Boxscore

After two extra-inning games with the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds were looking forward to an easy series against the Washington Nationals. I mean, the Nationals are so bad.

The Reds won the first game of the series, although the team scored only 3 runs. Of course, anyone who thought this team was well-put together and would be able to get by on just its pitching is a moron. I’m looking at you Walt Jocketty.

The second game was going well last night until rain arrived in the bottom of the 9th with Francisco Cordero on the mound. The Reds were ahead 2-0 when the umps delayed the game. The delay lasted for more than 2 hours! And Dusty Baker, pitcher killer that he is, returned Cordero to the mound. Obviously due to the great results seen from Aaron Harang a few weeks ago.

Of course, Cordero blew the save, but Baker’s idiocy gets taken off the hook because Jonny Gomes drove in a run in the 12th to allow the Reds to win. Lack of offense aside, I would be enjoying the Reds so much more if Baker were nowhere near this team.

After the parade of veterans the Pittsburgh Pirates have sent out over the last few forevers, it shouldn’t have been such a shock to see them ship Nate McLouth off to the Atlanta Braves for 3 prospects.

On the one hand, shouldn’t the Pirates eventually run out of best players? On the other, this is the exact thing that the team should be doing. They’re not going to have a winning season with McLouth this ear. He had a career year last season. Sure, it as his first real year in the majors, but he’s in his late 20s and likely to regress. Best to replenish the farm system while you can.

And GM Neal Huntington did. Charlie Morton, Gorkys Hernandez, and Jeff Locke all are coming into the Pirates system. Two starters and an outfielder, all young and with some decent upside, is quite a haul. It’s absolutely what the Pirates should be doing, and I’m enjoying watching Huntington move towards ending the Pirates losing.

The following tidbit is an RHM exclusive, so remember where you read this first: the Reds now have three outfielders who have finished in the top five in Rookie of the Year voting within the past 5 years.

Today, Jonny Gomes stepped off the bus from Louisville and ripped the first pitch he’s ever seen in the NL down the left field line for a pinch-hit double in the eighth inning, subsequently scoring the go-ahead run for the Reds in a 3-1 series opening win over the Indians. Hopefully just a sample of what he’s going to do to NL pitching.

The point: Gomes, was #3 in the AL ROY voting in 2005. Wily Taveras was #2 in the NL that same year, and of course Jay Bruce was #5 in the NL last year.

Now let’s see how long it takes the beat writers to pick up on this!

There have been a few big disabled list moves over the past week.

First off, let’s start with the Chicago Cubs, currently stuck in the middle of the division. With Ryan Dempster “struggling”, or “returning to normal” as I like to call it, surely the team doesn’t need any more adversity in their pitching staff. Whoops, too late.

Carlos Zambrano has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain.

Zambrano hurt himself running out a bunt. I do have to wonder if the Big Moose is starting to wear down, though, as he ages. He had injuries last year, too.

Still, Zambrano doesn’t have the worst injury. No, that belongs to St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, who crashed face-first into the wall while making a catch. Hopefully, he’s able to bounce back. However, if the damage to his face is too severe, he should rest assured that modern medicine is now capable of face transplants. All he’ll need is a donor.

Lastly, in the category of “Boy, I didn’t see that one coming,” Cincinnati Reds shortstop Alex Gonzalez has strained his oblique muscle. Having followed the Reds like I have for most of my life, you can bet they’ll do their best to hamstring “manager” Dusty Baker by *not* placing Gonzalez on the DL and having him be day-to-day for a week or two. I think it’s called the GL, the Griffey List. It’s a good thing the Reds didn’t trade away any useful middle infielders during the off-season. They’re going to need them.

Boxscore

Whatever Johnny Cueto did in the offseason, it should be bottled up and sold for massive profits. He appears to be a new man. Last year he was trying to prove he belonged in the major leagues. This year he is looking like a Cy Young winner. Yes, its early, but all hyperbole aside, the one thing that hurt Cueto last year was his high number of base on balls. Lack of command. This year teammate Volquez became the guy who walked too many batters. Cueto is dealing. Right now he easily looks like the ace of the staff. His line: 8 innings pitched, 9 Ks and zero BBs.

Bruce smashed a solo homerun in the second inning and it was an easy ride to victory. Jay looks like the cleanup hitter to me. Sure it means batting consecutive lefties but the fact that Votto is hitting .333 against southpaws makes the decision more palatable. I think we’ll get this lineup thing figured out by mid-June, folks. I really do.

I will give credit to Dusty for having a psychic vision during his sleep. Apparently the lineup card last night had Rosales slotted for #6 with catcher Ramon Hernandez behind him. After his vision Dusty flipped Hernandez and Rosales. The big hit today came from Hernandez, a bases clearing 2 out single.

Dusty resisted abusing Cueto this early in the year by sending him out for the 9th. Instead he sent in Old man Rhodes who pitched a scoreless inning for the hold. He is on pace to pitch about 100 frames this year. That’s approximately the same number of innings he pitched from 2006-2008 combined. If his arm doesn’t fall off by August the Reds have a good chance of making the playoffs.