Cincinnati Reds

It all started innocently enough. The Cincinnati Reds' leadoff hitter, Mariano Duncan, walked and stole second base. Luis Quinones bunted and beat it out. "I played for one run and I got 14," Manager Pete Rose said. The Reds scored 14 runs on 16 hits, all in the first inning, and went on to beat the Houston Astros, 18-2, Thursday at Cincinnati. The 16 hits set a modern major league record for one inning.

"He said, 'C'mon, hit me a home run, I love you.' I said, 'I love you too, I'll hit you one.'" - Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier , after fulfilling a promise to Teddy Kremer , a 30-year-old man with Down syndrome, who was serving as the Reds' batboy during a game with the Miami Marlins. --- "Chase has a lot of common sense. He knows he can't. ... Even though the last two months [of 2012], he pretty much did just that. " - San Diego Padres Manager Bud Black , on whether third baseman Chase Headley - just off the disabled list - might be inclined to try to carry the team's offense.

He was a baseball player with a contradictory name. In a 17-year Hall of Fame career with the Cincinnati Reds, Johnny Bench almost never sat on one. Bench was a workhorse. Starting in 1967, and becoming arguably the best catcher ever, he played in 2,158 games, an average of 127 a season. That's a lot of squatting. He had his ways of communicating when enough was enough. "We were playing the Dodgers in Cincinnati one time, and the game the night before had gone on until something like 1 in the morning," Bench says.

Video: Frazier credits Reds ' lucky batboy Cincinnati Reds batboy Teddy Kremer had two requests Thursday night: He wanted pizza and a home run from third baseman Todd Frazier. Kremer, who has Down syndrome, had been the Reds' batboy before and knew that if Cincinnati scored 11 runs in a victory, everyone gets free pizza. That's where Frazier came into play in the sixth inning Thursday. His 420-foot home run, his fifth of the season, gave the Reds an 11-1 lead, which eventually became the final score.

In the end, professional baseball pitcher turned religion talk-show host Frank Pastore probably would have been philosophical about the motorcycle accident that claimed his life. Pastore, 55, died Monday from injuries suffered one month earlier when a car swerved into him on the 210 Freeway in Duarte as he was riding to his Upland home after finishing his daily show on KKLA-FM. His talk show, which aired from 4 to 7 p.m. on the Glendale station, was popular with conservative Christians and sometimes touched on his own baseball background as proof that divine intervention can change people forever.

SAN FRANCISCO — Jonathan Broxton won't say it, but he seems bothered by how fans of his former team view him. Broxton saved 84 games for the Dodgers and represented them at two All-Star games. But in Los Angeles, he's remembered more for two encounters he had with Matt Stairs that contributed to two of the most devastating defeats in the Dodgers' recent history. "I'm not getting into that," Broxton says. Broxton is the setup man for the Cincinnati Reds, who hold a 2-0 edge over the San Francisco Giants in a best-of-five National League division series.

BASEBALL ALL-STAR URBAN LEGEND : Major League Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick overturned the fan voting for two Cincinnati Reds in the 1957 All-Star Game. Ted (Big Klu) Kluszewski was a slugging first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds during the 1950s. A popular player, he was an All-Star in 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1956. However, in 1957, Kluszewski was injured most of the season, so his back-up, George Crowe, became the everyday first baseman for the Reds, and it was Crowe who was on the All-Star ballot as the Reds' first-base representative.

CINCINNATI - An Angels club that was supposed to bludgeon opponents with its bats, smother them with its gloves and duck and cover when its relievers entered the game seemed to suffer a little identity crisis Monday. Either that, or this team's bullpen is a lot better than most thought. Forging an all-pitch, no-hit - except for Chris Iannetta - and no-field attack, the Angels outlasted the Cincinnati Reds in Great American Ball Park, Iannetta's two-out, two-run single in the 13th inning lifting them to a 3-1 victory in a grueling 4-hour 45-minute marathon, the longest season opener in franchise history.

Marge Schott, the outspoken former owner of the Cincinnati Reds who was repeatedly suspended from major league baseball for racist statements, died Tuesday. She was 75. A chain smoker, Schott was hospitalized three weeks ago with breathing problems. She had suffered from lung problems in recent years. Christ Hospital in Cincinnati declined to release the cause of death. "On behalf of the entire Reds organization, we extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of Mrs.

The Cincinnati Reds are selling tickets for the 1988 season at a record pace, despite second-place finishes each of the last three years in the National League West division. The Reds already have sold out their April 4 opening day game, the earliest such sellout in the history of Riverfront Stadium. Season ticket sales stand at 14,600. The club record of 15,166 season tickets was set in 1980. "Ticket sales are booming," said Don Breen, Reds vice president for business and marketing.

"Four years from now, if I'm able to sit up and take nourishment, I would. " - Joe Torre, 72, jokingly, on whether he would be interested in an encore as Team USA manager when the World Baseball Classic returns in 2017. "What do you think you could get for me? Pujols? Maybe three years from now, or when he's retired?" - Toronto Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons, on his predecessor, John Farrell, who was traded to the Boston Red Sox for utility infielder Mike Aviles. "Maybe every win isn't important.

CINCINNATI - After several hard-hit fly balls died on the warning track in the first two games here, Great American Ball Park lived up to its reputation as one of baseball's most hitter-friendly stadiums Thursday. Or maybe Angels pitcher Joe Blanton was simply living up to his. The veteran right-hander gave up three home runs in his Angels debut, one on his first pitch with his new team, in a 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, the ninth time in his career Blanton has given up three homers or more in a game.

CINCINNATI -- Joe Blanton gave up three home runs in his Angels debut, one on his first pitch with his new team, in a 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on Thursday, the ninth time in his career Blanton has given up three or more homers in a game. The Angels banged out 11 hits, including three by Erick Aybar, but they also struck out nine times, bringing to 36 their number of strikeouts in the three-game series, a club record. The last came on a 98-mph fastball from Reds closer Aroldis Chapman to Josh Hamilton, who swung through it for strike three with Mike Trout on second base to end the game.  Blanton is a strike-thrower with such good command he didn't issue a walk in 19 spring innings, but the combination of his aggressive approach and underwhelming stuff has led to an average of 28 homers allowed in Blanton's last three full seasons.

CINCINNATI -- Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton each had his first hit and run batted in of the season in the Angels' 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, but it was hardly a satisfying or successful day for the middle-of-the-order hitters. Hamilton hit a two-out, two-run single off Reds starter Bronson Arroyo to tie the game, 2-2, in the third inning, but he also struck out three times, his last on a 98-mph fastball from Cincinnati closer Aroldis Chapman to end the game. There's no real shame in that.

CINCINNATI - An Angels club that was supposed to bludgeon opponents with its bats, smother them with its gloves and duck and cover when its relievers entered the game seemed to suffer a little identity crisis Monday. Either that, or this team's bullpen is a lot better than most thought. Forging an all-pitch, no-hit - except for Chris Iannetta - and no-field attack, the Angels outlasted the Cincinnati Reds in Great American Ball Park, Iannetta's two-out, two-run single in the 13th inning lifting them to a 3-1 victory in a grueling 4-hour 45-minute marathon, the longest season opener in franchise history.

CINCINNATI--Chris Iannetta lined a two-out, two-run single to left field in the top of the 13th inning Monday to lift the Angels to a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in a marathon of a season opener at Great American Ball Park. Angels closer Ernesto Frieri struck out two of four in a scorelss bottom of the 13th to cap a brilliant effort from the Angels, who got six scoreless innings from relievers Garrett Richards, Sean Burnett, Kevin Jepsen, Scott Downs and Mark Lowe. The 4-hour, 45-minute game was the longest season opener in Angels franchise history, topping the 4-hour, 23-minute, 14-inning opener against the Chicago White Sox in 1966.

Marge Schott, owner of the Cincinnati Reds, says she's written to former Manager Pete Rose to thank him "for a lot of great memories." In her first comments since professional baseball banned Rose for life for gambling, Schott said she was responding to a letter in which Rose said he was sorry for the trouble he caused the team. "It wasn't exactly an apology," Schott said Wednesday. "It's sad that Pete to this day doesn't feel he did anything wrong."

The Padres' unwillingness to trade pitcher Jose Melendez has led to an impasse in their bid to acquire All-Star center fielder Eric Davis from the Cincinnati Reds, according to a highly-placed source. The Padres, according to the source, have at least temporarily rejected a trade proposal from the Reds that would send Davis and reliever Tim Layana to the Padres for infielder/outfielder Bip Roberts, outfielder Thomas Howard and Melendez.

PHOENIX - Clayton Kershaw pitched six innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday in what figures to be his final extended start of the spring. The Dodgers' opening-day starter was charged with three runs (two earned) and four hits. He struck out eight and walked three. The Dodgers lost the game, 6-5. Third baseman Luis Cruz hit two home runs. In addition to replacing sidelined Hanley Ramirez as the Dodgers' starting shortstop, Cruz could also take his place as the team's No. 5 hitter.

In the end, professional baseball pitcher turned religion talk-show host Frank Pastore probably would have been philosophical about the motorcycle accident that claimed his life. Pastore, 55, died Monday from injuries suffered one month earlier when a car swerved into him on the 210 Freeway in Duarte as he was riding to his Upland home after finishing his daily show on KKLA-FM. His talk show, which aired from 4 to 7 p.m. on the Glendale station, was popular with conservative Christians and sometimes touched on his own baseball background as proof that divine intervention can change people forever.