Anthony DeSclafani Dominates Texas Phi Ervin Continues To Hit

Phil Ervin has made his case.  He lined his fifth home run of the spring off Jesse Chavez with two men on in the Reds 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers.

Ervin left the game leading the Reds in home runs while hitting .344 for the spring.  Tucker Barnhart followed with an opposite field home run.

http://www.wiedemannbeer.com/

Scott Schbeler was hit by a pitch from Texas starter Shelby Miller.  Singles by Barnhart and Blake Trahan brought him home with the first run.

Anthony DeSclafani turned in another good start.  He pitched five innings, allowing two hits, including a home run by Logan Forsythe.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out seven

"He looked really good," David Bell said.  "He's had a good day for him.  He finished strong.  With he and Tanner pitching like that the last two days is encouraging.  They are throwing pitches where they want them."

DeSclafani was so efficient in the game that he went to the bullpen to throw 15 more pitches.

ht[[s://amazon.com/

"I was throwing a lot of strikes," DeSclafani said.  "I was happy to get through five innings.  I was throwing some good sliders and then a comeback two seamers.  It is a good pitch for me."

"I need to continue to throw the curveball," said DeSclafani about what he needs to accomplish before the season starts.  I don't really get a lot of swings and misses on it.  I threw a couple for strikes and they were taking some.  I think it was effective in a sense that it was slowing it down and getting the hitters something else to see.  It may have played a roll in getting some weak contact. There is still a purpose for it but I want to get more strikeouts with it and throwing it for strikes more consistently."

The Rangers scored off Raisel Iglesias.  With two outs, Danny Santana hit a line drive to right center. Michael Lorenzen tried to make a diving catch but it got by him for a triple.  Hunter Pence hit an RBI double.

"It is why he's out there.  It is only fair that he gets to work out some of the kinks," said Bell of the aggressive play.  With a 5-1 lead the better play would have been to play it safe and keep the runner at first.  Lorenzen's aggressive personality took over, trying to impress during his transition.  "It wasn't a bad play.  Maybe a little over aggressive but that's ok.  You'd rather see a guy be aggressive, I mean, thinking through the situation and being smart but once you get through that, learning to trust it and being aggressive is important to being a good player in this league."

Lorenzen singled in his only at bat and spent most of the inning diving back to first.

http://donatelifeohio.org/

"He was on the ground a lot today," Bell said.

Jared Hughes, Wandy Peralta and Matt Wisler threw scoreless inning.  The Reds have to make a big decision with Wisler.  He is out of options and must make the team or risk being lost to waivers.

He gave up two ground ball infield hits that fielders were able to keep in the infield.  With two on and no outs, Wisler got a strike out and a double play grounder.  This spring, Wisler has appeared in seven games, six scoreless.  He allowed two runs in his first outing but has thrown seven straight scoreless innings.

"He's having a good spring," Bell said.  "He was good again today.  He had the base runners but kept pitching and really did a good job."