Cari-DOH!
Nearly 7 innings of great baseball from the pitching and defense, ruined in 4 batters. That was a debacle deep-fried in a disaster served with a chaser of Cubbery.
20/20 Hindsight: After 6 innings of one run ball, 71 pitches and retiring 14 of 16 since the 2nd inning, Lou lifts Carlos Silva. Silva apparently did have some right shoulder tightness. Fair enough. Lou replaces him with another sinker baller in Justin Berg, who takes 7 pitches to get through the 7th. I think it's safe to say the Reds weren't handling the sinker too good by this point. Lou even double switched Marlon Byrd so the pitcher's spot in the lineup wouldn't come up in the top of the 8th. Naturally, you still must replace Berg because he worked an entire inning. He cannot possbly handle the rigors of sitting on the bench for 10 minutes to face the bottom of the lineup after retiring the Reds 4-5-6 hitters. Not when such bullpen lynchpins like Esmailin Caridad and John Grabow can be called upon. Lou goes with Caridad, working for the third straight day and Caridad takes Gomes 0-2 and then loses him on a walk. He does the same with Ramon Hernandez(hint to Lou that he might not have it tonight) and then him and Ramirez get confused on how to take an out when the other team gives it to you, followed by throwing a pitch up and over the plate when Koyie sets-up low and inside on Drew Stubbs. Game over.
This idea of defined roles in the bullpen is neat and all, when you actually have players worth defining. The Cubs have Marmol to close and 6 other guys. Play the match-ups and ride the hot hand. Nobody in that pen besides Marmol is deserving of the benefit of the doubt or entitled to any set role at the moment.
The Good: Carlos Silva was...um...brilliant! Who expected that? The defense did make some fine plays behind him. Ryan Theriot is off the schnide. Mike Fontenot goes 4/5.
Minor League Watch: Jay Jackson got the start for Iowa and goes 5 innings, but gives up 3 runs on 2 home runs. He does strike out 4. Hoffpauir and Dubois go deep in the 5-2 loss. John Gaub gives up 2 runs in an inning of work. At AA, Tony Campana goes 3/4 with a BB and 2 stolen bases out of the leadoff spot and Brandon Guyer goes 2/4 with 2 SB's. Castro goes 1/5. On the pitching side, Ryan Buchter strikes out the side in his inning of work and Jake Muyco picks up the save as Tennessee wins 5-4. Vitters, LeMahieu and Burke each go 1/4 for Daytona with Vitters making an error and getting picked off. Chris Rusin gets tagged for 6 runs in 4 innings in a 7-0 loss. I don't believe Daytona has an extra base hit yet. Jose Valdez goes 3/4 with 2 SB's, plus getting caught once and getting picked off after going 2/4 on Opening night. Peoria loses 5-4 though, although Jeff Antigua strikes out 5 in 5 innings, giving up 2 runs.
Next Up: Z tries to redeem himself against Aaron Harang.
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