Los Angeles @ Cincinnati preview
Great American Ball Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 20, 2010 ) LA Dodgers 9, Cincinnati 11
Just in case Cincinnati fans have lost count, the Reds have played 15 games this season. And they're still looking for a win from one of their starting pitchers.
The Reds weren't counting on getting many victories from former ace Edinson Volquez anytime soon after placing him on the 60-day disabled list following reconstructive elbow surgery before the season started. But, to add insult to injury on Tuesday, Volquez was suspended 50 days after testing positive for a banned substance.
Cincinnati, which is a team clearly struggling in the starting pitching category, will host the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Great American Ball Park Wednesday.
Aaron Harang (0-2) will make his fourth start of the season for the Reds. The team's Opening-Day starter - who was the subject of trade talks before the season began - has been hit hard in the early going. He's allowed five home runs in 16 innings. In his last outing, Harang finished just four innings after yielding eight runs in a 10-2 loss to the Florida Marlins.
Any help from Volquez is apparently is a long way off.
Volquez said he took the drug in question - which is designed for fertility - in hopes of starting a family. He could return from the suspension on June 15, but Volquez was already expected to be sidelined until at least July while recovering from the surgery.
An All-Star in 2008, Volquez said the drug was prescribed by his doctor but he will not appeal the suspension. He is the first major league player to be suspended for use of a banned substance since Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez was suspended last May.
Volquez was 4-2 last season before going under the knife in June. He was the ace of the staff in 2008, posting a 17-6 mark with a 3.21 ERA and 206 strikeouts in 196 innings.
Cincinnati has had little success in the arms race thus far.
On Tuesday, Homer Bailey stood to become the first Red starter to record a win, but the Reds blew a 9-3 lead. Matt Kemp tied the game at 9-9 with a three-run homer in top of the eighth inning before Cincinnati pulled the game out with a run-scoring single by pinch-hitter Paul Janish in the bottom of the frame.
Janish's heroics helped snap the Reds five-game losing streak. Francisco Cordero, one of the lone Reds hurlers who has had any success this year, worked a perfect ninth inning for his fifth save.
Ramirez returned to the Dodgers' lineup on Tuesday. The left fielder has been battling tightness in his hamstring and didn't start the past two games, but he did come off the bench to hit a game-winning, pinch-hit homer on Sunday against the San Francisco Giants.
Ramirez doubled and walked three times in Tuesday's game.