New ways to lose...

I should have known before the game started, when Quinton McCracken's name was placed up on the board while the starting lineups were being announced, that something foul concerning him was brewing. I'm not bemoaning the fact that he was in the lineup, I bring this up because the board read Quiton McCracken. Yup, they spelled his name wrong. (People get paid to do this ****, how hard is it to spell a name correctly? ...asks Ashlee.)

I was right about one thing in my last post: Dave Williams ended up pitching a **** good baseball game, scoreless into the 7th. Unfortunately, McCracken botched a routine play in center with two outs, and the runner came around to score on David Bell's double. Williams ended up pitching 8 1/3, giving up 2 runs, only one earned, with 5 Ks and 0 BBs, and the second run scored on a Todd Java wild pitch. It's amazing, he shouldn't have won his last start, but got the W, and tonight he deserved the win, but Phillie Jon Lieber pitched better.

Who woulda thought that Adam Dunn would break up the no-no with a single? The man has a batting average in the .230 area and has more homers than all other types of hits combined. Hey, baseball is an interesting game, I'll give it that.

Back to McQ, I'm not saying that he lost the game for the Reds... But I'm going to keep "What if?"-ing all night. If he had caught Ryan Howard's fly ball, that would have been two fewer hitters for Williams to face, fewer pitches thrown, and a different set of hitters in the top of the 9th, which is when the Phils scored their second run. Not to mention a still-tied ballgame.

...I just read that Dunner struck out on a 3-2 pitch "in the dirt" to end the game. IN THE DIRT? JC, man. ::sigh:: Austin Kearns up with the bases loaded? I would take that chance in a heartbeat. Stupid "What if?" theoreticals.
...The Cardinals are beating Arizona 9-1 right now. Barring an improbable comeback - the Cardinals didn't acquire Danny Graves after the Indians designated him, did they? }:-D>  - the Reds look like they will end the day in second place.

Here's to hoping that those pink Mother's Day bats will provide some offense that has been sorely lacking during the last couple of games when Dunn, Griff, and LaRue use them tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!
I'll be at the old ballyard with my Mom and Grandmother.

SCORE SOME RUNS, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!

Go Redlegs!