on the end, he threw me the cutter," Hernandez said. "I definitely wanted to swing, I didn't want (Harang) to come up with the bases loaded against Carpenter. I wanted to beat him. He made a good pitch and I got it a little on the end."
Hernandez once again came up with two on, two out, down two in the eighth inning, and again he flew out.
POSTGAME PROBLEMS -- More than an hour after the game ended, the entire ballpark was evacuated after a fire was reported.
Workers at the stadium were washing mop heads in a washer and they caught fire, causing the evacuation. People were allowed back in about 15 minutes later.
Categories: Cincinnati Reds, Featured Stories, News
Tags: Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter, Colby Rasmus, Joey Votto, John Smoltz, Mike Lincoln, Nick Masset, Scott Rolen, Tony La Russa
Comments (2)
"I needed that second inning so I didn't go through my whole bullpen," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "You need that second inning bad."
What?
The Reds had SIX other relief pitchers to cover the last three innings. Plus, even if the Reds did "go through their whole bullpen" so what? They have an off day today?
I don't think that Baker cost the Reds the game yesterday, although I sure would have enjoyed seeing it play out with a different pitcher starting the seventh inning clean.
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Dusty is just remarkable, isn't he? Of all the relievers on his roster, he immediately leans hardest on his worst one.
I agree that it didn't cost the game, but the thing about Dusty is that almost all of his in-game decisions (from lineup construction, pinch hitter selection, bullpen use, and roster composition, to he seems to be involved) are *at least* slightly wrong.
No single decision costs the Reds a ballgame on its own, but at some point, all those little nudges toward "L" add up.
Dusty may be a wonder in the clubhouse (though other than Votto, we've seen no career years), but in the dugout, he's consistenly sub-par.
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