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| Jason Lane |
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Another wonderful, wonderful victory tonight, with Sampson less than mistake-free, but getting outstanding results. He has truly pitched like those of us lobbying for him this spring felt he could.
Reds guys were talking about how the Berkman RBI single will get him going. I hope so, but groundball singles through the hole don't usually turn the tide by themselves.
What it may be, however, is a signal that Berkman has hit bottom and is on the way back up. In ten days we may be on the way to forgetting that Lance was hitting under .200 through our first twelve games. I'd like to see an extra base hit before I pronounce him back, though.
Hard to find fault with Scott after he hit the ball so hard and was robbed so blindly during his first AB, but it may be Luke who pays a bigger price in playing time than Burke when considering tonight's performance from Lane. Lane remains agonizing to watch, oscillating between solid AB's and terrible ones, but considering he is now second on the club in RBI while having less than half as many plate appearances as Berkman or Ensberg, Garner may feel obligated to find more at bats for Lane.
Yet for at least the time being, he is committed to running Burke out there. Scott's average has dipped below .250, and while he has usually picked up a hit in the games he starts, you have to go back to Opening Day to find a game in which Scott had multiple hits.