The last time the Reds got off to such a good start, they ended up winning the World Series.

Chris Heisey drove in three runs, and the Reds used a patient approach at the plate to beat the Houston Astros 8-2 on Tuesday night for their best start in 21 years.

At 4-0, they’re the only unbeaten team left in the National League. They hadn’t won their first four since 1990, when they opened 9-0 and went on to sweep Oakland for their last World Series championship.

“You get off to a good start and try to keep the momentum going and keep winning,” Heisey said. “I’ll say we’re probably going to lose a game before long, but if we go 162-0, we’ll be making some serious headlines.”

The defending NL Central champs showed a lot of confidence in their first four, playing up to a title that’s had a carry-over effect.

“Remember I said that whatever we sold last year was going to be an easier sell this year because of the results,” manager Dusty Baker said.

By contrast, the Astros fell to 0-4, the second year in a row they’ve foundered. They dropped the first eight games last season, burying themselves in the Central with a 17-34 start in April and May. Houston finished the season strong and wanted to avoid another discouraging beginning this time around.

Instead, they’ve been overwhelmed by two of the league’s top teams, dropping three in Philadelphia before heading to Cincinnati to face a team that’s been even better than last year in one way.

The Reds’ offense led the NL in most categories last season, including homers and slugging, but ranked 10th in walks. They’ve added patience to their approach this year, walking 18 times in their four wins.

Against J.A. Happ (0-1), they did the most damage by not even swinging.

Heisey walked with the bases loaded, was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and singled home a run off Happ, who helped the league’s top offense immensely with his early control problems.

“I don’t know if it was just a lack of aggressiveness at the outset,” said Happ, who lasted only four innings. “I felt I was around the (strike) zone. They definitely took some quality pitches.”

The left-hander repeatedly missed low with his pitches. He walked three in the first inning, including Heisey to force in a run. The Reds sent eight batters to the plate for three runs — Scott Rolen had an RBI single, and Heisey broke up a potential double play with a hard slide into second base, bringing home another.

Eight more Reds batted in the second. Jonny Gomes walked to force in a run — he hesitated and waited for umpire Andy Fletcher’s call on a 3-1 pitch close by the outside corner — and Heisey was hit on the left hand with the bases loaded for a 5-0 lead.

A sign of the Reds’ new patience: Gomes walked only 39 times all last season, but has seven base on balls already.

“They’re showing a lot of patience and tolerance, especially Jonny,” Baker said. “It’s a situation where guys are learning how to hit.”

Joey Votto’s run-scoring double and Heisey’s RBI single made it 7-0 in the fourth, Happ’s last inning. The left-hander gave up seven hits and walked five, one shy of his career high.

Happ strained a muscle in his right side during his last spring training appearance, prompting manager Brad Mills to push his start back two days. Happ threw 52 strikes out of 91 pitches.

Mike Leake (1-0) allowed three hits and a pair of runs in six innings. Houston managed only five hits overall.

NOTES: Astros reliever Alberto Arias threw approximately 60 pitches in the bullpen. Arias missed all last season recovering from shoulder surgery. He had mild tendinitis in the shoulder during spring training, prompting the Astros to put him on the DL. “He’ll get (back) real quick if he progresses like he is,” Mills said. … Heisey started in RF in place of Jay Bruce, in part because the Astros started a left-hander. … Former Reds 1B Sean Casey threw a ceremonial pitch. Casey was part of the television broadcast crew. … Attendance was 11,821 on a 52-degree night. … 2B Brandon Phillips knocked the wind out of himself on a hard slide into home in the fourth inning and left an inning later because he had trouble breathing. He expects to start on Wednesday.

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CINCINNATI — The defending NL Central champions have opened the season playing like they belong in first place.

And, maybe more.

The Cincinnati Reds swept their opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers, considered one of their top challengers in the division. The Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies — the team that swept them in the first round of the playoffs — were the league’s only unbeaten teams left on Monday.

A win at home over Houston on Tuesday night would give the Reds their first 4-0 start since 1990, when they led their division wire-to-wire and won their last World Series championship. It would also continue their domination of NL Central rivals.

The Reds made the playoffs for the first time in 15 years by beating up on the rest of the NL’s weakest division. They went 49-30 against the Central, posting winning records against everyone except the Cardinals.

They’re at it again.

“Whoever we play against, it’s very important,” second baseman Brandon Phillips said. “We’ve got to try to get as many wins as possible because we’re not trying to wait until the last minute to try to clinch something. Of course, it’s important to beat teams in our division.”

Phillips isn’t the only one thinking about clinching so soon.

The Reds started winning back fans with their playoff push last season, and it’s carrying over. They drew only 1.7 million fans in 2009, their smallest gate since 1986. That increased by more than 300,000 last year, when the Reds surprised everyone by pulling away from the division.

They packed them in for the first series at Great American Ball Park despite nasty weather. The Reds didn’t disappoint, winning opening day on Ramon Hernandez’s two-out, three-run homer in the ninth. They then finished the sweep.

“Honestly, I think it does more for the city than it does for us,” said Phillips, who had a three-run homer on Sunday. “It just shows the city, lets them know that we’re here, we’re going to do this again, and y’all just better make sure you keep coming out here to support us because we really need them.

“I think it means more to the city because we know what we can do and what we’re going to do.”

The Reds brought their championship team back virtually intact, spending more than $150 million in the offseason to lock up young players for years to come. They ran into problems in spring training, when starters Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey were disabled by shoulder problems and starter Bronson Arroyo came down with mononucleosis.

So far, no problems. Left-hander Travis Wood took Bailey’s spot in the rotation and beat the Brewers in the second game. Arroyo, who has lost eight pounds and loses energy on the mound, went seven innings to complete the sweep.

The Brewers became a trendy pick to overtake the Reds after they acquired starters Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum in the offseason. Greinke is out with a cracked rib, and the Reds got to Marcum early while winning the second game of the series.

Brewers pitchers walked 13 during the series. By contrast, the Reds walked only five batters, two of them intentionally.

“Ever since the walk-off home run, the momentum has been in our favor,” said catcher Ryan Hanigan, who had a pair of homers on Sunday. “I think we rode that in the last two games. Once we got rolling, we kept pressing. We know this team is capable of scoring five or six runs in a hurry.”

The third game showed them at their best, piling up 19 hits — the most they had in any game last season — and four homers. Twelve different players had at least one hit.

“Everybody contributed,” manager Dusty Baker said. “It can be contagious. It was just a big weekend, and to go 3-0 against a team you know is going to be there at the end is big. But there’s still a long way to go.”

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Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) – Ramon Hernandez hit a three-run game-winning homer, as the Cincinnati Reds scored four times in the bottom of the ninth to comeback and shock the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, in the 2011 season-opener for both clubs at Great American Ball Park.

Holding a 6-3 lead, John Axford (0-1) came on for the Brewers to try and close out the game in the ninth, but was unable to do so.

The closer allowed a lead-off single to Brandon Phillips, then issued a walk to Joey Votto, before Scott Rolen reached on a fielder’s choice that loaded the bases.

Jay Bruce went down on strikes and Jonny Gomes lined a first-pitch fastball to center that was good for a sacrifice fly, making it a 6-4 game.

Hernandez then stepped in and lined a second-pitch four-seam fastball over the wall in right to give the Reds a dramatic 7-6 victory.

“For this to happen to me on Opening Day is amazing,” Hernandez said about his three-run homer.

Hernandez finished 4-for-5 and Drew Stubbs added a solo homer and double for the Reds, who hope to take another step forward after capturing the National League Central title last season.

Cincinnati earned its first division title since 1995, but were quickly eliminated in the playoffs, falling to Philadelphia in three games in the NL Division Series, highlighted by Roy Halladay’s no-hitter in Game 1.

Votto, the Reigning NL MVP was rewarded with a three-year, $38 million contract extension in the offseason, had a solo homer and drove in two in the win.

The 27-year-old flirted with a triple crown in 2010. He ended the year with 37 home runs (third in the league), 113 runs batted in (third) and a .324 batting average (second).

Edinson Volquez got the starting nod and was touched for five runs on seven hits with two walks. The right-hander fanned five, but allowed three home runs over six innings. Logan Ondrusek (1-0) was credited with the win for throwing a scoreless top of the ninth.

Rickie Weeks hit a solo homer and knocked in two, while Carlos Gomez and Ryan Braun also added a solo shot for Milwaukee, which look to challenge for the Central Division crown under new skipper Ron Roenicke, who was hired in November as a replacement for the fired Ken Macha.

Yovani Gallardo work six full innings, yielding a pair of runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Milwaukee opened the season with a bang as Weeks and Gomez clubbed back-to- back homers, as part of a three-run top of the first. Weeks led off the game, jumping on a 2-2 fastball and hammering it into the left-field seats and Gomez followed by hitting a slider into the second deck in left. It was the first time since 1969 that a team began the season with back-to-back home runs.

“It was a great start, obviously,” Weeks said. “To get two runs on the board like that is good for any ball club, so it was a great start.”

Casey McGehee chased in another run with a sac fly later in the inning.

The Reds did get one back in the home half. Stubbs doubled leading off and later crossed the plate on Votto’s deep sac fly to center.

Weeks’ RBI double in the second made it a 4-1 game and Gallardo was able to workout of a bases loaded two-out jam in the third.

Stubbs’ solo shot to right in the fourth got the Reds to within two, but Braun answered with a solo homer to center in the fifth to put the Brewers up 5-2.

McGehee singled home Braun in the seventh to add to the visitors’ advantage, however, Votto’s homer to right got the run back in the home half.

Takashi Saito worked out of some trouble in the eighth to bridge the gap for Axford, who was unable to get the job done in the ninth.

Game Notes

The Reds were 11-3 against the Brewers last season, going 7-1 against them in Cincinnati…The Reds improved to 65-69-1 in home openers…McGehee had two RBI in defeat.

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by Jim Gintonio – Mar. 2, 2011 12:20 AM
The Arizona Republic

There is the quick update of the day.

HUNTINGTON — Cincinnati Reds play-by-play announcer Marty Brennaman has been traveling the Reds Caravan for more than three decades, helping get fans prepared for the beginning of Spring Training and baseball season.

During his visit to Huntington last week for Marshall’s baseball banquet, Brennaman said that he really didn’t have to do much work this year during the Caravan stops.

After winning the National League’s Central division title and making the postseason for the first time in 15 years, Brennaman said that fans can’t wait for the season to officially get under way.

“We are looking forward to a banner year,” Brennaman said. “The momentum that was built during last season is evident, and our fans came out like never before on our stops. They want to see the team do well and the administration stepped up to ensure that those key players from last year are back.”

As set up by Major League Baseball, the first day that pitchers and catchers can report is Monday, but Cincinnati’s first day is on Wednesday when pitchers, catchers and injured players report to Goodyear, Ariz., for workouts.

Monday is the official start of the baseball season, but the day also brings to close an eventful offseason for the Reds in which the Cincinnati front office — led by owner Bob Castellini and general manager Walt Jocketty — worked feverishly to ensure that the team did not lose any of its key players from last year’s team that won the NL Central title.

Some of the club’s most important signings have taken place in the last month, led by a three-year extension for Joey Votto, the 2010 National League Most Valuable Player. Votto was in the National League’s top three batters in 11 statistical categories.

Other significant players that re-signed with the team include starting pitchers Bronson Arroyo, Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez, and outfielder Jay Bruce, who signed a six-year deal with the Reds.

Of these players mentioned, each contributed significantly to the success in 2010, but only one — Arroyo — is over 27-years-old.

“It’s a team whose core is a bunch of young, talented baseball players — Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs,” Brennaman said. “Not to mention youngster after youngster in the starting rotation, which is anchored by veteran Bronson Arroyo, and a bullpen who will be flat-out lights out.”

In looking at the team’s strengths, starting pitching stands out because of the veteran Arroyo being surrounded by young talent such as Volquez, Cueto and Homer Bailey.

However, the Reds’ infield will be just as impressive heading into the season.

Jocketty signed Edgar Renteria, the 2010 World Series Most Valuable Player in the offseason, adding depth and leadership to an already-impressive corps that includes Phillips and Paul Janish in the middle, Scott Rolen at third base and Votto at first base.

Given the talent on the mound and in the infield, the Reds have the ability to eclipse the 2010 season — one that Brennaman called the most amazing in his 37 years of work with Cincinnati.

“I’ve been around great teams, great players and great moments,” Brennaman said. “Last summer, unequivocally, was one of the more exciting seasons I’ve ever spent broadcasting Reds baseball.”

Brennaman said his top highlight of the season — and one of the tops of his career — was doing the call on Bruce’s walk-off home run that clinched the Central division crown for the Reds.

Bruce headlines an outfield for the Reds that has a bit of everything, including Drew Stubbs, Jonny Gomes, Chris Heisey and free agent signee Fred Lewis.

While the Reds have plenty of talent to repeat as NL Central champs, Brennaman said that it is never easy in a division in which there are always several teams in the mix late.

The St. Louis Cardinals are expected to once again be battling atop the standings — a fact that’s no surprise to Brennaman since the Cardinals have been NL Central champions in six of the last 10 years.

Once again, Brennaman expects the Reds and Cardinals to be battling in September for the division crown, but he also said that the Milwaukee Brewers could be a player for the title after the moves they’ve made to surround their superstar Prince Fielder with talent for the final year of his contract.

“They traded away lots of good, young prospects in their organization to be better than the Reds and the Cardinals (in 2011),” Brennaman said. “They’ll be the big three teams in our division.”

While the pitchers, catchers and injured players report Wednesday for their first workout, non-pitchers and catchers make their way to Goodyear for voluntary workouts on Saturday, which is exactly one week before the Feb. 26 mandatory report date for all players to Spring Training.

The Reds have their first Spring Training contest against Cleveland on Feb. 27.

Cincinnati opens the 2011 regular season on March 31 against Milwaukee at Great American Ball Park.

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