ekansekans's blog: "df"

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- One bit of news took the Cincinnati Reds from their season high point to a new low -- they have to try to hold onto first place without Joey Votto. The Reds had their six-game winning streak snapped on Monday night shortly after learning theyll be without their best hitter for up to a month. Miguel Montero drove in four runs, and the Arizona Diamondbacks ended the Reds surge with a 5-3 victory. All that seemed secondary to worries about a future without the 2010 NL MVP. Shortly before the game started, the Reds got MRI results showing Votto has torn cartilage in his left knee and will be out for three to four weeks. "Hes an MVP, a Gold Glover. What more can you ask in a guy?" said Todd Frazier, who filled in at first base. "Injuries are huge in baseball. Hes got that presence. Whenever he is out there, he can do damage." Votto hurt his left knee while sliding on June 29, but kept playing because he didnt think the injury was severe. He started for the National League in the All-Star game on Tuesday, and played all three games of a sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals that left Cincinnati alone in first place in the NL Central. He didnt have an MRI until Monday because he didnt think he needed one. "He didnt request it until then," general manager Walt Jocketty said. "He said it wasnt a problem until the last couple of days." Votto will have surgery on Tuesday, costing the Reds their top hitter. Votto is batting .342 and leads the NL in doubles, walks and extra-base hits. Bronson Arroyo saw Votto before the game and got the bad news directly. "He looked funny," Arroyo said. "I said, Are you playing? He said, No, I need surgery. At this time of year, if we can keep pressure on the other teams in our division and stay in the race -- if we can weather the storm -- he could give us a lift when he comes back." Things didnt go so well in their first game without him. The slumping Diamondbacks scored four runs in the first against Arroyo (4-6), who lasted a season-low three innings. The Reds had gotten impressive starts during a six-game winning streak that boosted them into first. All-Star Wade Miley (10-5) gave up three runs in 5 2-3 innings. J.J. Putz gave up a hit in the ninth while getting his 17th save in 20 chances. Arizona manager Kirk Gibson revamped his struggling lineup, which scored a total of three runs while getting swept over the weekend at Wrigley Field. The biggest switch was dropping Justin Upton -- in a 1-for-10 slump -- to the fifth spot for the first time this season. Everything worked. The Diamondbacks scored four runs before making an out against Arroyo, who looked out of sync from his nine-day layoff over the All-Star break. Stephen Drew, Willie Bloomquist and Aaron Hill singled, and Montero -- in a 6-for-32 slump -- doubled home all three runners on Arroyos 10th pitch of the game. Upton followed with a single for a 4-0 lead, getting the Reds bullpen busy. Montero led off the third with his ninth homer, making it 69 straight games at Great American Ball Park with at least one homer. Its the longest streak since an 80-game stretch at Coors Field from 2002-03. Arroyo was coming off a three-hit shutout in San Diego. He gave up eight hits and five runs in only three innings on Monday night, leaving after 48 pitches. "I didnt have good stuff," Arroyo said. "I had to (push) it to get it to 84 mph, and that hasnt happened all year. Even if I got out of that first inning, I didnt feel like I could go deep into the ballgame and put zeros on the board." Miley, who pitched in the All-Star game on Tuesday, also struggled at the start. The left-hander gave up an RBI double by Brandon Phillips in the first inning and a two-run single by Drew Stubbs in the second. He settled down after that hit, retiring the next 11 batters. The Reds kept it at 5-3 with a weird play in the seventh. Bill Bray threw a ball over the plate after catcher Ryan Hanigan stepped out and put up his hand to complete an intentional walk to Chris Young. Montero tried to score from third, but was tagged out. NOTES: The Reds plan to make a roster move on Wednesday. ... The blister on RHP Johnny Cuetos right index finger was better, so hell make his scheduled start on Tuesday against Arizona. ... Diamondbacks OF Jason Kubel was out of the lineup for the third straight game because of a sore hamstring. Gibson said there was no thought of putting him on the DL for now. ... Diamondbacks broadcaster Jeff Munn was in a Cincinnati chili parlour when President Obama walked in on Monday during a campaign visit. Wholesale NFL Jerseys. -- The spot where Joe Paternos bronze likeness once stood is now occupied by freshly planted trees. Wholesale MLB Jerseys. Bujold, of Kitchener, Ont., dropped an 11-9 decision to South Koreas Hye Song Kim in the 51-kilogram division. Meanwhile, Quebec Citys Bizier was defeated 15-10 by Mexicos Erika Cruz Hernandez in 60-kilogram weight class. http://elevatedcolor.com/hot.html. The 31-year-old Victoria native became the first Canadian to win one of cyclings three major tour races when he won the Giro dItalia last month. PITTSBURGH -- Maybe Davey Johnson should hold all his team meetings on days Stephen Strasburg is pitching. The Washington Nationals manager called a brief meeting to give his mildly slumping club a confidence boost and Strasburg responded with another brilliant performance to lift the Nationals to a 4-2 victory over the Pirates on Thursday. "Thats a good night to have a team meeting, isnt it?" Johnson said with a laugh. Strasburg (3-0) struck out a season-high 13 as Washington snapped a three-game losing streak. "When the stuffs working like tonight, youve got to go out there and just throw it, and it doesnt really matter what you throw," Strasburg said. The performance was reminiscent of Strasburgs electric major league debut against the Pirates nearly two years ago. The former No. 1 pick struck out 14 over seven innings on June 8, 2010, to announce to the baseball world the hype was real. An elbow injury cut short his rookie season and required reconstructive surgery that sidelined Strasburg for a year, and the Nationals have been careful about bringing their ace along slowly. It might be time to take off the shackles. "He thinks hes not throwing hard but the balls coming out of his hand real quick, and hes also got a good changeup and a good curveball," Johnson said. "I mean, hes nasty." Roger Bernadina and Adam LaRoche both homered in the sixth off Pittsburghs Kevin Correia (1-3) to erase a two-run deficit. Henry Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his seventh save. Strasburg (3-0) lowered his ERA to 1.64 by overpowering one of baseballs weaker lineups. He struck out seven straight batters at one point and for a moment it appeared he was on his way to a record-breaking night. It didnt happen after Strasburg cooled in the later innings, but he made a believer of Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle. "Thats a good arm with a kid with a head to work with it," Hurdle said. "The progress hes made in a very short period of time at this level is something." The Nationals have been one of baseballs biggest surprises over the first month of the season and began the day in a virtual tie for first with Atlanta atop the NL East. Still, Johnson was so concerned after watching his squad drop three straight -- including two to Pittsburgh -- he called a meeting a couple of hours before the game. Johnson offered a gentle reminder to his young club that theres no reason to panic, and stressed he wasnt going to let a little dip lead to massive changes. The way Strasburg is pitching, theres no need. Still, Pittsburgh somehow steadied itself long enough in the fourth inning to take the lead behind RBI singles from Andrew McCutchen and Neil WWalker.dddddddddddd. Correia lacks Strasburgs power and instead kept the Pirates in it with his precision. He cruised through the first five innings but wobbled just long enough in the sixth to give up the lead. Bernadina led off the sixth with his first home run of the season to put Washington on the board. Ryan Zimmerman walked and LaRoche -- a former Pirate who was booed heavily at every turn throughout the series -- drilled his sixth homer of the season into the Nationals bullpen behind the wall in centre to put Washington ahead 3-2. "I needed to be efficient," said Correia, who gave up three runs on six hits in seven innings, striking out one and walking two. "I did that. If I could take back a pitch or two, it could have been a pretty good game. When youre facing one of the better pitchers in the league youve got little room for error and that cost us the game." Given the lead for the first time all night, Strasburg nearly gave it up. He threw 12 balls during a 14-pitch span to load the bases. Jones stepped in and knew what was coming and swung at the first pitch he saw, fouling it off. The strike appeared to settle Strasburgs nerves, and he fanned Jones with a 95 mph heater to get out of the jam. "He gave me a couple pitches to hit," Jones said. "I just swung right through them." Rick Ankiel added some insurance in the ninth with a solo homer and Rodriguez, who blew a save on Tuesday night in a 5-4 loss, bounced back by handling the Pirates in the bottom of the inning. "You never want to get swept," LaRoche said. "So any time youre down two games in a series, its always nice to pick up that last one. (Strasburg) pitched his butt off, got out of a couple jams for us and we were able to score some runs." Washington rookie outfielder Bryce Harper went 1 for 4 and committed his first major league error in the fourth when he tried to gun down Jose Tabata at the plate. The ball bounced off catcher Jesus Flores, allowing McCutchen to move to second. NOTES: Pittsburgh starter Erik Bedard, who left Wednesdays game after eight pitches due to back spasms, felt better on Thursday. ... Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward took batting practice and threw out the first pitch. Ward, who retired in March, was selected in the 73rd round of the 1994 MLB Draft by the Florida Marlins. He chose to play football at Georgia instead. ... The Nationals continue a six-game road trip on Friday in Cincinnati. Washingtons Gio Gonzalez (3-1, 1.72 ERA) faces Mike Leake (0-4, 5.97). ... The Pirates host Houston on Friday. James McDonald (2-1, 2.70) starts for Pittsburgh against Bud Norris (2-1, 5.48). ' ' '