Homer Bailey's Rough Start Sinks Reds Against the Cardinals

To say that Homer Bailey got off to a bad start is to say that Niagra Falls transports a little moisture.

He retired the first two Cardinal batters easily, then his boat fell off the edge of the falls.  Matt Holiday homered. Bailey then walked perennial Reds killer, Lance Berkman.  David Freese continued his hot start with his second home run of the year.  Yadier Molina followed with his second long ball immediately after.

"I got a little passive after the first two batters," Bailey said.  "I started to be aggressive again after that.  The pitch to Freese should have been a little more in.  It got too much of the plate.  He's a big strong guy, who can wait on a pitch."

The first inning was the game, when all the Reds could manage was three singles.

Jake Westbrook was also having a little trouble but he wasn't wild down the middle.  Westbrook walked four Reds in the first two innings but avoided the big hit.  The Reds didn't manage a hit until Brandon Phillips drilled a single with two outs in the fifth.  Westbrook fielded Zack Cozart's slow roller and missed first base, like he missed the plate.  The ball rolled down the right field line allowing Phillips to score but the Reds secondbaseman had to leave the game with a cramp in his left hamstring.

"Westbrook wasn't real sharp either.  We had our opportunities but we didn't get a big hit," Dusty Baker said.  "He was missing low, so he was effectively wild. He started to get some ground balls in the middle innings once he settled down."

Bailey to his credit settled in and pitched into the sixth inning, keeping the Reds in the contest.

"Homer threw the ball good but his locations wasn't where he needed it to be.  This is still a pretty good lineup   (without Albert Pujols).  You can't put the ball in the middle of the plate."

Bill Bray held the fort with a 1 1/3 inning scoreless stint.

Jose Arredondo couldn't throw enough strikes either.  He walked Berkman.  Freese reached on an infield hit. Scott Rolen gloved it but couldn't make a throw.   Arredondo fell behind Molina.  On a 3-2 pitch, the runners moving, Molina doubled home the two Cardinals and scored himself on Matt Carpenter's pinch-hit sacrifice fly.