New look Reds drop season opener
Funny thing about the Reds team that took the field on Opening Day in 2009 against the Mets. Despite a new organizational focus on fundamentals and a lineup that included just three holdovers from last year’s Opening Day squad, the team looked eerily similar to the one the Reds trotted out in 2008.
This new and (supposedly) improved bunch of Reds looked out of sorts in the field, at the plate, and on the bases – just like their 2008 brethren.
Aaron Harang (0-1) labored through 114 pitches, lasting just five innings, in his fourth consecutive Opening Day start. The Mets stranded six runners through four innings before Daniel Murphy got the scoring underway in the top of the 5th with his second career home run – a 400 foot blast over the right field wall. Murphy would add an RBI groundout to first the following inning. Those two runs were all the Mets would need.
Johan Santana (1-0) held the Reds in check through 5 2/3, giving up just three hits while striking out seven. Cincinnati mounted a minor threat off of Santana in the bottom of the 6th when Darnell McDonald and Joey Votto led off the inning with back-to-back singles. A throwing error by Mets centerfielder Carlos Beltran put the pair in scoring position with no out, but the Reds were unable to deliver anything beyond a run-scoring Brandon Phillips sacrifice fly. Met relievers Sean Green, JJ Putz, and Francisco Rodriguez combined to pitch 3 1/3 innings of hitless baseball to close the door on the new-look Reds.
Defensively, the Reds’ outfield was as ugly as the rainy weather, which delayed the game’s start by 13 minutes. Darnell McDonald fumbled around centerfield and the corner outfielders, Jerry Hairston and Jay Bruce, conspired with infielders Brandon Phillips and Alex Gonzalez in the 6th to allow a pair of shallow bloopers to fall to the earth unobstructed.
The Reds are off Tuesday, which will hopefully provide time for the weather – and the Reds’ bats – to heat up.
Related posts:
Recent Comments