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Y! MyWebReds make Moehler 'look like Cy Young'
Saturday, August 09, 2008
CINCINNATI — The logo on the red shirts they passed out to fans who came through the Great American Ball Park gates was designed by Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo.
The logo is, uh, different — like something from a nightmare or the vision of a sleep-deprived person or from somebody who has been on the Magic Bus.
Arroyo's artistry on the mound Saturday night, Aug. 9, was much better than his logo — six innings, two runs, five hits — but all it got him was a 3-1 defeat to the Houston Astros.
On this night, the Reds gave away the shirts off their backs and a victory.
Arroyo was not as good as Houston's Brian Moehler. For the second time in little more than a week, the Reds reacted to Moehler as if he is Walter Johnson.
Moehler came within one out of pitching a complete game against the Reds and Arroyo in Houston on July 29, giving up two runs and seven hits over 8 2/3 innings. This time he gave up one run and five hits over seven innings, with the run and three of the hits coming in the seventh.
So the beat goes on — the beating of the Reds. They've lost five straight and 12 of 14. They are 1-7 against the Astros, a fourth-place team with a 57-59 record.
And they are 1-8 since trading Ken Griffey Jr., if that means anything.
Arroyo had Houston leadoff hitter Kaz Matsui 0-2 to start the game, but walked him. Of course he came around to score.
Miguel Tejada singled, and Lance Berkman singled for a run.
Arroyo's first out came on his 27th pitch, but he held the Astros to the one run by getting Mark Loretta on a liner to second and coaxing a double play grounder out of Hunter Pence with the bases loaded.
"That first inning could have exploded into a disaster, but I got out of that with just one run," Arroyo said. "I thought if we hung on and hung on, we'd get some whacks at this guy (Moehler).
"He doesn't have overpowering stuff, but he was cutting it in there with a little bit of sink and kept us off balance," Arroyo said. "That's the second time he has thrown better than me."
Jay Bruce's two-out infield single in the fourth landed him on second base after second baseman Matsui's throwing error, extending Bruce's hitting streak to a career-best 13. Then Brandon Phillips grounded out.
Moehler led the fifth with a double, his first hit of the season, his first hit since May 10, 2007 (against the Reds, of course) and the second double of his career. He was 0-for-56 when he doubled.
Moehler went to third on Matsui's bunt and scampered home on Arroyo's wild pitch for a 2-0 lead.
After five innings, Moehler had thrown half the pitches Arroyo had thrown, 53 to 106.
Jeremy Affeldt replaced Arroyo and retired the first two Astros in the seventh before giving up a home run to Tejada that made it 3-0.
The Reds scored in the seventh on Edwin Encarnacion's infield hit, but Javier Valentin flied to left with two on.
Paul Bako drew a leadoff walk in the eighth, but advanced only to second, anchored there when Jeff Keppinger flied to right, and Corey Patterson struck out.
Houston manager Cecil Cooper brought in left-hander Tim Byrdak to face the left-handed Patterson, batting .191. Manager Dusty Baker had right-handers Andy Phillips and David Ross on the bench, but opted to stick with Patterson, and he got stuck.
The heart of the Reds' order faced Houston closer Jose Valverde in the ninth, but they went down 1-2-3 — Bruce, who had two of the Reds' five hits, flied to left, Phillips flied to center, and Adam Dunn struck out after fouling off three 3-and-2 pitches.
Baker's postgame press gatherings are getting shorter and shorter, "Because, like I say, I don't know what to say. We have two choices. We can give up or keep fighting. We're still fighting. I'm running out of things to come up with to say.
"Bronson got out of that first inning against some tough hitters, and when he did that, I thought we had action on winning the ball game," Baker said. "But against Moehler we took good pitches, and it seemed when we swung, it wasn't a very good pitch to hit. We made him look like Cy Young."
Baker paused and said the obvious: "One run isn't going to get it done, unless you shut 'em out. And I haven't seen one of those in a long time."
Lee on disabled list
Houston slugger Carlos Lee was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday night because of a broken left pinkie and is expected to miss 6 to 8 weeks.
Outfielder Reggie Abercrombie's contract was purchased from Triple-A Round Rock.
Lee left the game in the third inning after getting hit by a pitch.
The left fielder, who reached the 100-RBI level for the fourth consecutive season on Friday night and leads the NL in that category, was hit by a pitch from Arroyo with Lance Berkman on first base, two outs and Houston leading 1-0. What looked like blood was seen on Lee's left pinkie finger when his batting glove was pulled off.
"It's tough to lose him," manager Cecil Cooper said after Houston's 3-1 win. "It didn't look good. He carried us the last month-and-a-half. It's a big hole to fill, but we're capable of filling it. I'm just now starting to suck it up."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
