Reds rap Pirates 7-5

The Cincinnati Reds used a five run fourth inning to build a sizable lead and then held on for a 7-5 win over the Pirates in the Queen City.
Brian Burres allowed five runs in under four innings on the mound and fell to 2-2 on the season.
Ronny Cedeno homered for the Pirates (4) and finished with 2 RBI,while Delwyn Young added two RBI as well.
The series continues tonight at 7:05 with Paul Maholm (3-4) taking on the Reds undefeated rookie,Mike Leake (4-0).

Pirate Hooks

1) Of all the mistakes of the evening that occurred,the biggest was the bad throw by Delwyn Young from third that pulled Steve Pearce far (and I mean FAR) off the bag in an attempt to flag it down.
Pearce rolled his ankle badly and left the game at the end of the inning.
Delwyn Young is a handy pinch hitter (although he hates being called that),but anywhere that he plays,he is a defensive liability,especially at third base as the Pirates attempt to force feed a position to Young that he has never played for the second season in a row.

2) The Post-Gazette reports that Pearce was on crutches after the game and could be headed for the disabled list.
Tough break for Pearce,who was finally getting some semblance of regular playing time and was playing well.

3) Why was Young at third base anyway? Another night of Andy LaRoche struggling with a tender back.Pirate observers that assume that LaRoche is the automatic future second baseman when Pedro Alvarez arrives might want to consider that LaRoche's back issues aren't going away and second basemen might have more stress on a player with back problems than third.

4) Brian Burres reverted to expected form last night,but his problem wasn't the expected one of big league team getting to his fringy pitches.
Instead,it was an issue of being unable to throw strikes.
Four walks in less than four innings will toss Burres into the deep part of the ocean every time,but falling behind hitters is just as important as Burres threw just eight first pitch strikes in the 19 batters that he faced.

5) If Pearce goes on the DL,who is next up from Indianapolis?
Performance wise,one would think it would be Neil Walker and he is the likely choice,but let's go outside the box.
Pedro Alvarez (assuming his date for early free agency is past).
Despite his low average,look at the power numbers and then look at either Jeff Clement and his issues at first or Andy LaRoche and his previously mentioned back problems.
Don't know about you,but I am tired of seeing so much of Delwyn Young and Bobby Crosby there already and this move changes all that.

6) I would have far more fun watching this team with an infield of Alvarez,Cedeno (Not really,but stuck with him for a while),Walker and Pearce than any other combination that can be put on the field.
LaRoche would be fine somewhere,but there is no place to squeeze him in under those constraints..

7) Nice night for D.J. Carrasco,who struck out the side in his only inning.
The value of getting in front of hitters in the count is immense as Carrasco showed with three first pitch strikes...

Back later with the promised cleaning of the inbox!

Photo Credit-Al Behrman-AP Photo