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| Jay Bruce is greeted at home, after hitting walk-off 3-run HR, Tuesday vs. Mets |
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| Roberto Hernandez (season debut, last night) formerly Fausto Carmona |
38-20 Home 33-26 Away RS: 504 RA: 425 DIFF: +79
Well, so much for that 5-game losing streak a week ago, that left me feeling a little uneasy, heading into the weekend. Good news, the Reds flipped the scripted and rolled off 5 straight wins, now lead the NL Central by 7-games over the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. The Reds are a game and a half back of the Washington Nationals for the best record in National League and all of baseball. The Reds have 45 games left as of today and are provided with the easiest remaining schedule (thanks to the Astros & Cubs). The Redlegs continue to get some quality pitching from the starting rotation, including Mike Leake's stellar performance last night vs. the Mets and Cy Young candidate R.A. Dickey, (CG, 4 hits, ER, 4 K's). I've really been impressed with the starting rotation of the Reds now for the past couple months and its critical for the Reds heading towards the postseason, that they continue to pitch well. As for the bats, they continue to generate some timely hitting while using the longball to score runs during the past 5 games. Notability, from outfielders Ryan Ludwick and Jay Bruce (we all know, when he's on he's on, but when he is off, HE'S OFF!) have provided the power while the Reds continue to win without the services of 1B Joey Votto, who has been out of the lineup since mid-July following knee surgery. The Reds go for the sweep tonight vs. the Mets, before a 4-game series (DH, Saturday) over the weekend in Cincinnati vs. the Cubbies.
Cleveland Indians 54-64 (3rd place in the AL Central; 11 GB of 1st place; 9.5 GB of Wild Card)
30-29 Home 24-35 Away RS: 501 RA: 612 DIFF: -111
Roberto Hernandez a.k.a. Fausto Carmona, made his 1st start of the season for the Indians last night vs. the Angels, and this classic phrase, "different name, same dead arm", summarized his season debut. Issues in the field didn't help him out either, as the Indians committed 2 errors (3 total on the night), as Hernandez went 6 IP, 10 hits, 8 runs (5 ER), surrendering 2 HR's. On the bright side, he didn't walk anyone, but he didn't record a single strikeout. Seems like ages ago, back in 2007 when Carmona....oops, I mean Hernandez was an up and coming starting pitcher winning 19 games with an ERA of 3.06, and helping the Indians make it to the 2007 ALCS. Since then, he's gotten paid, has had one winning record (8-7, 2008), and has had ERA's ranging from 3.77 to 6.32. Oh, and has had his real identity revealed. Just another negative to the Indians organization that has struggled the majority of the 2nd half of this season (10-23 since the All-Star Break) and are just praying they don't end up in last place in the AL Central by seasons end.
Brownie Note:
In other news, the Cleveland Browns preseason is off to another notable start with a number of players finding themselves on Injury Report and/or suspended. The Browns play their 2nd preseason game tonight at 8 PM up in Green Bay, vs. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Look forward (oh boy, haha!) to more coverage on the Browns in the upcoming weeks, leading up to their season opener (Sept 9th) vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.
