Series Recap: Royals Sweep Reds

The Cincinnati Reds were totally dominated in the two game series against the Kansas City Royals. They were out scored 10-1

through the 2 games, and not scoring a single run until the 7th inning of game two.

While the Reds managed to muster a half of a run per game during the set, the pitching staff was torched for 5 runs per game. It does not take a math genius to figure out that being out scored by four plus runs per game on average will not net you very many wins.

The area besides the poor pitching that the Reds struggled with most, was the area that has been a concern the whole season, hitting with runners in scoring position. During this series, the Reds went 0-11 and left 12 runners on base.

What was spectacular was the Royals starting pitching. Yordano Ventura and Jeremy Guthrie both had an ERA over 5.00 coming into the series. Both pitchers went at least six innings and neither allowed a run. So was that exceptional pitching, or poor hitting?

Noteworthy:

Reds Outfielder Jay Bruce beat the shift Wednesday night, by hitting a ground ball soft enough to the right side that no one could field it by the time Bruce reached first base.

Reds Outfielder Billy Hamilton had his second bunt hit of the season. Many Reds fans have been clamoring for that to be a larger part of his game.

So now that the Reds have dropped five in a row, what is the direction from here on out? At four games under the .500 mark only 40 games into the season, there are two points of view.

Half Empty – Every ten games they play, they drop another game under .500. At this rate they will finish 16 games under.

Half Full – There is still a lot of time left. It has only been a fourth of the season. Four games is not a lot to make up.

Which view do you have?