Reds Lose Fourth Straight

Well the good news is that the Cincinnati Reds continue to make me look smart, constantly adding to my credibility in their coverage; the bad news is that by making my look smart, their bullpen melts down every single game and the Reds are now sporting their worst losing streak of the season and are 7-games behind the first place Milwaukee Brewers. Going in to last night’s game against the mediocre Colorado Rockies, the Reds’ bullpen sported a National League-worst 4.44 ERA, and last night was no different. The game last night was almost a replication of Thursday night’s loss in the rubber-match to the Houston Astros and I will tell you why. On Thursday night, Mike Stanton gave up 3–earned runs in the 8th inning without recording an out to basically seal the Reds’ fate; last night, Victor Santos gave up 3-earned runs in the 8th inning while only recording 1-out and that, too, basically sealed the Reds’ fate.

Furthermore, as I said in Friday’s post Big Day Friday, if the starting pitcher cannot go at least 7-innings, the bullpen will blow the game. On Friday night, Matt Belisle went 6.0-innings and last night Aaron Harang went 5.0-innings, both coming in eventual losses, obviously. I also touched on this topic in Reds’ Recipe For Success, on April 29, 2007, mentioning how the Reds managed a couple of victories by the likes of Matt Belisle recording a complete game and Aaron Harang sticking around for 8-innings. What this means for the Reds’ organization is, to quote myself from last Sunday, “Wayne Krivsky opening up that wallet and getting some Bullpen assistance.”

Trust me, this is not an attempt at shameless self promotion, this is merely saving myself some “blogging time.” This means that if my posts for yesterday, last week, and last year about Reds games happen word-for-word time and time again, then I’ll just start copying and pasting my own work, citing it of course to avoid plagiarism claims from myself against myself, and it will save us all a little bit of precious Internet time.

It is almost like these games are being scripted , kind of like the movie “Major League” before they turned it all around, as I feel this is all most too much of a coincidence to be real. Maybe if they tear a piece of clothing off of a nude cardboard stand-up of Pitching Coach Dick Pole every time they record the win, maybe then the Reds will turn it around…