Miley talks about Lopez bunting tonight, even though it shouldn't have happened

[CincyRedsFan30]

Harang latest victim of Coors Field curse

By Hal McCoy

Dayton Daily News

DENVER | DENVER — If there is a bar exam for major-league pitchers, a litmus test or a stress test, it is Coors Field — Coors Lite Field — where nervous or faint-hearted pitchers are reduced to perspiration puddles.

Pitching in Coors is the equivalent to flying below 5,000 feet in downtown Denver, The Mile High City. If a pitcher flinches, something is going to get hit and get hit hard.

An earned run average under 5.00 in Coors gets a pat on the back and $5 million. An ERA under 4.00 gets the key to the city and a lifetime slurping pass to the Coors vats.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aaron Harang discovered the place's fickleness Saturday night during a 7-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies, the Reds fourth loss in five games on this trip against last-place teams.

Harang pitched as if he was in Death Valley below sea level for five innings and took a two-hit shutout into the sixth. Before the sixth was over, he realized he was in mile-high Coors, gasping for air, when the Rockies tore into him for five runs and five hits.

"It wasn't the ball park," said manager Dave Miley. "The guy is not invincible. They just put some hits together."

Coming in, Harang was 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA in his previous three starts and, well, looked invincible.

Most pitchers, realizing that a misplaced fastball in Denver might not be found until it lands in Colorado Springs, avoid the strike zone because when bat meets ball awful things develop.

"I don't know what happened in the sixth. . .you tell me," said Harang. "I left a couple of pitches up and they put good wood on the ball. You have focus here even harder at keeping the ball down in the zone. You don't get as much sink and break on your pitches in a more humid clime.

Harang operates on the theory that first-pitch strikes lead to a steady string of outs and he didn't let Coors affect his thinking.

Going into the game, Harang had the second best first-pitch strike average in the National League at 70.3 percent, just 00.1 behind LA's Derrek Lowe.

Through five innings, he faced 18 batters and threw first-pitch strikes to 14 and was on auto-pilot. The Rockies disengaged him in the sixth.

Harang faced eight batters, throwing first-pitch strikes to only four, and his day turned to nightmare.

Harang had a 4-0 lead before he shed his jacket to throw his first warm-up pitch. His teammates ripped into Colorado starter Jamey Wright for four first-inning runs.

Joe Randa, batting second for the first time in a Cincinnati uniform, drilled a one-out home run, Rich Aurilia hit a two-run bases-loaded single and Jason LaRue contributed run-scoring single.

Harang whipped through five innings, giving up two hits and a walk while striking out five before encountering problems with any major degree of difficulty.

The first three Rockies in the fifth — Clint Barmes, Desi Relaford, Todd Helton —all cracked hits for a pair of runs. A run-scoring single by Garrett Atkins and a two-run double by J.D. Closser finished Harang's night, the 4-0 lead now a 6-4 deficit.

Colorado relief pitcher Matt Anderson issued a pair of two-out walks in the seventh, but with the tying runs aboard, Austin Kearns grounded to short to short circuit the threat and leave it at 6-4.

Rich Aurilia hit his second homer in two nights off Jay Witasik with one out in the eighth, his third RBI of the night, drawing the Reds to within one.

Witasik hit Jason LaRue and walked Jacob Cruz with no outs, but Felipe Lopez was called out when he squared to bunt with two strikes, Randa lined to second and Sean Casey hit a soft liner to third — an inning that goes a long way toward explaining why the Reds are 21-34

"We took the bunt off for Lopez after two strikes so he squared to bunt on his own," said Miley. "It's all about situational hitting. We had a runner on second with no outs in the fifth and didn't get him in. We had two on and no outs in the eighth and don't move them.

"When we need to get a bunt down, we need to get it down," Miley added. "You HAVE to do it. And we score four in the first, but we don't add on. The opportunities were there."

The Reds have fallen 15 games out of first place, their largest deficit on June 5 since the 1971 Reds were 15 1/2 behind. The 1982 team which lost 102 games were only 8 1/2 behind on June 5.

[AdamDunn#44]

"When we need to get a bunt down, we need to get it down," Miley added. "You HAVE to do it. And we score four in the first, but we don't add on. The opportunities were there."

What a jackass. Your playing in Coors Field, you dont bunt with a guy that already has 3 hits in the game and the pitcher is struggling.

Fire Miley, O'Brien, Allen and I'll be happy.

[Jr's Boy]

Can it get any worse?

[CincyRedsFan30]

What a jackass. Your playing in Coors Field, you dont bunt with a guy that already has 3 hits in the game and the pitcher is struggling.

Fire Miley, O'Brien, Allen and I'll be happy.

Do you notice that Miley is even getting a bit 'harsh' with Marty and Hal, both of whom have been supporters of his overall?

[AdamDunn#44]

Do you notice that Miley is even getting a bit 'harsh' with Marty and Hal, both of whom have been supporters of his overall?

Nope. What did he say to them?

[CincyRedsFan30]

Well, I just meant in general. He seems very edgy with both of them(Marty on the pregame and Hal for stories).

[AdamDunn#44]

I didn't get to catch the pregame.

Seems like he's pissed at Lopez too when its his own mistake of calling the bunt.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Well, the pregame incident was posted elsewhere.

[Reds_fan_4_life]

if marty gets mistreated he to me has the right to kill that person. you can't do that to a legend. and hal can say what ever he wants its a free country and if hal is printing true facts then even more power to him. miley shouldn't be pissed at his players performances he should be pissed on poorly he is doing as a manager right now this year.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Well, he didn't get mistreated really. Miley just avoided his question about why Milton stays in the rotation, and Marty called him out on it.

[QuietAcre]

if marty gets mistreated he to me has the right to kill that person. you can't do that to a legend. and hal can say what ever he wants its a free country and if hal is printing true facts then even more power to him. miley shouldn't be pissed at his players performances he should be pissed on poorly he is doing as a manager right now this year.

Sorry, this IS a free country but NO ONE has the right to kill anyone. You're giving Hal way too much credit (and I just know who's going to take issue with this, LOL!), but are very correct about Miley. Miley is done, and he knows it. What a crybaby he is, pointing the finger at everyone else. Shows you what kind of person he is.

[Reds_fan_4_life]

lol well i was just trying to say that marty should snipe Miley from the press boxes if he was mistreated. He is a legend here and Miley has no right to do anything in that nature in the majors.. maybe minors where he belongs for good.

[CincyRedsFan30]

How could someone possibly give too much credit to a Hall of Famer? Seems impossible to me.

[Wally Mo Pena]

if i said joe morgan was the best hitter in baseball history, i would be giving him too much credit.

[CincyRedsFan30]

I was just questioning very questionable comments.