Reds take the opener in a complete rout 14-3.

De La Cruz homers twice and has 7 RBI for the home team.

Apparently De La Cruz was using the torpedo bat for the first time tonight.

22 minutes ago, nkypete said:

Apparently De La Cruz was using the torpedo bat for the first time tonight.

Just checked out highlights and it looks like it was the torpedo bat. The hottest hitter on the Reds, Matt McClain's bat looks traditional. There are a lot of hitters using the torpedo. This feels a little like New York media hype since several Yankees are using the bat.

As with most things in baseball, we will need the large sample size to determine if the torpedo is hype or real. 

Great game by Elly, Singer and others...of course the bullpen gave up 3 runs late though. 

8 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Great game by Elly, Singer and others...of course the bullpen gave up 3 runs late though. 

Not too worried about the bullpen in that scenario. They're throwing fastballs and just recording outs at that point. Suter there is much different than using him in a tie ballgame. 

I wonder if pitchers will try to pitch exclusively inside to players with torpedo bats to avoid the "meat" of these new bats.  That might result in more hit batters which might make the game even more interesting.

2 hours ago, nkypete said:

I wonder if pitchers will try to pitch exclusively inside to players with torpedo bats to avoid the "meat" of these new bats.  That might result in more hit batters which might make the game even more interesting.

Wouldn't the torpedo bat be better on inside pitches? The meat of the bat is closer to the handle.

2 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Wouldn't the torpedo bat be better on inside pitches? The meat of the bat is closer to the handle.

 

No, I thought that the meat of the bat is near the end and the handle having less.  It ends up looking like a bowling pin.

3 minutes ago, nkypete said:

 

No, I thought that the meat of the bat is near the end and the handle having less.  It ends up looking like a bowling pin.

Maybe you are right, @Voice of Reason.  I was reading it wrong online.

Here is what it is supposed to look like.

Rangers take game 2, 1-0.

9 hours ago, nkypete said:

Here is what it is supposed to look like.

That isn't it. That looks more like a traditional bat. The torpedo bat has a more narrow and concave end.

The Reds shutout by the Rangers again today by the same score as last night 1-0. The Reds now have not scored since the 7th inning on Monday night when they beat Texas 14-3. The Reds go 2-4 on the opening home stand and start a 7-game road trip to the Brewers and Giants for the next 8 days. They have 4 in Milwaukee and 3 in San Fransico. The game with the Brewers tomorrow first pitch is at 7:40pm.

Thin crowd today at the game.

Just saw on ESPN that the Reds back to back 1-0 losses at home had not happened since 1907.