Eighteen runs in two days. I feel a little better about the Reds than I did on Wednesday. Not that I was losing hope, but it's nice to see the offense put up two strong days in a row.
Quick thoughts:
- I think Jerry Narron has done a pretty good job this year. I really do. I have a few minor quibbles, but they really are minor. He's done a great job with platoons (Hatteberg/Aurilia at first has been outstanding) and he's done a nice job getting people days off. His lineups usually make sense. But it's absurd that Ken Griffey Jr. isn't going to be the DH every game this weekend. God forbid he should get hurt in an interleague game where he's not DH'ing.
- I love Adam Dunn in the two hole. It's where he should always hit, and it's where he probably should have been hitting for the past two or three years. As long as this team has power out of virtually every spot in the lineup - and they do - then it's not vital for Dunn to hit in a power slot. He's usually going to have the highest OBP on the team, and that does the most good as close to the top of the order as you can get. I wouldn't argue that he should hit leadoff because I do like having speed there, but two is perfect. I don't think it'll be permanent, but it oughta be.
- Brandon Claussen looked pretty damn good until the Reds gave him a big cushion. Hopefully he just lost a little focus with the big lead, but he still did a great job in the seventh getting out of that jam. Eleven hits in seven innings isn't pretty, but he got the job done.
- Not sure why Todd Coffey was used tonight, but it looks like my congratulations on him moving into the closer's role were a little premature.
- Jeremy Bonderman and Chris Shelton look like brothers. Really weird looking brothers.
- The Tigers look like a really good team. The Reds blew them out, but they still looked like a grade A club, and I never felt like they were out of it. I think they're going to hang around in the AL Central this year, and it's good to see. Gives me hope that the Reds might be for real as well.