Cin City: The good mixed with the bad
Although the week may have started off on a negative note with a 7-4 home loss to the Braves, the Cincinnati Reds have a lot more to be happy about as things stand today.
On Monday night the starter Bronson Arroyo lost his duel with Braves pitcher Paul Maholm who is no stranger to pitching to the Cincinnati line-up from his days with the Pirates. Although the heart of the Reds order managed to put 4 runs on the board it wasn’t enough to overcome a tough Braves line-up on the opener of the 3-game series at Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati.
Undoubtedly however, the highlight of the week came Tuesday night, when the Reds managed to rally back from a 4-2 deficit to take a dramatic 5-4 win into Wednesday’s rubber match against the Braves (which they ultimately lost). And boy did they do it in style. With 2 outs and a full-count, pinch-hitter Devin Mesoraco drove a low fastball straight into the center-field seats to tie the game up at 4-4. As if things couldn’t get any worse for closer Craig Kimbrel, Shin-Soo Choo, arguably the Reds’ player of the year so far, stepped up to the plate and blasted a walk-off bomb into left-center to give the Reds the win. Choo has been a bright spot for the Reds this season, putting up some of the best numbers the Reds have seen for a while at the top of the line-up, batting .323 with 27 runs and 15 RBI’s already.
The Reds did however have some good news to help put the final loss to the back of their minds. It was confirmed that pitching ace Johnny Cueto would begin his rehab assignment on Thursday at Class-A Dayton. Cueto has been on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right lat and the original rehab assignment was pushed back after a setback caused by soreness in his oblique. But with Cueto penned in for an imminent return the Reds will look to get back to winning ways with a starting rotation that has drawn praise from a number of critics during the off-season thanks in large part to Matt Latos and Homer Bailey who are beginning to find rhythm in their games as well as the energetic rookie Tony Cingrani who has already put on some fine performances and stands at 2-0 on the young season.
The Reds kick-off a series with NL Central rivals Milwaukee Brewers this weekend at Great American Ballpark, looking for a series win that would help gain some ground over division leading St.Louis Cardinals.
