Reds 10-Game Winning Streak Snapped; Mesoraco Suspension Looms

by Robb Hoff

July 30, 2012

It's probably only fitting that the Cincinnati Reds 10-game winning streak ended with Mike Leake starting the game just like he did the first game of the winning streak.

Leake coughed up six runs in that first game of the streak, but the Reds stormed back to win behind the heroics of second baseman Brandon Phillips.

Leake brought his Little League game again last night, but the hole he dug for his team this time around was deepened through an equally useless performance by reliever Alfredo Simon.

The deficit was just too much to overcome this time.

And so long went the win streak and a share of the best record in Major League Baseball.

A combination of the Reds hitters and the poor pitching by the San Diego Padres kept the game interesting enough into the later innings, but ultimately the throng of more than 38,000 Reds fans who headed out to Great American Ball Park teeming with unbound excitement watched helplessly as Leake and Simon quickly let the air out of their collective balloon.

Fortunately for those same fans, the Reds kept their three-game lead atop the N.L. Central division after the Pittsburgh Pirates got beat even worse by the lowly Chicago Cubs than the Reds lost at the hands of the lowlier Padres.

Perhaps of even more consequence than the loss of the game was the loss of catcher Devin Mesoraco, who was tossed after arguing balls and strike behind the plate, then escorted from the field after apparently touching the home plate umpire.

A Mesoraco suspension would create an intriguing pickle because Mesoraco's spot on the active roster couldn't be replaced without a corresponding move to demote a player already on the active roster.

Likewise, calling up a catcher from Triple A Louisville would create a dilemma because neither Louisville catcher Corky Miller or Dioner Navarro are currently on the Reds 40-man roster. If one or the other is called up, another player on the 40-man roster would have to be designated for assignment, which could cause the Reds to lose that player to another team once Mesoraco is reinstated.

The potential exposure of the demoted player at that point makes it more likely that the Reds will promote Miller instead of Navarro, who is a likely addition when the active roster expands in September.

While the Reds await the fate of Mesoraco, Reds fans -- especially those who venture down to the ballpark a little leery after Monday's whipping -- will have to hope that Homer Bailey doesn't revert to the Little League form that Leake demonstrated.

Of course, Bailey's stuff is in an altogether different league than Leake's....and as we all know Bailey is "Homer......Homer Bailey....King of the Wild Frontier".