Game 43: Reds 3, Indians 1

Anthony Reyes only lasted three innings before leaving the game with a sore elbow. If he had been pitching all game with the balky elbow, his performance was understandable, if not miraculous. The first three Cincinnati batters he faced reached without a hit, but after the smoke cleared and the mirrors were carted off, the Reds had just a run to show for their promising start. Reyes dodged the big inning the next two frames then finally couldn't continue. Reyes has had elbow trouble his entire career, including a flare-up that shortened his 2008 season.

Even on teams with deep bullpens, a starter leaving the game before the fifth is a tough obstacle to overcome, especially if there's no longman around to get the game to the short relievers. Tonight Jensen Lewis gave the Indians a welcome three innings of shutout relief, and at the end of his outing, the game was still tied at one. The advantage still rested with Cincinnati given the relative strengths of the bullpens, but at least the Indians had a chance to win.

Aaron Laffey took over for Lewis in the seventh. With Reyes' injury, assuming that it was serious to put him on the DL, Laffey seemed the logical choice to replace him in the rotation. After all, Laffey wasn't moved to the bullpen because he was pitching poorly. But after the Reds took the lead off him in the eighth, he injured what looked like an oblique muscle and had to leave the game. It looks like the Indians will have four starters on the Disabled List (Westbrook, Lewis, Reyes, and Laffey), and that starter depth at the beginning of the year is now gone. I'm going to assume that Jeremy Sowers will get called up to take Reyes' place in the rotation, but until then, the Indians probably will go with an extra reliever. As who the two relievers are, your guess is as good as mine.

Meanwhile, the offense had a couple opportunities to take the lead, the biggest being the seventh. With one out, Peralta went from first to third on a Mark DeRosa single to right, but Ryan Garko grounded into an inning-ending double play on the next pitch.

Next Up: Huff vs. Bailey, 7:10 PM

via www.fangraphs.com