NewsReds starters turning in strong outings
Cincinnati (13-12) at Florida (15-11), 7:10 p.m. ET
By Charles Nobles / Special to MLB.com
05/05/09 2:58 AM ET
MIAMI -- Dusty Baker is not a big fan of two-game series. The Reds manager says it can take him that long sometimes to get accustomed to his clubhouse chair or finish unpacking his suitcase. But ready or not, the Reds and Marlins wrap up their mini-meeting on Tuesday at Dolphin Stadium. The Reds will be trying to extend their recent habit of getting blockbuster pitching. Over their last five games -- four of them on the road -- their starters have produced three shutouts and a two-run effort. The scoreless outings came from Edinson Volquez, Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto. And Tuesday, it's Volquez's turn again to add to the fun. Volquez comes in not having allowed a hit over his last 7 1/3 innings. It is Baker's belief that Volquez's regular-season physical readiness was negatively impacted when he pitched in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic. To Baker, that may well explain why he has walked 21 batters in 28 1/3 innings this season. Yet Volquez showed much-improved control in his last outing, a domination of the Astros. The Reds also will be looking to salvage a split in Tuesday's series finale. That would give the Reds their fifth straight road series of the season in which they've either won or split."We're just getting good pitching," Baker said. "You can win a lot of games that way."
Pitching matchup
CIN: RHP Edinson Volquez (3-2, 4.45 ERA)
In a 3-0 victory over the Astros on Wednesday, Volquez wasn't the overpowering pitcher he usually is but had one dominant performance. He threw eight shutout innings (a career high) and dealt with just three baserunners. He had one hit allowed (in the first inning), one hit batter and one walk. He threw only 106 pitches and at one point, retired 17 in a row. It was a total turnaround from the seven-walk outing he had on April 24 vs. the Braves, which included five in one inning. Volquez had six strikeouts but worked ahead and took a couple of ticks off his usually 95-97-mph fastball to induce balls into play. FLA: RHP Chris Volstad (2-0, 2.67 ERA)
"Efficient" and "extremely effective" are a couple of ways you could describe Volstad's last start. Unfortunately for the 22-year-old, he ended up with a no-decision. In terms of being on the mark, however, Volstad was brilliant during his Thursday start against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. In seven innings, the 6-foot-8 sinkerball pitcher threw just 83 pitches, 58 for strikes. He limited the Cubs to three hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out five. His problem was that two of the hits left the ballpark. Volstad issued back-to-back homers to Milton Bradley and Mike Fontenot. Still, he went seven innings for the third time in five starts this year. Tidbits
Second baseman Brandon Phillips made someone's highlight reel Monday night with a diving, backhanded stop of a hard grounder by John Baker in the third inning. Then Phillips completed the spectacular play by flipping the ball with his glove hand to shortstop Alex Gonzalez for a forceout. ... Baker's theory on the Marlins' 11-1 start before leveling off keys on youth. "When a team's young like that, they tend to get ready for the season quicker than the more veteran teams," he said. "And they're usually fastball hitters. Some of the pitchers can't get their breaking ball over early in the season." ... The Reds used all of their position players in Monday night's extra-innings affair. Baker sensed the game might go into extra innings, so he told pitcher Micah Owings, an accomplished hitter, not to do his usual mid-game throwing in the bullpen. He wanted to have more options as the game progressed into extra innings. Tickets
Buy tickets now to catch the game in person.
On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio• Gameday
• Official game notes On television
• FS-O On radio
• WLW 700 Up next
• Thursday: Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 4-1, 4.91) vs. Brewers (Manny Parra, 0-4, 5.33), 7:10 p.m. ET
• Friday: Reds (Micah Owings, 1-3, 4.84) vs. Brewers (Braden Looper, 2-1, 3.10), 7:10 p.m. ET
• Saturday: Reds (Johnny Cueto, 2-1, 1.65) vs. Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 4-1, 3.24), 7:10 p.m. ET
Charlie Nobles is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
