The first win of 2008!  The Reds jumped out to a big lead early and never looked back. J5 (Jonny Neal) contributed with a big 2 RBI hit in the second to help propel the Reds. The Big Wheel (Jim Neal) chipped in with solid hitting. The Elder Statesman (Paul Taylor) came through with a big RBI as well. Nick “the New Guy” Newman ripped the ball all day coming up with 2 doubles.  The Reds also legged out a number of infield hits but landed plenty in the outfield grass.  Stretch (Dave Calhoun) got his first hit of the season and The Professor (Jeffe Boates) continues to hit the ball well. C-Money (Clinton Brooks) worked his way on base all day and scored on a bang-bang play at the plate on a shallow sac fly. Those legs still work!

Player of the Game:  Big Brown (Doug Brown).  He pitched seven excellent innings. Here’s to Doug for going out and doing exactly what the Reds needed him to do – 7 innings on a short pitching staff for one, but more importantly leading the Reds to Win #1 of 2008.  

Patience at the plate, solid defense, excellent pitching and timely hitting guided the Reds to a 15-7 win over the Cubs.  A great win before divisional play starts on Monday!! 

The Reds came out and played a complete game on Tuesday in front of a near capacity crowd at Manz Field. The defense was solid, the bats did their job, the pitching was excellent, and the base running was top notch.  A 12-2 win under the lights at Manz put the Reds off to a great start in divisional play.  

Jonny Neal led off the game with a solid single into left, which was a sign of things to come. Jeffe Boats and Jim Neal chipped in with a couple of hits. Clinton Brooks was ripping the ball all night (once almost taking off a base runner’s legs with a screamer through the right side).  Doug Brown came off the bench with a big wood-bat double to the fence. The Reds were also aggressive on the bases – including a beautiful double steal. In all, the Reds came up with 5 steals. Timely hits and smart base running produced 12 runs against the Dodgers. Eric Mullins dominated over 5 innings with 8 strike outs and only 3 hits allowed – nuff said.  Mullins was going to be pulled after the fourth but he demanded to go at least 5 before handing the game off to Brian Birchenough to close it out.

Divisional play continues against the Royals on Saturday and Sunday!! 

Game 1

The Reds came out swinging and put 17 runs up on the board in game 1.  Clinton Brooks started the day off with a bang, belting a 3 run homer into right. The ball has yet to be found.  The hit parade continued during the first inning as the Reds jumped out to an 8-0 lead.  Jeffe Boats produced solid hits. Eric Mullins powered up for this game ripping the ball down the left field line all game long. Anthony Sivanov just missed putting a ball over but ended up with a triple. The Reds produced up and down the lineup in game 1 – credit due to the entire lineup.

Nick Newman was remarkable on the mound. He ran into some small trouble in the 5^th but geared up to get 2 easy outs to end the inning. Aside from that little hiccup, an absolutely stellar performance.  The defense backed up Nick with some outstanding plays from Jonny Neal, Paul Taylor, and Ryan Luther shoring up the infield.

Game 2

Big comeback win in the bottom of the seventh!  Going into the seventh the Reds were down 10-8.  A solid hit up the middle by Cele Sanchez got things started in the seventh. Jeffe Boats worked his way on as well and eventually scored the tying run.  The Reds later loaded the bases through hustle and patience against the Royals’ closer.  Big Anthony Sivanov stared down the pitcher and caused a wild pitch to bring in the winning run!!  After playing from behind the entire game, the Reds shut down the Royals from innings 5-7 and clawed back into the game.  Everything during innings 1-5 was going the Royals’ way.  For instance two of the hardest hits balls of the season were lined directly to the gloves of pitcher and 3^rd. The  kind of hits that went back out faster than they came in.  It looked as if the breaks would just not go the Reds’ way. Still, the Reds found a way to win by being aggressive on the bases, patient at the plate, and getting that one or two timely hits.

Defensive plays of the game – a big double play to get out of the 5^th to keep the game in striking distance. This was after a pure hustle diving catch by Greg Thomas at second.  You get the G-Train rolling – you best get out of the way!  The Reds got fired back up by these two plays.

Doug Brown pitched his heart out but was not backed up well enough by his defense in the first few innings. Doug’s defense will be there for him next time. He pitched much better than the line score is going to tell. Eric Mullins came on in relief and did not allow a run to the Royals.  Solid, lights out performance by Mullins.

A new handshake is rumored to be implemented later this season. Hand slaps on 1-2-3-4, a little shimmy, then The Captain!!

What a schizophrenic game for the Reds….after spotting the Mets 5 runs in the top of the first, the Reds came back firing on all cylinders to score 7 in the bottom half of the 1^st.   Both pitchers then got in a groove for the middle innings until the scoring picked back up in the 6^th and 7^th.  The Reds’ defense gave away two runs in the 7^th to give the Mets a 11-9 lead. Some furious looking faces came into the dugout and the Reds went to work in the 7^th.  

Without registering an out, the Reds lineup scored 3 runs to win on a walk off bullet past first by Anthony Sivanov.  Ryan Luther, Jonny Neal, and Jim Neal loaded the bases for Clinton Brooks who busted a double over the center fielder’s head to tie the game. This brought up Jeffe Boats who was given a free pass to first to load the bases.  Sivanov came up and hit a one hop rope past first on a 3-1 count to walk one off scoring Jim Neal with the winning run..

Nick Newman pitched an outstanding game but the line score is going to be a travesty.  Much MUCH better performance than the line will say. He was hitting his the corners all game long with spot on precision. Solid pitching needs to be backed up by SOLID DEFENSE.  Bright spot in the defense was Jonny Neal. He made a couple good plays at short and the all too unnoticed plays to at least get his glove on the ball in the hole to hold the ball in the infield.

Player of the game: Anthony Sivanov.  2-2 with a Sac Fly. 6 RBIS.  A game tying grand slam in the first and a game winning single in the 7^th.  Anybody want to argue?  I think not.

In Reds’ history:  6-0 in one run games.

REDS WIN DIVISION!!!!

Two very well played game at Capitol Park to lock down the Blan Division! The Reds have owned that field since their inception!  The  Reds ripped the cover off the ball both games, never cooling down. Solid defense was played at every position on the field. Here’s a few highlights:

Anthony Sivanov roped a line shot over the center field fence after “coming in hot” from work (thanks for the phrase Jim. I’ve been using it since you came back from your cruise). From the 3^rd base coaches’ box it looked like the train wobbled!

Jim Neal showed patience and found pitches to drive. He was rewarded with a triple to right center.

Clinton “stick it” Brooks did his thing with a triple, double, and a couple singles. Where’s the home run??

Jonny Neal played solid defense at 2B the entire game, starting at 2b both games and for the first time since 2007.

Ryan Luther and Jeffe “the Professor” Boats both came up with very good at-bats and a couple ropes down each line. Luther had two of his best ABs of the season – in the same inning! Boats decisively pushed his average over the .400 mark by the Professor’s calculations.

Doug Brown got in on the fun and busted through against the Mets with a couple laser beams into the outfield.

Dave Calhoun showed a lot of patience at the plate and smarts on the base paths. All the while tracking down 3 tough plays in left center and down the LF line.

The pitching trio used for this season came up with the best performances of the season. Eric Mullins and Nick Newman got the W’s while Brian BIG COUNTRY Birchenough came in for a pair of 2 innings, lock it down air tight finishes.  Hats off to the Reds pitching staff throughout the playoffs. Each went above and beyond. Mullins was heard in the dugout requesting to pitch Game 2 after throwing 5 in Game 1.  That’s only if he could beat Doug Brown in a foot race to the mound!  Manager Scott Burns finally figured out it’s a waste of time asking “are you good to go”  The answers always yes!

Up and down the lineup, positions 1-9. Best pair of games the Reds have played in the 2008…the Reds roster did their job and THEN SOME!