The Reds took down the Pirates on Monday, 4-7 in Sarasota.

Wayne “Kriv-dog” Krivsky sat three rows in front of us and was only on his cell phone two or three times. He disappeared from his seat for the third and part of the fourth inning. Apparently he was actually interested in seeing the game as he remained in his seat after returning, keeping score in his book and timing people with his stopwatch.

Lefty Eric Milton got the start and made it look easy in the top of the first. He took out Chris Duffy, Freddy Sanchez, and Sean Casey quickly, despite the PA playing “Welcome Back, Kotter” for Casey and the crowd cheering like crazy. Unfortunately, the Reds were similarly disinteresting in the bottom of the first.

Milton struck out Craig Wilson before walking Joe Randa to provide the runner that Jose Hernandez would need to launch a two-run home run to center field. Milton would get another strike out in the inning, though.

In the bottom of the second, Edwin Encarnación doubled off the center (not left) field wall. Scott Hatteberg moved him over with a single to center field, setting up Javy Valentín for a sacrifice fly. Milton flied to right field where the fielder couldn't handle the ball, but Felipe Lopez struck out to strand him on first and Hatteberg on third.

The top of the third saw another home run from the Pirates, this time a solo shot from Craig Wilson. But Griffey was ready to match it in the bottom of the inning with a two-run number after Rich Aurilia walked. Griffey's home run cleared the batter's eye and caused much oohing and ahhing.

Milton got two more strike outs in the top of the fourth and went three-up, three-down in the top of the fifth to finish out his effort for the day. His line when it was all said and done was five innings, five hits, three runs, two walks, four strike outs, and two home runs. For Milton, not bad at all.

Lopez led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk. After Aurilia popped out to the short stop and Griffey flied out to right field, Lopez stole second while Adam Dunn was batting. Dunn then promptly hit a double to center field, scoring Lopez and making the score 3-4.

Mike Burns took over in the sixth to knock down three Pirates in a row. The Reds went down similarly in the bottom of the inning.

The Pirates' Sanchez sacrificed in a run in the seventh to tie up the score at fours, but this time the Reds didn't answer.

Chris Hammond came in in the top of the eighth inning. He struck out Craig Wilson on a pitch that measured 80 mph by the radar gun of the scout in front of us. Mike Edwards singled just over Lopez' head and advanced on a wild pitch while Ronnie Paulino was batting. Paulino singled to center taking the runner to third. Matt Meath hit to third, getting Wilson in a rundown between third and home. Three throws later, Lopez dropped the ball and the runner was safe at third. Nick Theodorou grounded to third where Frank Menechino touched the base and threw to first to end the Pirates' threat.

Things got interesting in the bottom of the eighth when Griffey doubled to deep right field. Griffey went to third and Dunn reached first on a swinging strike three when the ball got away from the catcher. Ryan Freel came in to pinch run for Dunn. Jacob Cruz struck out but provided the opportunity for Freel to steal second. The Pirates intentionally walked Hatteberg to load the bases and get to Austin Kearns. Then, while Kearns was batting, a passed ball allowed the runners to advance, including Griffey coming home to get lead: 4-5. Kearns went on to draw the walk and again load up the bases for David Ross to let fly a 2-RBI single to center field. Menechino grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Reds up, 4-7.

Mercker came in in the top of the ninth to safeguard the lead. He induced a broken-bat ground out from Nate McLouth, gave up a single to Duffy, but got Sanchez to ground into a double play to put a win in the books for Cincinnati and set up the mood for the fireworks extravaganza that followed the game.

The win brings the Reds' record to 17-11 and ensures a winning spring for our boys. Tonight they host the Boston Red Sox in Sarasota.

The Reds lost to the Indians by a score of 9-4 on Sunday in Winter Haven. The Reds did not enjoy the services of Ken Griffey, Jr., Adam Dunn, or Jason LaRue for this game, possibly because the Indians have the worst spring training facilities I've ever seen. That's certainly the reason they did not enjoy the services of me.

Brandon Claussen got the start and struggled through his four innings of work. He allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits. He also had seven strike outs, which doesn't seem to jibe with the rest of those numbers. Perhaps a testament to how many batters he faced in his time on the mound?

Todd Coffey, Brian Shackelford, Jake Robbins, and Matt Belisle each pitched an inning of relief. Everyone went scoreless except Robbins who allowed three runs (one earned).

Austin Kearns was hit by pitches twice to go with his home run off Danny Graves. Brian Buchanan knocked in two and Quinton McCracken knocked in one for the Reds' total four runs. Four was also the number of Reds' errors, two coming from Edwin Encarnación, and one apiece from Jeff Bannon and Matt Kata.

The Reds' record after the loss was 16-11. They would come home to Sarasota to host the Pirates on Monday.

The Reds rallied against the Minnesota Twins to win 9-11 in Sarasota on Saturday.

Our newest pitcher, Bronson Arroyo, got the start. Arroyo, who came to the Reds from Boston in exchange for Wily Mo Peña was known by many in the crowd, but not by all. The people in the row behind us were keeping score and seemed to know quite a bit about baseball in general. However, they apparently hadn't heard about the trade and when they saw Arroyo warming up on the field, they didn't know who they were looking at.

Man: That guy is stretching like he's starting. Who's #61?
Woman: (looking in program) Bubba Nelson. Non-roster invitee.

Arroyo started off the first inning with a strike, but the inning got a little rockier from there. After Jason Tyner popped out to the shortstop, Luis Rodriguez singled to left field and Jason Kubel doubled off the wall in center. That set up Justin Morneau for an RBI single to left center before the Twins were done with the first.

Third baseman Edwin Encarnación got the run back and then some in the bottom of the first when he knocked in Tony Womack (who had walked!!) and Felipe Lopez (who had singled) on his double of the left field wall. The score was 1-2 in the Reds' favor after 1.

Arroyo struck out two during a 1-2-3 top of the second. In the bottom of the second, e worked a full count before grounding out to third, and let me tell you, that boy can run. Unfortunately, that was the most interesting thing to happen in the Red's half of the second, so the score remained 1-2.

The top of the third was ugly. After a quick ground out to second, our new pitcher walked two. Another another infield out, and he gave up the three-run bomb to Glenn Williams. The people behind us laughed: he's not making the roster this year, they said.

Josh Rabe followed up the home run with a broken bat double down the left field line that Encarnación just stood and watched go by. It wasn't scored an error, but I hope someone gave him a serious talking to about it. Rob Bowen hit an RBI single to center field to bring the score to 5-2 before Jason Bartett hit into a fielder's choice to finally end the pain of the inning.

Neither Encarnación nor anyone else in the bottom of the third was able to do much productive, and the fourth inning was three-up, three-down for both teams. I was investigating the hot dog situation during the fourth inning, but when I returned, by husband told me that there was a bit of a hubbub in our section when someone thought they spotted David Wells walking to the dugout in a Reds uniform. I think it must have been Rick White, but if it was the people behind us who thought they saw it, who knows.

The top of the fifth saw one of those great, right-through-the-legs type errors from Tony Womack that eventually allowed an unearned run to score. Arroyo was pinch hit for in the bottom of the fifth by Javier Valentín. He left the game having allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits through five innings pitched. He struck out three and walked two.

After Jason LaRue's solo shot to right field, the Reds went down in order to bring the score to 6-3 after five. The top of the sixth saw David Weathers face just three batters. He walked one of them, but the runner was erased on a double play.

The home-running really got started in the top of the fifth. Ken Griffey, Jr. led off the inning with a home run to center field. Encarnación popped out to second to set up Adam Dunn for his own solo shot to right field. The scoreboard said, horrifyingly enough, “That ball is DUNN!” The score was 6-5 after six innings, and I was beginning to entertain the glimmer of a notion that the offense might spare the new guy the loss.

The game was starting to fell remarkably like the regular season games last season. Especially when Kent Mercker came in to walk Matt Tolbert, give up a double to Kubel, and hand over a sacrifice fly to Jason Hart to make the score 7-5.

In the bottom of the seventh, Javy doubled off the wall in center field to set up Womack for the RBI single to right center. And despite the fact that Womack successfully stole second base, Griffey popped out to second to end the seventh inning with a score 7-6.

That old familiar came back in the top of the eight when Chris Hammond took the mound. With one out, Bartett doubled down the right field line, and Luis Maza doubled to left field to bring in a run. Dunn actually dove after Maza's double, but only after he'd already gotten a slow start. Tolbert hit into a fielder's choice to score yet another run before Kubel flied out to center to end the top of the eighth with the score at a disappointing 9-6.

But the Reds weren't done. In the bottom of the eighth, Encarnación walked and Frank Menechino pinch ran for him. Or rather, he pinch jogged when Dunn hit his second home run of the game, this one to center field, to bring the score to 9-8. Hatteberg singled into right field. Kata struck out, but Freel singled to right field and Valentín singled to second to load up the bases. Jacob Cruz field out to left field, but Andy Abad walked to tie up the game. Griffey singled to right center for a couple RBI to give the Reds their first lead since the third inning 9-11.

Ryan Wagner pitched the top of the ninth. He struck out Hart, and fell on his butt beating Tiffee to first base. Josh Rabe singled to center field, and took second base on fielder indifference before Wooten grounded out to third to leave the game in the win column for the Reds.

The win brought the Reds' record to 16-10. They would travel to Winter Haven on Sunday to face the Cleveland Indians.

By now, Jason LaRue has probably already undergone arthroscopic surgery on his knee to repair a torn meniscus. He's slated to be out for 10 to 14 days, which is consistent with what they told me when I was facing this surgery. But I don't think that estimate takes into account the fact that LaRue is the toughest thing since Aunt Betsy's pot roast. He'll probably be back at it later this afternoon.

OK, I guess the medical staff will probably prevent LaRue from actually doing that. And assuming that the Latin Love Machine doesn't end up on the reality end of one of the rampant trade rumors, I suppose that means that we'll see Javy Valentín behind the plate on opening day.

And to think I'm going to miss it. Oh well, I'll have the GameDay on my computer at work. That's practically the same thing. At least that's what I tell myself.

Anyway, get well soon, Jason.