It's long past the point where it's surprising when Roy Oswalt beats the Reds. They simply don't match up well against the guy (not that many do), and while there's not any shame in that, it's still pretty frustrating.
Quick thoughts:
- Normally in a game where the Reds manage just one walk and four hits I'd say that the team wasn't being patient enough, but Oswalt managed to throw 74 strikes in his 95 pitches, which is just ridiculous. It's obvious that Oswalt isn't afraid to challenge Reds hitters.
- Kyle Lohse was kind of walking a tightrope for a lot of the game. I wasn't watching (I listened), but it sounded like he really didn't have his best stuff. That being said, it's not terrible to go six innings and give up three runs on a night when things aren't really working.
That's six starts for Lohse now this season, and he's still sitting at 3.12 for ERA. Hardball Times has his FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) at 3.09, so it doesn't seem like luck is playing too much of a role in his success. It's looking like the Reds might be benefiting from some walk year immprovement from Lohse.
- Honestly, the Astros aren't very good. Maybe the Reds also aren't very good, I think the jury's still out on that, but if they are going to go anywhere they've gotta be able to do better against Houston than what they've managed so far this season. 1-3 against a team that's struggled this much isn't getting the job done.
Luckily we've got stapler boy going tomorrow night, am I right?
Which reminds me, this is like the third time when I was looking forward to seeing Matt Belisle pitch only to realize that it was actually Eric Milton's turn in the rotation. It hasn't come up yet, and won't be coming up any time soon, but I'll pretty much lose it if the Reds actually skip a Matt Belisle start in favor of Eric Milton being the fourth starter at any point this season.
That being said, it's Wandy Rodriguez tomorrow night, which does give me some hope. I'm not going to assume the bats have been quieted again just because of a poor outing against Roy Oswalt. Hopefully they'll come back out thumping tomorrow night since they'll be facing someone who's not Reds kryptonite.