A Tough Pill to Swallow: Reds Winning Streak Ends Against Struggling San Diego

It’s true you "can’t win ‘em all," but that phrase offers very little solace when you lose a game you should have won against a pitcher or team that is not very good. 

 

The Reds were down early but managed to fight back to take a 3-1 lead. After that, they quit playing ball. As I’m sure you might surmise, there aren’t many good things to say about Friday night’s game in San Diego.

The Reds made Kevin Correia look like Cy Young

The Pitching

Aaron Harang gave up one run on three hits through five innings, but the rest of the story isn’t so good. He allowed a run in the sixth and three runs in the seventh.

The first one given up was a homer to the Padres’ only real offensive threat, Adrian Gonzalez. I would have pitched around him, but hey, what do I know?

Later, the pitcher’s spot in the order came up in the top of the seventh with runners on first and second and two outs. What would you have done in this situation? Well, if you’re Dusty Baker, you let .083-batting-Harang hit even though it’s a 3-2 game and the man’s pitch count is at 97. I’m not saying that move cost the Reds the ball game, but I’m not saying it didn’t either.

But again, what do I know?

 

The Offense

The bottom line is that if the top of your order doesn’t produce, chances are, you won’t win. Willy Taveras and Jerry Hairston were a combined 0-for-8, and the 14-game hitting streak Taveras brought with him to San Diego was brought to a screeching halt.

At least Joey Votto hit a home run. Even though he is admittedly not feeling 100%, he went 1-for-3 with a walk.

Alex Gonzalez made his return to the lineup and actually helped the team by knocking in two runs. It should be noted that his “hit” probably should have been scored an error; it was a fly ball that bounced off of the glove of Brian Giles. That’s what I would call the definition of an error, but once more, what do I know?

 

The Series

Edinson Volquez (4.40 ERA) will go for his fifth win of the season tomorrow night against the Padres’ Josh Geer (5.14 ERA), who is looking for his first victory of the campaign.

Sunday will be Bronson Arroyo (5-2, 7.02) against San Diego ace Jake Peavy (2-5, 4.30). 

I’m comforted by the fact that, so far, Peavy hasn’t looked as good this year as he has traditionally. However, Bronson hasn’t exactly been Tom Seaver on the mound either. My belief is that if Micah Owings and the Reds can beat Danny Haren, they and Bronson Arroyo can beat Jake Peavy.

But seriously, what do I know?