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 Post subject: Re: Cincinnati Reds - My first run through of MLB Power Pros
PostPosted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:09 pm 
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Power Pros 27 wrote:
Fun fact: Brad Hawpe hit an absolute moonshot homer off Manny Delcarmen in the '07 WS.


Oh man, I totally forgot that!

Also, your guys couldn't be much more polar opposites - Hawpe is killing it, Tulo is at AAA working on speed and defense (mostly defense, that F arm strength doesn't cut it at SS). Nice picks.


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 Post subject: Re: Cincinnati Reds - My first run through of MLB Power Pros
PostPosted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:22 pm 
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Lol, Tulo is terrible in '07, but is great in '08. What a difference a year made :lol:

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 Post subject: Re: Cincinnati Reds - My first run through of MLB Power Pros
PostPosted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:42 pm 
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Power Pros 27 wrote:
Lol, Tulo is terrible in '07, but is great in '08. What a difference a year made :lol:


Too true! He's also a clubhouse cancer for Jose Lopez in my made up Power Pros world...so he might be at AAA for a while. We shall see...


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 Post subject: 8/22 - 8/24/15 - 3 games in Milwaukee
PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:13 pm 
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Reds cap on Capuano, win 7-2

Brayan Peña and Spanky Rodiguez can suddenly hit. If they continue that while the top of the order does their thing, this team will spoil a lot of playoff dreams in the upcoming month.

Peña scored two runs and was on base all day, and Rodriguez helped out with three RBI behind them, backing a solid 7 inning effort from Elizardo Ramirez (7-11) in the win. Rodriguez was especially impressive - even when he wasn't getting on base he was driving the ball with authority, with one warning track out and another liner that was caught by a diving J.J. Hardy. With such a rough start to the year, Rodriguez has really turned things around lately, and thanks his Dad/Coach for a lot of that. "It was awesome when Dad was a hitting coach, but he's got a different energy around the team now that he's fully in charge, and it really just helps us all get on our best level."

2nd inning scuffling by Ramirez made it 3-2 early, but no more runs would score for the Brew Crew, and the Reds added several key base hits off of Chris Capuano (6-11) to run away with this one. The only negative was two injury scares for Peña, once on a slide and once on a defensive play, but both times he walked it off and continued to produce as he has consistently lately.

Reds win another thanks to some late inning magic; 3-2

Scott Mathieson and Jeff Suppan were dominant through 6 innings, shutting almost everything down. The game was then a tightrope walk to the finish, filled with tension, but the good guys pulled it out thanks to some timely hits and great pitching in the end.

Mathieson entered the 7th up 1-0 thanks to an Encarnacion's 35th homer, and after one out proceeded to give up back to back homers to Bill Hall and Johnny Estrada. Vic Zambrano (1-0) entered and finished the inning, but the few Reds faithful on hand were slightly discouraged, given the teams many late inning problems under Coach Joe Stekova. But as we've seen lately, this is a different team under the new coach, and with two outs in the 8th Joey Gathright singled to give his team a shot. Shin-Soo Choo was then hit with a pitch, and Brad Hawpe followed with a towering double that plated both runners and gave the Reds a 3-2 lead.

The game was not yet over though - in the bottom of the 8th, off reliever Josh Sharpless, Miguel Tejada hit a one out double. Sharpless got one out, then intentionally walked Hall to face Estrada. Estrada hit a liner grounder at third base, but Encarnacion was able to snag it and throw the ball to first for the third out of the inning, ending the threat. Aroldis Chapman then pitched a 1-2-3 9th for his 28th save.

This now marks the 2nd series in a row where the Reds have won the first two games, and also gives them 5 wins in Coach Rodriguez's first 6 games.

8/24 Pregame :lol:

Coach: "Arroyo!"
Bronson Arroyo: "Yup coach?"
Coach: "usted esta lanzado hoy. No deje que el gran hombre menos."
Bronson Arroyo: "Huh?"
Coach: "Que?"
Bronson Arroyo: "What did you say?"
Brayan Peña: "He said you're starting today! Better get warmed up!"
Bronson Arroyo: "Is this guy crazy? I'm not ready!"
Coach: "usted no quiere jugar? Debo pedirle a mi madre?"
Brayan Peña: "Dude I'd get stretching before Coach changes his mind..."
Coach: Pinche Arroyo..."

Reds sweep first series in months as the magic continues; 8-4

At this point, it seems like even when Coach Rodriguez makes a mistake, he still is successful. It's a shame he wasn't coaching this team months ago, because if he was they could be serious playoff contenders.

A less than limber Bronson Arroyo (who really shouldn't have started) only pitched 4 1/3 innings in this one and nearly gave away a 4-0 first inning lead, but 4 2/3's innings of relief from Josh Sharpless and Jason Vargas was able to shut down the Brewer offense and held the Reds sweep this series in dominant fashion.

A few base hits and back to back homers by Jose Lopez (11) and Edwin Encarnacion (36) put Mark Redman (5-8) in an early hole. Arroyo was then rolling until the 5th, when Redman knocked in an RBI and Arroyo then loaded the bases. Sharpless (3-1) came in and gave up 2 quick runs on a double, but he was then able to double down and finish the inning with the lead intact. Encarnacion, Peña, Choo, and Hawpe then added several runs in the 6th and 7th to give the Reds a big cushion. They used to cushion to give Jason Vargas some of his first meaningful game time, and he responded with several big strikeouts and overall good feelings despite a 9th inning run.

The big story of the game was the 5th inning though, and Rodriguez's pitching decisions. With Arroyo obviously not at his best, and Sharpless rather tired from having pitched the game before, Coach Rodriguez had limited options to use with the bases loaded, one out, and a righty at the plate. Some people called for new reliever James Shields, and others called for mop up man Francisco Rosario, but Rodriguez went with the girl he brought to the ball in Sharpless and, after a brief hiccup, was rewarded for his choice.

For Sharpless, it was a huge vote of confidence. "To go from a 2nd round draft pick this year to a major bullpen piece - I mean I'm just living the dream. I'm glad Coach Rodriguez believes in me, and I hope I can continue to do everything in my power to keep that going so I can continue to show my stuff out there."

Brayan Peña, who has become somewhat of a clubhouse captain since Coach Rodriguez came before, noted after the game that the division leading Cardinals were swept in their series this week. "We were 24 games back when this series started, and now we're just 21. Can you say PLAYOFFS?"

General Notes:
- With a magic number of 18 until they clinch, and the Reds 21 games back, Peña is probably a little overzealous at this point, but stranger things have happened. The current wild card leaders are the 71-56 Marlins, who have the opposite record of the 56-71 Reds. So just 15 games back, though still quite the climb if the Reds were to pull off the miraculous somehow.

- In the third game of this series, all the non-pitchers had a hit except for Ben Zobrist. Josh Sharpless also added a single in his lone at bat.

- Of particular note for the series was Edwin Encarnacion. He was 4-4 in the last game with 3 doubles, 1 homer, 3 RBI, and 2 runs. He had 3 other doubles and another homer in the other games, and is clearly on fire right now.

- Also of note - the Reds bench has gotten very little love lately. Even regular pinch hitter Josh Hamilton did not get an at bat in this series, meaning the Reds bench has just had to watch a lot of baseball. That's great right now since spirits are high, but Coach Rodriguez may want to utilize those guys more in the upcoming weeks to keep morale and stamina up on the team.


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 Post subject: Re: Cincinnati Reds - My first run through of MLB Power Pros
PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:50 pm 
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EdWIN Encarnacion doing the work! May I ask how he fairs in the HR race?

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 Post subject: Re: Cincinnati Reds - My first run through of MLB Power Pros
PostPosted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 11:31 pm 
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Tdud123 wrote:
EdWIN Encarnacion doing the work! May I ask how he fairs in the HR race?


I believe he is, but I'm not sure. If he wasn't he probably is now...3 more homers in the last 2 games!


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 Post subject: Leaderboard update
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:45 am 
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Since tdub asked, I figured I'd post where the Reds sit on some leaderboards. I also swept the Rockies tonight, so these stats include those 3 games, but I'll post the writeups tomorrow.

Pitching:
I didn't actually write the numbers down, because they're all bad things. But I lead the league in
Homers allowed (Arroyo 1st, Mathieson 2nd, Ramirez 3rd)
Hits allowed (Ramirez 1, Arroyo 2, Shields 3, Mathieson 4)
And then Damian Rolls is 7th in highest batting average allowed

So I don't pitch that well :oops:

Hitting:
Avg. - Edwin Encarnacion's .330 is 9th in the league
2Bs - EE's 52 is first (Ichiro is 2nd with 40), and Jose Lopez's 36 are 4th
HR - EE is 2nd with 39 (Beltran has 40), and Hawpe is 9th with 30
HBP - Peña and Lopez are tied for 2nd with 15, Brian Roberts is first with 16
OBP - None of my guys are close but Vlad is first with a .488 - WOW
Total Bases - EE is WAY in first with 352...Pujols has 296 in 2nd
Stolen Bases - Joey Gathright is still leading with 80, but has slowed down a lot with good catchers facing us and a mini slump. Reyes is 2nd with 59, and Jose Lopez has 55 and could catch him

Defense:
Aubrey Huff of the Orioles has like 46 errors. Lol

Brayan Peña continues to lead the league in range factor, but it dropped to 10.5 and he's technically tied with a rookie who has played only 8 games. Hopefully he pulls it off!


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 Post subject: 8/25 - 8/27/15 - Three games against the Rocks at Home
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:30 am 
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Reds fought the Law and, the Reds won; 5-2

The Bobby likely weren't thinking about a Reds-Rockies matchup when they penned their 1966 classic, but the title was fitting, as the Reds faced righty Brian Lawrence (6-6) for the 2nd time in two series and, for the 2nd time, won.

Pitching was huge in this one, as the Reds staff came through in several necessary spots, even though the roles were weirdly mixed. Damian Rolls (6-3) pitched a solid 5 1/3 innings, leaving with a 2-1 lead but also with the bases loaded. Coach Rodriguez played the matchups and brought in his best reliever - closer Aroldis Chapman. Chapman used his wicked splitter to induce a double play grounder from Corey Hart, keeping the lead intact. Edwin Encarnacion then his his 37th homerun in the bottom half of the inning to increase the lead to 4-1. Brad Hawpe would later add a 5th run on his 29th homerun.

Of most interest for many fans was who Coach Rodriguez turned to with the Reds up 4-1 in the 7th - Francisco Rosario. Rosario had been demoted from key situations due to several implosions, but Rodriguez brought him in for the 7th and, though he was shaky and allowed a run, let Rosario pitch the entire end of the game. His 3 innings weren't clean - 5 hits and 1 run allowed, but it was good enough for a Reds win and a Rosario save, his third of the year.

After the game, Rosario seemed glad that the skipper had trusted him to work through some bumps and bruises today. "My slider was not very sharp, but Coach gave me chance to work through it. I appreciate him for that."

EE is unstoppable, forces Reds win with 2nd blast of the day; 5-4

The Reds were in a 4-1 hole for basically the entirety of the game. Edwin Encarnacion wasn't having that, and took matters into his own hands to keep the Reds winning streak alive.

Encarnacion hit his 38th homerun in the 6th to make it 4-3, and then added his 39th with two outs in the bottom of the 8th to put the Reds ahead 5-4. EE came out and tipped his cap due to a standing ovation from the crowd, and has certainly emerged as the man of the hour for this year's Reds team.

The ball looks like a beach ball right now," said Encarnacion. "And as if that's not enough, I've got all these rabid Cincy fans behind me, cheering me on like crazy - it's beautiful man, beautiful."

Taylor Buchholz (3-1) pitched7 2/3 innings for the Rockies, and very nearly had a complete game win, especially given the Reds ineffective pitching early. Tony Armas Jr. had his first start as a member of the rotation, and did not look good. In the 3rd he gave up all 4 runs, including a three run doinker by Matt Holliday that hit the foul pole. By the 5th Armas was out of gas, and so Coach Rodriguez turned, again, to former pariah Francisco Rosario (5-9). Rosario did an amazing job of shutting down the Rockies for two innings, then handed the ball to Pedro Feliciano who did the same and finally to Aroldis Chapman who earned save #29. Chapman did allow a double and the ground grew silent, but he struck out Willy Taveras on a wicked slider to end the game and set the crowd into a frenzy.

The Reds have now won 8 of 9, including 6 in a row. Additionally, the Cardinals lost again tonight after winning their series opener, opening the door ever so slightly for this upstart Reds team.

Do you believe in magic? Reds pull put pitching dual being Bumstead, Encarnacion; 1-0

9 wins in 10 games. That's Coach Rodriguez Sr.'s record so far. Incredible.

The Reds completely shut down the Rockies offense in what was supposed to be a bullpen game, relying on 6 2/3 innings of Madison Bumstead (2-0), 1 1/3 innings of Pedro Feliciano, and then a beautiful 9th inning by Aroldis Chapman (save #30) to win it. No one was getting any hits tonight for either team, and as a result Jeff Francis was the tough luck loser as he has been all season (0-12), giving up only 5 hits in the loss.

The only run scored in the bottom of the third, when Francis hit consecutive batters to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Edwin Encarnacion came up with 2 outs and, as he has done regularly lately, came through with the big hit that scored the game's only run.

Pitching was the big thing for the Reds though. With all the starters tired and James Shield recently demoted to long work, Madison Bumstead received the first start of his career, and was spectacular. He only came out because he grew tired, and though Pedro Feliciano scuffled a bit and put men on 1st and 3rd, a huge strikeout of pinch hitter Mark DeRosa ended the threat and kept Bumstead's win chance alive.

"It felt like I was pitching for Notre Dame again," said Bumstead, who was drafted just this year by the Reds in the first round. "I just trusted my stuff, especially my splitter, tried not to do anything too much, and I'm pretty happy with the results."

Catcher Spanky Rodriguez had high praise for the youngster as well. "He needs to work on the stamina a bit, but that splitter was just filthy today. It looks a lot like his change, and he kept hitters guessing on it all day today. Couldn't be prouder personally."

Post Game
Joey Gathright (on the way to their cars): "Man Jose, I never thought I'd say this but I'm so pumped you got Coach Stekova fired with your antics. We're on a roll!"
Jose Lopez: "Whatever man, it's not coach, it's us. We just had to believe, and it's happening now. We need to make sure we're all hitting though, we can't let Edwin carry us."
Damian Rolls: "Or me carry us..." :lol:
Lopez: "Yeah, you pitchers have been crazy awesome lately. We got your back...well I do at least, I don't know about Gathright over here.
Gathright: "Why I oughta..."
Micah Owings: "Oh you guys..."

Coach Rodriguez Sr. (to himself, while eating a ham sandwich in his car and watching this all go down from afar: "Ah Jose Lopez. Eres como la hormiga reina de la colmena. Deben darse cuenta de que usted no esta mierda sin sus compañeros de equipo, mi amigo."

Troy Tulowitzki (listening in on Rodriguez's outermost thoughts using the listening bug he planted in the glove compartment while the AAA team is off for the day; also eating a ham sandwich, but with ranch dressing rather than chipotle mayo): "There's something strange about this coach...I'll get to the bottom of this."

General Notes:
- With a second consecutive series sweep, the Reds now sit at 59-71 for the season. Who would've thought 10 games ago that the Reds would have an outside shot at .500, let alone the playoffs!

- The Reds have 8 games against the Cardinals over the last few weeks over three different series. What once looked like meaningless games could become very meaningful based on some upcoming matchups. It ought to be a very fun September!

- At one point the Reds rotation looked like three stalwarts and then lots of youngsters threatening. At present, Ramirez, Mathieson, and Rolls seem to have spots secured, but after that all the SP's have been shaky, including Arroyo. Arroyo's spot is certainly safe, and the Reds will try Tony Armas Jr. again the next time he comes around despite a rough first start. But Madison Bumstead can only pitch so much given his lower stamina, and James Shields has been very hittable, so unless this team wants to give spot starts to Jason Vargas, something's got to give.


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 Post subject: Re: 8/25 - 8/27/15 - Three games against the Rocks at Home
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:09 pm 
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SpastikMooss wrote:
Jose Lopez: "Whatever man, it's not coach, it's us. We just had to believe, and it's happening now. We need to make sure we're all hitting though, we can't let Edwin carry us."


It sounds like they are going to go all Kerrigan on my client, interesting to see what they do. (Probably just do better so my man doesn't have to carry them single handed.)

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 Post subject: Re: 8/25 - 8/27/15 - Three games against the Rocks at Home
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:09 pm 
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Tdud123 wrote:
SpastikMooss wrote:
Jose Lopez: "Whatever man, it's not coach, it's us. We just had to believe, and it's happening now. We need to make sure we're all hitting though, we can't let Edwin carry us."


It sounds like they are going to go all Kerrigan on my client, interesting to see what they do. (Probably just do better so my man doesn't have to carry them single handed.)


Would that make Jose Lopez Tonya Harding? lol


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 Post subject: Re: Cincinnati Reds - My first run through of MLB Power Pros
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:45 pm 
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Quite possibly my friend, quite possibly.

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 Post subject: 8/28-8/31/08 - 4 game set vs. Nats
PostPosted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 2:47 pm 
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Arroyo continues the charge, Reds dominate 4-1

As the Reds have heated up, Bronson Arroyo has too. And for the first time in a long time, he did so without a single run allowed.

Arroyo (8-9) pitched a shutout 7 innings, and a Brad Hawpe homerun (30) and several other hits were enough in the end as the Reds won this one 4-1. John Patterson (6-12) took the loss for the Nats, and Aroldis Chapman got the last three outs for his 31st save after Pedro Feliciano gave up a leadoff homerun to Chris Duncan in the bottom of the 9th.

For Arroyo, this game in a lot of ways meant a welcome change. "It's been a year of downs for me, and I feel like I've been constantly letting my team down, but for once I took a team down and it just felt fantastic."

The win also gives the Reds 10 in 11 games, including 7 straight. This is getting absurd.

Reds belittle great effort by Belisle, win 3-1

Matt Belisle was traded to the Nats this year when Reds brass felt his high salary wasn't befitting of a sub .500 team. And though he pitched well in this one, the Reds showed just how far they've come in the several months since Belisle went away.

Brad Hawpe had a 2 RBI double, and Spanky Rodriguez added a run scoring single to come back from a 1-0 deficit and beat Washington 3-1. Other than some 2nd inning hits that led to the early 1-0 hole, starter Elizardo Ramirez (8-11) continued his recent streak of success and did just enough to beat Belisle (5-6), who went 7 innings in this one. Ramirez went 8, and Aroldis Chapman came in for the 2nd night in a row for his 32nd save, tying him for the league lead.

Ramirez, who was a good friend of Belisle's when he was with the team, was seen trading jerseys with him after the game. "He meant a lot to us last year and this year, so it's nice to compete with him again at such a high level. I know we're facing the Nats again in a week or so, and Matty is already talking about how he's gonna hit a homer off of me...such a knucklehead."

Nats bats stay flat, Reds win 5-1

Maybe it's these Reds pitchers, maybe its the Nationals hitters, but whatever the case, 3 runs in 3 games won't cut it, especially given the Reds ability to score runs in bunches.

The Reds offense scored 4 runs in a wild 8th to break a 1-1 tie off of Luis Ayala (6-9), ruining a solid 7 inning effort from the duo of Duaner Sanchez and Chad Cordero and giving Scott Mathieston (5-7) and the Reds another win. For the first 7 innings, the only runs were solo shots by Brad Hawpe (his 31st) and Chris Duncan (his 8th). But in the 8th, Ben Zobrist singled and pinch runner Freddy Bynum stole 2nd. Joey Gathright knocked him in with a single and then stole 2nd as well, and a few hits later the game was far out of reach for the Nationals.

Nationals catcher Brian Schneider has had a rough go of it this series, with the Reds constantly running wild on the basepaths given his weak arm. This has been a delight to Gathright, who had been thrown out constantly lately against some tougher catchers. "We're at our best when we're in that pitcher's head" said Gathright. "Stealing 2nd, stealing 3rd - heck give me a chance to steal home and I'll take it. We're unstoppable right now baby."

The win marked the Reds 9th in a row, and put them 16 back of the first place Cardinals.

Pre-game, 8/31/08
Brayan Peña: "Man Spanks, your Dad is magical. Our team sucked so hard for most of the year, then all of a sudden your Dad coaches us and we're dominant. What's his secret?"
Spanky Rodriguez: "I wish I could tell you. I just know I never saw him for years until he became the hitting coach this year...and then he was pretty quiet til becoming head coach...and now we're dominant. It's like the plot of a movie or something...I mean I hadn't seen the guy since I was 12 years old..."
Coach Rodriguez (walking in on the players at just the right moment): "Estamos esperando grades cosas de ti chico. Todos vamos a estar viendo, te acuerdas de eso."
Troy Tulowitzki (hidden inside a locker, thinking to himself): "That Coach Rodriguez has gotta have some skeletons in his closet or something...how is he making all this happen?"

Bats finally wake up, Reds win nailbiter 8-7; sweep series (again!)

Damian Rolls has looked great at starting pitcher lately, and when staked to an 8-0 lead, you'd figured he'd be plenty good. But as it turned out, the Reds needed every one of those 8 runs to win this one.

The Nationals stormed back in the 4th and 5th innings, led by a Nick Johnson homerun (his 9th), multiple singles, and a Brad Hawpe bases loaded error, but it wasn't quite enough as the miraculous Reds pulled off another win in this one. After the Hawpe error it was 8-6 in the 5th, and Chris Duncan made it 8-7 with his 3rd homer of the series (9th overall) against Pedro Feliciano in the 7th. But the Reds bullpen held on from there, including Aroldis Chapman with his 33rd save of the year and 5th of the week.

Madison Bumstead pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief of Rolls to move to 3-0, and Nationals starter Chris Schroder, who was pounded, moved to 0-3 in just 3 innings of work.

Rolls, who fell apart in the 4th and 5th after a solid first few innings, was thankful for his teammates. "There were some great plays out there today - I know Zorilla had a few nice stabs at SS, and Spanks made some nice catches behind the plates. It's like they had a little extra help or something on some of those defensive plays - I'll take whatever boost they can get if it keeps giving us w's!"

General Notes:
- The Cardinals lost today, so the win by the Reds keep the Cards magic number at 13 with the Reds 16 games back and closing. It seemed crazy to think the Reds had a shot at this, but with 13 wins in 14 games, they really might. The Reds also closed in on the Marlins, who have the Wild Card spot at the moment, as they are now just 12 games back.

- For his 5 saves in one week, Chapman received the reliever of the week award for the NL. This is the first time the Reds won an award since early May.

- In terms of practice progress, James Shields curveball went from a 2 to a 3, and Josh Hamilton's defense went from a D 8 to a D 9.

- The Reds now begin August by playing at home for the next 7 days, with 3 games against division cellar dweller Milwaukee and 4 games against these same Washington Nationals.


Last edited by SpastikMooss on Fri Jul 17, 2015 2:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Cincinnati Reds - My first run through of MLB Power Pros
PostPosted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 4:22 pm 
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I've worked out some ideas

Tulo - Gollum
Spanky Sr - Gandalf
Arroyo - Bilbo
Lopez - Frodo/Tonya
Edwin - Thorin

Hobbit references.

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 Post subject: Re: Cincinnati Reds - My first run through of MLB Power Pros
PostPosted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 4:59 pm 
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Tdud123 wrote:
I've worked out some ideas

Tulo - Gollum
Spanky Sr - Gandalf
Arroyo - Bilbo
Lopez - Frodo/Tonya
Edwin - Thorin

Hobbit references.


Hah, I love the idea! Especially Tulo as Gollum and Edwin as Thorin. Awesome.


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 Post subject: 9/1 - 9/3/08 - 3 games at home vs. the Brewers
PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 12:16 pm 
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Zobrist a hero, as Reds win 8-7

With the bases loaded in the 8th inning, Ben Zobrist was not able to come through. Given a 2nd chance in the 9th inning, Zobrist made it count and sent the home fans happy.

Zobrist hit a liner over SS off of Derek Turnbow (0-3) to plate two runs and allow the Reds to walk away from this back and forth affair with a win, 8-7. The Reds led most of the way thanks to an early Brad Hawpe homerun (one of two in the game, giving him 33 for the year), and kept that lead despite the Brewers chipping away at it inning after inning. It seemed like every time the Reds scored a run the Brewers scored too, and when Prince Fielder homered off of Josh Sharpless in the top of the 7th to make it 7-5 Brewers, the game appeared to be over. But Hawpe homered in the 8th, and Zobrist's walkoff finished things off. Pedro Feliciano (7-1) pitched the 8th to get the win.

"It's been a long year - first with inconsistency, then with my injury, and then just coming back - it's nice to finally be hitting again," said Zobrist.

Reds, Arroyo dominate Brewers in 4-1 win

Bronson Arroyo is on some kind of a streak. Too bad it didn't come earlier in the year, because then this Reds team would probably already have a playoff spot lined up.

Arroyo (9-9) pitched a beautiful complete game, with his only run allowed being a bases loaded walk to Bill Hall, and Jose Lopez had two doubles and a triple to aid the Reds to a 4-1 win.

"Things are really just coming together for us as a team," said Arroyo. "I'm seeing guys dive further, jump higher, and balls dropping for hits that were lineouts before. We're just in a special place right now."

Kevin McGlinchy (5-4) took the loss for the Brewers, despite only allowing two runs in 5 innings and scoring the Brewers lone run.

Bullpen game goes the Reds way thanks to Zobrist, Reds win 6-5

For the third time in three games, Ben Zobrist came up with the bases loaded. For the second time, he connected, and sent the Reds home winners.

Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 8th, Zobrist lined a bases loaded triple off of Brewers started Mark Redman (5-9) to make the Reds winners in a game that was back and forth all day. Aroldis Chapman (1-5) made it interesting in the 9th with a few singles, a passed ball, and a Koskie double, but he then set down the next three batters to send the Reds home victorious.

And it's good he did, because the Reds seemed to use everyone out of the pen today. Pedro Feliciano pitched 3 1/3 innings, Francisco Rosario followed up with 1 2/3 of his own, and then Micah Owings and Josh Sharpless pitched back to back innings. Chapman was on his 2nd inning in the 9th, with the only available arms in the pen being a fatigued James Shields, a depressed Jason Vargas, and mop up guy Vic Zambrano, so luckily Chapman was able to shut them down.

The win gave the Reds yet another sweep, and puts their winning streak at 13 games. The division leading Cardinals were swept by the Wild Card leading Marlins, meaning that the Cardinals magic number stays at 13 with the Reds now 13 games back (and 12 back of the Marlins).

Post Game, at Dave and Busters
Brayan Peña: "Hey Micah, I bet I can beat you in skeeball!"
Micah Owings: "No way man - that's my game!"
Brayan Peña: "Okay, let's see it."
*Owings and Peña put their quarters in, and proceed to put on a clinic. Peña lets Owings roll the last ball first, and it goes into the middle for a 50 score to put Owings up by 90. Peña then rolls his last ball towards the corner, and appears to be missing terribly, but the ball suddenly curves sharply and lands directly in the 100 point hole, giving Peña the win.
Micah Owings: "Wow man, that was some curve. You really must be good at skeeball!"
Brayan Peña (to himself): "I didn't curve that ball like that...what's going on?"

Spanky Sr., playing pinball nearby but with one eye on the skeeball game (to himself): "un tisket, un tasket, cada intento va en la canasta."

Troy Tulowitzki, watching this all through binoculars from underneath the air hockey table (to himself): "I knew something fishy was going on...I'm gonna head to the library next week and see if I can get to the bottom of this!"

General Notes
- Progression for the week: Brad Hawpe's contact moved from a 10 to an 11.

- In the third game of the week, Joey Gathright made the play of the day in the 3rd when he threw out a runner at 3rd from center field to get the third out. With Prince Fielder coming to the plate next with a potential first and third situation, that was a huge play.

- Francisco Rosario continues to take one step forward and two steps back with every outing. He came in for a tiring Pedro Feliciano in the 4th inning of last game and got two huge strikeouts, but then gave up the lead in the next inning by loading the bases with singles and giving out a two out liner. Coach Rodriguez Sr. clearly believes in him enough to keep giving him occasional chances, but Rosario needs to pitch better.

- Micah Owings had quite the little three game stint, with two pinch hit singles and two innings pitched. Sadly his pitching stint in the last game included a Johnny Estrada homerun, but it was still nice to see the lightly used Owings get some time on the mound and at the plate.


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