Votto, Hanigan homer to lift Reds

SweetSpot TV: Hitting Duos

Eric Karabell and David Schoenfield break down the top hitting duos in baseball.

Matt Harvey vs. Joey Votto: Votto wins

The afternoon tilt between the Reds and Mets at Citi Field would have been just another mid-May game between a good team and a bad team, except the Mets are a good team when Matt Harvey pitches.

Ranking the majors' best hitting combos

OK, let's stir up some arguing and yelling again. Yesterday, I ranked the top five pitching duos. Today, let's do the majors' best hitting duos. Ranking the pitchers was difficult because there were so many excellent pairs to choose.

Crasnick: Votto determined to be great

Taking some advice from the Hit King, Joey Votto has developed a focus that's fueled his desire to be great.

Votto Can't Be Stopped

From Elias: Joey Votto went 4-for-4 with two walks and a home run in the Reds' 10-0 win at Citizens Bank Park. In the last 55 years, only three other Cincinnati players have reached base safely at least six times and homered in a nine-inning game: Frank Robinson against the Dodgers at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1961, Pete Rose against the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium in 1969, and Sean Casey versus the Rockies at Coors Field in 1999.

It's "citizens Bank House Of Horrors" For The Reds

From Elias: The Reds fell behind, 3-0, to Cliff Lee in Philadelphia, but rebounded on Jay Bruce's two-run, sixth-inning homer off Lee and Joey Votto's solo shot in the eighth inning off Antonio Bastardo. But those heroics proved to be in vain as the Phillies won, 5-3, scoring two in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI groundout and sacrifice fly in a rally that included a Ryan Howard infield hit! The Reds are now 11-23 (.324) at Citizens Bank Park, their second-lowest winning percentage at any venue where they have played at least 20 games; they put together a 15-34 (.306) won-lost mark from 1892 to 1899 at Oriole Park, the home of a Baltimore Orioles team that then played in the National League. (The Reds are also 0-2 in postseason play at Citizens Bank Park; they were no-hit in one of those losses, by Roy Halladay.)

Votto Has A Field Day At Wrigley

From Elias: Joey Votto had three hits on Sunday and he went 7-for-12 in the Reds' three-game sweep of the Cubs in Chicago. Votto is the fifth player in franchise history to post a batting average of .583 or higher with at least seven hits during a sweep of a series of three or more games at Wrigley Field. The other players to do so for the Reds are Wally Berger (.643, 9-for-14, July 1938); Frank Robinson (.615, 8-for-13, May 1957); Joe Oliver (.636, 7-for-11, August 1989); and Dmitri Young (.583, 7-for-12, September 1998).

Why Joey Votto should bat second

The Los Angeles Angels have been batting Mike Trout, their best all-around hitter, second for most of this season. The Cincinnati Reds could learn a thing or two from that.The idea of putting your best hitter second, rather than third, is still a novel one within baseball and has yet to gain widespread acceptance, even though the evidence in favor of such an arrangement is pretty strong.