Well, the pitching held up, even if the guys had to dodge a couple of raindrops. But the bats and gloves remained in cold storage, and that was enough for the Reds to eke out a 2-1 win against the Pirates tonight.
Ohlie went four innings in his first outing in five weeks, and gave up a run on three hits. The rust showed as he walked four and ran up a pitch count of 84. Still, it's nice to have him back. He was hitting 93 on the gun, and K'ed three batters, so hopefully once his endurance returns, the rotation will stabilize.
But those bats. The Bucs managed just five hits, and Bronson Arroyo, who entered the game with a 6+ ERA, went into the eighth with a shutout before a Ronny Cedeno homer and Delwyn Young single sent him to the showers.
The gloves, ugh. Ryan Doumit let a throw get through him, although he did make a sweet block to nail a runner after a Lastings Milledge-to-Cedeno relay in the ninth.
The winning run was unearned; Andy LaRoche made his fourth error in as many games, again misfiring on a backhand attempt, to let a runner on to open the eighth. The next hitter rifled a double into the gap to bring home the bacon.
Take advantage of an opportunity? The Bucs had a silver-platter chance in the ninth, when with one out Francisco Cordero walked Doumit and Milledge. But the next hitter, Jeff Clement, swung at the first pitch and rolled out; Cedeno took two before he bounced out to second.
Oh, well. So much for those close game wins; the Reds did what it took, and the Bucs didn't tonight. They strap them on again tomorrow when Charlie Morton takes on Johhny Cueto.
-- Ryan Church remains out with a sore wrist, bruised when he was hit by a pitch Friday. He's day-to-day with, and wasn't available tonight except for emergency duty.
-- Indy's Jeremy Powell was named the International League Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 and allowing just one earned run in 13 innings.
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