Reds roughed up in return to Fenway
BOSTON -- We'll start with the good news, because Eric Milton is probably in need of something along those lines right about now.
Milton didn't allow any home runs on Monday night.
There. That's the good news.
The bad news for Milton and the Reds is the left-hander gave up plenty of other hits in his team's 10-3 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Milton (3-8, 7.97 ERA) was beat up for nine runs on 11 hits over the course of 5 2/3 innings, giving the Reds little chance of coming up with a victory in their first game at Fenway since the '75 World Series.
And yet, for all his struggles, the consensus in the Reds' clubhouse was that Milton made a step in the right direction.
"I thought he pitched better," manager Dave Miley said. "I really did. It looked like he made some strides. The numbers don't show it, but I thought he threw the ball better."
Two plays led Miley to that belief. In the third inning, Milton gave up a two-run double to Edgar Renteria that was misplayed by center fielder Ryan Freel. And in the fourth, catcher Javier Valentin threw the ball away when trying to throw it back to Milton, allowing Manny Ramirez to move from second to third and opening the door to a three-run inning for the Red Sox.
Milton said he felt better, and Miley and Valentin both said he looked better. Still, calling an outing in which Milton's already robust ERA jumped half a point "better" was a tough sell, and Milton knew it.
"I've been busting my [rear end] trying to get out of this [funk], and it's not working," Milton said. "I felt good with the [mechanical] changes we made, and I felt pretty strong. But again, it didn't work out."
When he briskly retired the first seven batters he faced, Milton seemed to have made progress. The bulky 7.46 ERA he brought to this outing looked as if it might drop a few pounds in the sticky Boston humidity.
Then came the familiar sound of ball meeting bat.
Jay Payton began the onslaught with a one-out double off Milton in the third. Johnny Damon followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and Renteria knocked them both in with the two-out double that made it 2-0. Freel broke in a little too quickly on the play, and the ball sped past him.
"If we do catch it, it's a 0-0 game and things are different," Miley said.
But the Reds' deficit kept growing in the fourth, when Milton served up RBI hits to Jason Veritek, Bill Mueller and Damon. Valentin's throwing error forced the infield to play in with Ramirez on third, which certainly didn't aid Milton's cause.
"You can't blame Javy," Milton said. "There was a lot of perspiration on the ball. I know the ball slipped out of my hand a few times."
This game was a study in contrast between Milton and Boston right-hander Matt Clement. The Reds tried to woo both free agent pitchers this offseason, and the results of those courtships played out in ugly fashion in this matchup.
By the time the Reds finally put two across against Clement in the fifth with Felipe Lopez's RBI triple and ensuing run scored on Rich Aurilia's sacrifice fly, the Red Sox were in a groove against Milton that couldn't be stopped.
That groove led to a brutal sixth inning that Milton was unable to survive. He let the Sox load the bases for David Ortiz, who lofted a perfectly placed single to center field to bring in two runs and send Milton to the dugout.
And while Milton didn't serve up any home runs, his replacement, Matt Belisle did. Ramirez stepped up and ripped a three-run home run to right that all but ended the drama.
Belisle could hardly be blamed for the homer, though, for Wily Mo Pena had the ball in his glove before it bounced into the seats.
Still, the details of anything that transpired after Milton left the mound barely mattered, because Milton's continued troubles on the mound were too much for the Reds to overcome.
That Milton felt "better" and looked "better" did nothing to change the result.
"I felt great tonight," the southpaw said. "I felt like I had it, and it didn't work out. I thought I would have turned things around by now. Again, I felt better tonight, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted."
He sounded like a man who could use some good news.
Source: http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/
Milton didn't allow any home runs on Monday night.
There. That's the good news.
The bad news for Milton and the Reds is the left-hander gave up plenty of other hits in his team's 10-3 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Milton (3-8, 7.97 ERA) was beat up for nine runs on 11 hits over the course of 5 2/3 innings, giving the Reds little chance of coming up with a victory in their first game at Fenway since the '75 World Series.
And yet, for all his struggles, the consensus in the Reds' clubhouse was that Milton made a step in the right direction.
"I thought he pitched better," manager Dave Miley said. "I really did. It looked like he made some strides. The numbers don't show it, but I thought he threw the ball better."
Two plays led Miley to that belief. In the third inning, Milton gave up a two-run double to Edgar Renteria that was misplayed by center fielder Ryan Freel. And in the fourth, catcher Javier Valentin threw the ball away when trying to throw it back to Milton, allowing Manny Ramirez to move from second to third and opening the door to a three-run inning for the Red Sox.
Milton said he felt better, and Miley and Valentin both said he looked better. Still, calling an outing in which Milton's already robust ERA jumped half a point "better" was a tough sell, and Milton knew it.
"I've been busting my [rear end] trying to get out of this [funk], and it's not working," Milton said. "I felt good with the [mechanical] changes we made, and I felt pretty strong. But again, it didn't work out."
When he briskly retired the first seven batters he faced, Milton seemed to have made progress. The bulky 7.46 ERA he brought to this outing looked as if it might drop a few pounds in the sticky Boston humidity.
Then came the familiar sound of ball meeting bat.
Jay Payton began the onslaught with a one-out double off Milton in the third. Johnny Damon followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and Renteria knocked them both in with the two-out double that made it 2-0. Freel broke in a little too quickly on the play, and the ball sped past him.
"If we do catch it, it's a 0-0 game and things are different," Miley said.
But the Reds' deficit kept growing in the fourth, when Milton served up RBI hits to Jason Veritek, Bill Mueller and Damon. Valentin's throwing error forced the infield to play in with Ramirez on third, which certainly didn't aid Milton's cause.
"You can't blame Javy," Milton said. "There was a lot of perspiration on the ball. I know the ball slipped out of my hand a few times."
This game was a study in contrast between Milton and Boston right-hander Matt Clement. The Reds tried to woo both free agent pitchers this offseason, and the results of those courtships played out in ugly fashion in this matchup.
By the time the Reds finally put two across against Clement in the fifth with Felipe Lopez's RBI triple and ensuing run scored on Rich Aurilia's sacrifice fly, the Red Sox were in a groove against Milton that couldn't be stopped.
That groove led to a brutal sixth inning that Milton was unable to survive. He let the Sox load the bases for David Ortiz, who lofted a perfectly placed single to center field to bring in two runs and send Milton to the dugout.
And while Milton didn't serve up any home runs, his replacement, Matt Belisle did. Ramirez stepped up and ripped a three-run home run to right that all but ended the drama.
Belisle could hardly be blamed for the homer, though, for Wily Mo Pena had the ball in his glove before it bounced into the seats.
Still, the details of anything that transpired after Milton left the mound barely mattered, because Milton's continued troubles on the mound were too much for the Reds to overcome.
That Milton felt "better" and looked "better" did nothing to change the result.
"I felt great tonight," the southpaw said. "I felt like I had it, and it didn't work out. I thought I would have turned things around by now. Again, I felt better tonight, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted."
He sounded like a man who could use some good news.
Source: http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/
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