Reflecting on 2010: June

In the third in our series at looking back at the 2010 season, we find ourselves entering June. If you missed either of our posts covering April and/or May, you can find those by clicking the appropriate link below:

April 2010
May 2010

Our Opening Day countdown now stands at 92 days!

So on with the recap of 2010.

As the Reds entered June, they were in a virtual dead heat with the St. Louis Cardinals atop the NL Central. The month began on the road in St. Louis. The Reds had dropped the game on the previous evening (May 31) to fall into that tie, but they rebounded for a 9-8 win to temporarily regain the division lead.

A prominent roster move was also made that first day of June. After struggling at the beginning of 2010, the Reds recalled Logan Ondrusek from Louisville. The time Ondrusek spent in Triple-A paid dividends as starting on June 16, Ondrusek would embark on a streak of consecutive scoreless innings. That streak would run into August. Ondrusek became as reliable as Arthur Rhodes.

Another major roster move was made a couple of weeks later on June 15. Jordan Smith was extracted form Double-A Carolina and placed in the Reds bullpen to bolster a weak bullpen. Another youngster that performed well for the Reds in 2010.

The Reds jetted out to the west coast beginning on June 18 for a three-game set with the Mariners. If there was one series in which the Reds appeared to have not shown up, it was this one. There was a good reason why the Reds were swept by the M’s and being outscored 7-1 for all three games. Two reasons were Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez.

But Cincinnati did not let that sweep sidetrack them. They quickly rebounded by sweeping the Oakland A’s in three games and amassing 13-6. The series saw the previously mentioned Jordan Smith execute his first ML save in the series’ first game. While taht was a surprise, it was that the Reds were holding a slim 2-1 win entering the bottom of the ninth. A Francisco Cordero blown save would lead to the 10 inning affair.

Cordero and his blown saves would begin to create calls for his removal as the closer.

The Reds would claim the Ohio Cup in their annual battle against state rival the Cleveland Indians after taking two of three games at GABP. The Reds had produced a matching 2-1 series win in Cleveland in May.

I mentioned Ondrusek’s run of scoreless innings earlier. I mentioned Rhodes, too. Rhodes himself was in the middle of an impressive scoreless inning streak which began in April. Rhodes was see his streak come to an end on the 29th as he surrendered 3 runs in a 9-6 loss to the Phillies.

The final shaping of the bullpen would take place on June 27 when Bill Bray returned to the majors after having Tommy John surgery in May, 2009. While the bullpen as a whole would take its lumps over the season (both from the media and the fans), Bray appeared to be the next to last piece Cincinnati needed. The next piece would come in August.

For June, the Reds were only one game above .500 with a 14-13 record. As of June 30, 2010, the NL Central looked like this:

The monthly leaders were as follows:
HR: 8 – Joey Votto
RBI: 22 – Votto
BA: .373 – Brandon Phillips
Wins: 3 – Johnny Cueto
SO: 23 – Aaron Harang