Boxscore

Boy, that was ugly. Still, after the long winter, any baseball is better than no baseball.

Bronson Arroyo started today for the Cincinnati Reds. It was the Reds spring training home opener, held at the same place as yesterday’s game and against the same team, the Cleveland Indians. Yesterday, the Indians were the home team and lost. This time, the Reds were the home team and lost. I’m sensing a pattern.

In a game that means nothing and from which nothing but silliness can be extrapolated, the Reds offense was shutout and the pitchers were rocked. Arroyo went 2 innings, retiring 6 of his 7 batters, but allowing one run on a home run. Then came the parade of relievers. Francisco Cordero gave up a run during his inning of work. Perhaps more troubling than the run is that he walked a batter. He did that far too much last year, and I hope he’s cut down on that by the start of the season. Dontrelle Willis, Nick Massett, Aroldis Chapman, Bill Bray, and a couple pitchers from minor league camp rounded out the rest. Bray was the only pitcher among them all to throw a 1-2-3 inning.

As for the offense, the Reds had none. Well, they had 8 hits, but never managed to string them together in a productive fashion. Oh, and the defense committed 5 errors. Yeah, it was ugly out there. But it was still fun to listen to.