In the end this might never have been a playoff team, but it's been galling to see Jerry Narron making confused decisions time after time, hurting the Reds chances to win.
Quick thoughts:
- Really, how does Narron not play Ken Griffey Jr.? Why do players need days off at this point? In about a month they're all going to get a four month vacation anyway. Not to mention the fact that the Reds are in a stretch where they have two off days in eight days, and three off days in 12 days. It's really unbelievable. Junior's killed Wells in his career, the offense has been slumping anyway, and Narron decides it'd be a good time to give Junior a day off. You couldn't ask for better proof that Narron's not fit to manage a major league baseball team.
- Nice job by Eric Milton. Shame he couldn't get any offense, and a shame the bullpen is so damn bad.
- Good day for Chris Denorfia. It really sucks that he couldn't step up when the Reds traded Austin Kearns, but hopefully that rough stretch won't keep him from becoming a big contributor to the Reds for the next few years, be it in a bench capacity or as a starter. I think Denorfia is pretty talented; the Reds just need to figure out how to use him.
- It certainly felt like the Padres were the better team this weekend. For whatever reason, all the spirit seems to have gone out of this team, and it really sucks to watch. I mean that. For a long time it felt like we were playing with house money, that whatever happened it was a good season just because they'd exceeded expectations. But at some point I bought into the idea that they were good enough (or that the rest of the NL was bad enough) to make the playoffs and in doing so I invited in the possibility of real pain if they failed. It's not over yet, but that pain is settling in.