Thursday, May 20, 2010

Reds Must Control The Meltdown

Remember last July 3rd? The Reds were leading the Cardinals 4 -1 in the top of the 8th and St. Louis had the bases loaded. Albert Pujols hit a grand slam to give the Cardinals the lead. The Reds went on to lose that game, then lose 22 of their next 28 games. I didn't think the Reds were capable of going that bad for that long last season. I don't think they are this year either. But today's loss to Atlanta feels a lot like that one last July against the Cardinals. I swear I heard Marty Brennaman say the Reds has no one throwing in the bullpen as Mike Lincoln took the mound for the 9th, his third inning of work. It's easy to second-guess, and if Lincoln had mowed down the Braves in the 9th, it wouldn't be an issue. But milking three innings out of Lincoln is pushing it. Maybe even asking for a little trouble. Or a lot of trouble as it turned out in this case. Lincoln had worked three innings just one other time with the Reds: last June shortly before going on the disabled list. The Reds seem to have the makeup to handle something like this, but it will be interesting to see how they respond in Cleveland this weekend.

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