Road most unwelcome to Reds
BOSTON -- Ken Griffey Jr. had a solution for the Reds' road woes.
"Maybe we'll just play in our white uniforms the rest of the way," he said.
Hey, whatever works. The Reds would probably be willing to try just about anything right now.
With a 6-23 road record entering Wednesday night's game at Fenway Park, the Reds are on pace to finish 17-64, which would establish new franchise single-season records for most road losses (57 in 1931) and lowest road winning percentage (.260 in 1931).
Oh, and for the record, the Reds are a franchise that's been around for quite a while.
The stats tell the story of the Reds' weary travels, as they are scoring 1.7 runs per game less on the road (4.1 runs per game) than at home (5.8).
The pitching staff doesn't have much of an ERA to brag about at home (5.03), but on the road, it's been even more of a struggle, as they've compiled an ERA of 6.30.
So it's not as if the Reds can point to one factor as the culprit behind their struggles away from Great American Ball Park.
"As a whole, we just haven't played well on the road," reliever Ryan Wagner said. "Obviously, it's always easier back home. But as a team, there hasn't been one thing we've done extremely well on the road. I don't know how you go about fixing something like that, but we've just got to focus on doing the same thing no matter where we're at."
Wagner should know as well as anybody the difference between the road and home. At home, he's 2-0 with a 2.79 ERA. On the road, he's 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA.
"I've had a lot of bad luck on the road," the 22-year-old reliever said. "I'm sure a lot of those earned runs have been bad luck. You can't take them away, but if you did, things would be different. You just have to roll with the punches."
Every time the Reds have strutted out from the corner after an encouraging homestand, such as the 5-1 spurt they rattled off at Great American last week, they've been punched back down to the canvas when visiting another city.
Their current seven-game losing streak on the road is the longest of the season and the longest by a Reds team since a nine-game skid from April 12-28, 2001.
"It's not just one thing or another," Griffey said. "I think it's a confidence at home that's a lot different than on the road."
It wasn't all that long ago that the Reds were known as the "Big Road Machine." Three times since 1999, they have compiled a better record on the road than at home. In two other seasons in that stretch, the home record has been better by just a single game.
This Reds team, which is 20-15 at home, isn't heading down a similar path.
Griffey was asked if the reason could be that Great American Ball Park's dimensions are so well-suited for the Reds' power hitters, but he shrugged off that last-resort theory. The Major Leagues, after all, aren't without other hitter-friendly parks these days.
"As long as it isn't the Polo Grounds, it's going to be a hitter-friendly park," Griffey said with a laugh.
Few parks have been friendly to the Reds this season.
Aurilia banged up: Rich Aurilia was scratched from Wednesday's lineup when he reported to Fenway feeling the effects of Tuesday night's game.
Aurilia made a diving stop of a Johnny Damon grounder in the bottom of the fifth inning. When he woke up on Wednesday, his right hip was bothering him.
"I just jammed something up," he said. "When I woke up, I was pretty stiff and sore. Without this turning into a week or two-week thing, I'll just take the day off, especially with the cold weather."
Temperatures in the Boston area were 50 degrees and falling on Wednesday, just two days after the Reds and Red Sox played a night game in 90-degree heat.
With Aurilia out of the lineup and Sean Casey away from the team to attend a family funeral, Joe Randa was in as the designated hitter, Luis Lopez played third, Ryan Freel returned to second, Dunn manned first and Jacob Cruz started in left field.
LaRue returns: Catcher Jason LaRue was back in the starting lineup after being away from the team for three days to attend the funeral of his grandfather in Crockett, Texas.
Dane Sardinha, who went 0-for-3 in his first Major League start Tuesday night, was optioned back to Triple-A Louisville.
What's this Monster thing, anyway? Cruz didn't seem to be too worried about playing left field in Fenway.
Or maybe he was.
"How hard could it be?" he said with a smile, before adding, "Wait, did I just say that out loud and jinx myself?"
Down on the farm: Outfielder Austin Kearns, who was optioned to Triple-A Louisville on Sunday, is expected to report to his new team on Thursday. Kearns took advantage of the 72-hour grace period he had before reporting. The Bats were off on Wednesday. ... Third baseman Edwin Encarnacion went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI in Louisville's 6-1 win over Buffalo on Tuesday. He's batting .295 with 10 homers and 41 RBIs this season. ... Ramon Ortiz is with the big-league club, but he still managed to take a loss with Class A Sarasota on Tuesday. The Reds lost, 6-4, in the continuation of an April 26 game against Tampa, which was suspended by rain. Ortiz had started that game in a rehab assignment and given up four runs over three innings.
On deck: The Reds return to home, sweet home to begin a four-game set with the Braves on Thursday. Left-hander Brandon Claussen (3-3, 3.94 ERA) will face right-hander John Smoltz (5-5, 3.22 ERA).
Source: http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/
"Maybe we'll just play in our white uniforms the rest of the way," he said.
Hey, whatever works. The Reds would probably be willing to try just about anything right now.
With a 6-23 road record entering Wednesday night's game at Fenway Park, the Reds are on pace to finish 17-64, which would establish new franchise single-season records for most road losses (57 in 1931) and lowest road winning percentage (.260 in 1931).
Oh, and for the record, the Reds are a franchise that's been around for quite a while.
The stats tell the story of the Reds' weary travels, as they are scoring 1.7 runs per game less on the road (4.1 runs per game) than at home (5.8).
The pitching staff doesn't have much of an ERA to brag about at home (5.03), but on the road, it's been even more of a struggle, as they've compiled an ERA of 6.30.
So it's not as if the Reds can point to one factor as the culprit behind their struggles away from Great American Ball Park.
"As a whole, we just haven't played well on the road," reliever Ryan Wagner said. "Obviously, it's always easier back home. But as a team, there hasn't been one thing we've done extremely well on the road. I don't know how you go about fixing something like that, but we've just got to focus on doing the same thing no matter where we're at."
Wagner should know as well as anybody the difference between the road and home. At home, he's 2-0 with a 2.79 ERA. On the road, he's 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA.
"I've had a lot of bad luck on the road," the 22-year-old reliever said. "I'm sure a lot of those earned runs have been bad luck. You can't take them away, but if you did, things would be different. You just have to roll with the punches."
Every time the Reds have strutted out from the corner after an encouraging homestand, such as the 5-1 spurt they rattled off at Great American last week, they've been punched back down to the canvas when visiting another city.
Their current seven-game losing streak on the road is the longest of the season and the longest by a Reds team since a nine-game skid from April 12-28, 2001.
"It's not just one thing or another," Griffey said. "I think it's a confidence at home that's a lot different than on the road."
It wasn't all that long ago that the Reds were known as the "Big Road Machine." Three times since 1999, they have compiled a better record on the road than at home. In two other seasons in that stretch, the home record has been better by just a single game.
This Reds team, which is 20-15 at home, isn't heading down a similar path.
Griffey was asked if the reason could be that Great American Ball Park's dimensions are so well-suited for the Reds' power hitters, but he shrugged off that last-resort theory. The Major Leagues, after all, aren't without other hitter-friendly parks these days.
"As long as it isn't the Polo Grounds, it's going to be a hitter-friendly park," Griffey said with a laugh.
Few parks have been friendly to the Reds this season.
Aurilia banged up: Rich Aurilia was scratched from Wednesday's lineup when he reported to Fenway feeling the effects of Tuesday night's game.
Aurilia made a diving stop of a Johnny Damon grounder in the bottom of the fifth inning. When he woke up on Wednesday, his right hip was bothering him.
"I just jammed something up," he said. "When I woke up, I was pretty stiff and sore. Without this turning into a week or two-week thing, I'll just take the day off, especially with the cold weather."
Temperatures in the Boston area were 50 degrees and falling on Wednesday, just two days after the Reds and Red Sox played a night game in 90-degree heat.
With Aurilia out of the lineup and Sean Casey away from the team to attend a family funeral, Joe Randa was in as the designated hitter, Luis Lopez played third, Ryan Freel returned to second, Dunn manned first and Jacob Cruz started in left field.
LaRue returns: Catcher Jason LaRue was back in the starting lineup after being away from the team for three days to attend the funeral of his grandfather in Crockett, Texas.
Dane Sardinha, who went 0-for-3 in his first Major League start Tuesday night, was optioned back to Triple-A Louisville.
What's this Monster thing, anyway? Cruz didn't seem to be too worried about playing left field in Fenway.
Or maybe he was.
"How hard could it be?" he said with a smile, before adding, "Wait, did I just say that out loud and jinx myself?"
Down on the farm: Outfielder Austin Kearns, who was optioned to Triple-A Louisville on Sunday, is expected to report to his new team on Thursday. Kearns took advantage of the 72-hour grace period he had before reporting. The Bats were off on Wednesday. ... Third baseman Edwin Encarnacion went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI in Louisville's 6-1 win over Buffalo on Tuesday. He's batting .295 with 10 homers and 41 RBIs this season. ... Ramon Ortiz is with the big-league club, but he still managed to take a loss with Class A Sarasota on Tuesday. The Reds lost, 6-4, in the continuation of an April 26 game against Tampa, which was suspended by rain. Ortiz had started that game in a rehab assignment and given up four runs over three innings.
On deck: The Reds return to home, sweet home to begin a four-game set with the Braves on Thursday. Left-hander Brandon Claussen (3-3, 3.94 ERA) will face right-hander John Smoltz (5-5, 3.22 ERA).
Source: http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/
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