Thinking Outside The Box Score, 6/29/06
Truthfully, we were really hoping to find an image from the Simpsons episode after Grif comes down with elephantitis, so we could make a joke about how he's gotten a big head after hitting home runs in four consecutive games. Alas, that failed.
Grif holds a share of the major-league record for consecutive games for a home run with eight (1993), and after a potentially legendary start to a career that had people buzzing about him owning all of the home runs records, the Reds center fielder fell on bad times with Seattle and Cincinatti. After spending years growing familiar with the DL he's back in the spotlight -- he's got 16 shots on the season, including last night's first-inning home run that helped the Reds beat the hapless Royals, 6-5.
For the Reds, it was their second consecutive win, allowing them to take the series from Kansas City after the Royals won the first game 9-8. After spending some time, albeit surprisingly, on top of their division, the Reds have fallen back to Earth. They currently sit one game back of the Cardinals. This is bad news for the Reds, because they couldn't take advantage of Albert Pujols' absence. At least they're getting continued contributions from their biggest stars -- Griffey is on his aforementioned tear and Adam Dunn won the game in the 8th last night with an RBI that actually stayed in the park. Dunn is notorious for either rocketing the ball into the stands or flailing embarassingly at it, but he made just enough contact last night to get the ball over the head of Reggie Sanders and to drive in Ryan Freel. Dunn stayed in character earlier in the game, hitting a 4th inning shot that extended the Reds lead to 4-1. The Royals had a three-run eighth inning that tied the score at 5-5, leaving the door open for extras, but that never came to fruition. The Kansas comeback cost Cincinatti starter Bronson Arroyo his 10th win of the season, to which he had to say:
Sure, it irritates you, but that's not saying the guys in the bullpen aren't doing the best they can. If it was a one-run lead, I would've gone back out there, but the bullpen has been throwing better of late, and I thought three runs was a big enough lead.
It's good Arroyo is careful with his words, lest he burn any bridges that might force him to quit baseball and give acting a shot. His first attempt went (emphasize) very poorly.
