Each season the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians face off for 6 games, 3 in Cleveland and 3 in Cincinnati, in what is called the Ohio Cup Series. The Ohio Cup name came from the pre-interleague play days for MLB when the Reds and Indians would face off in Columbus at Cooper Stadium for a preseason exhibition game at the end of Spring Training.

Today’s Ohio Cup is a bit different with the two teams two 3-game series. While Cleveland has historcally dominated Cincinnati winning the annual series in 6 of the first 8 years of play, the Reds won 5 of 6 last season and trail Cleveland 30-27 in the historic regular series season.

The 2009 Ohio Cup Series began on Friday night as interleague play opened across Major League Baseball. The Indians struck first with a solo homer by Grady Sizemore in the 1st, but that lead proved to be short-lived as the Reds got a Brandon Phillips sacrifice fly RBI in the bottom of the 1st to tie the game at 1-1. Neither team would dent the plate again until the bottom of the 8th when the Reds scored two runs and Francisco Cordero closed it out for a Cincinnati Reds 3-1 win.

The series continues on Saturday evening at 7:10 pm and concludes on Sunday. Fans can stoick up on Reds gear and Cleveland Indians hats & apparel online through DFN Sports sites.

It was a slow day for Ohio sports teams as only the Cincinnati Reds were in action on Monday, April 20th. The Reds were looking to take 3 of 4 @ Houston and improve to 7-5 on the season and jumped out to a early 2-0 lead. But Bronson Arroyo was unable to hold the lead as the Astros took a 3-2 lead in the 6th, but a Joey Votto 2-run double put the Reds ahead for good and Francisco Cordero preserved Arroyo’s win with the save. The Reds now head to Chicago to face the Cubs in a 3-game series after winning 5 of 7 on the road trip so far.

Cleveland Cavaliers - The Cavs prepare for Tuesday night’s Game 2 of their First Round series against the #8 Detroit Pistons. Meanwhile, Mike Brown was named the Coach of the Yearin the NBA on Monday.

Columbus Blue Jackets - Columbus looks to get back into their series wit hthe #2 seed Detroit Red Wings as they host the Wings in Game 3 @ Columbus on Tuesday night.

Cleveland Indians - The Indians begin a 9-game homestand on Tuesday as the Kansas City Royals come to town.

Cleveland Browns & Cincinnati Bengals - The Browns & Bengals continue to prepare for Saturday’s 2009 NFL Draft. The 2009 NFL team schedules were released last week.

While the Evil Empire of the New York Yankees have been paying to have most of the headlines this offseason, the Yankees are not the only team with changes from their 2008 roster. Both Ohio teams look to improve on disappointing 2008 seasons as they are lead by experienced General Managers. Reds’ GM Walt Jocketty has been busy during the offseason, but does not have a lot of transactions to show for it. The rumored Jermaine Dye trade for Homer Bailey fell through when Cincinnati did not want to take on so much salary (sound familiar?), so the Reds’ most significant move was dealing Ryan Freel toBaltimore for catcher Ramon Hernandez. Cincinnati has also added OF Will Taveras and lefty reliever Arthur Rhodes after signing both free agents to 2-year deals.

Cleveland, on the other hand, has made a bigger splash this offseason as GM Mark Shapiro continues to work his magic. The acquisition of IF Mark DeRosa could be huge as he comes off a career-best 2008 with the Cubs, but the additions of SP Carl Pavano and closer Kerry Wood add depth and experience to the team. Franklin Gutierrez is gone after being dealt in a 3-team, 12-player deal.

For more 2009 MLB offseason trades, signings & transactions, look to our friends over at MLB Center where they are keeping up to date on every MLB team.

The Cincinnati Reds implosion continues as the National League’s home run leader, Adam Dunn, joins Ken Griffey, Jr. on the former Reds list. Dunn was traded today to the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league pitcher Dallas Buck. Buck, a near 1st round selection in 2006, is currently in Single A as he’s coming back from Tommy John surgery. It is reported that the other two prospects from Arizona will both be players to be named later.

> Follow Dunn’s Diamondbacks in their playoff run with Arizona Diamondbacks hats & apparel.

On a recent Cincinnati.com blog post I read that the writer felt that the Reds’ current 22-game stretch was critical to the team making a move in 2008. Immediately, I had to chuckle. The Reds have been mediocre yet again in 2008 giving few Cincinnati fans reason to hope. But upon further research I found that the Reds certainly do have an opportunity to become relevant in the NL Central. Ater winning 2 of 3 over the Padres this past week, the Reds have 16 of their next 19 against sub-.500 teams. Meanwhile, the Cubs and Cardinals continue to tread water in the NL Central as the Brewers seem very beatable when newly-acquired CC Sabathia is NOT on the mound.

So by starting with 2 wins in 3 games the Reds began the 22-game stretch on a high not, but I think a minimum of 15 wins is a must to give anyone real hope this season.

Ohio’s two MLB teams received word on Sunday that they will be sending a combined 3 players to the 2008 All-Star game to be held at Yankee Stadium later this month. Cleveland Indians’ CF Grady Sizemore and starter Cliff Lee will represent the Tribe on the AL All-Star team while the Cincinnati Reds’ lone NL All-Star will be starting pitcher Edinson Volquez. Reds’ RF Ken Griffey, Jr. came in 4th in NL All-Star balloting for outfielders after leading Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun throughout all of the voting updates, but the excitement around Brewers’ baseball in Milwaukee appears to have given Braun the boost he needed to make the NL All-Star team as a starter. As a result, Griffey will not be headed to New York, and neither will Reds’ star second baseman Brandon Phillips.

For Sizemore, this will be his 3rd All-Star game as he is the lone player from either league with 20+ homeruns and 20+ stolen bases in MLB currently. After a nightmare season a year ago, Lee has been fantastic for the Indians in 2008 going 11-2 on the season with a 2.43 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 5:1 strikout to walk ratio.

> Ohio baseball fans can find Cincinnati Reds hats & merchandise and Cleveland Indians apparel online through DFN Sports and partner sites 24 hours a day!

After a shocking 3-game series sweep in Round #1 of the 2008 Ohio Cup series between the Reds and Indians, the Tribe decided all they needed was a little home cookin’. C.C. Sabathia was dominant in throwing 8 shutout innings as he struck out 11 and allowed just 4 hits to pick up his 6th win of the season. With the win, the Ohio Cup series for 2008 is now 3-1 in Cincinnati’s favor, but Cleveland holds the edge in series history at 30-25.

Saturday’s game will feature two pitchers with contrasting styles as veteran Paul Byrd will face rookie Johnny Cueto. Meanwhile, the Indans should have a huge advantage as Aaron Laffey faces Cincinnati’s worst started, Bronson Arroyo. Arroyo comes off a start where he became the first pitcher since 1900 to all 10 runs and 11 hits in just 1 inning pitched.

Fans can find a great selection of Cleveland Indians apparel as well as Cincinnati Reds jerseys & hats online through DFN Sports sites.

Years ago I attended the Ohio Cup series of preseason games between the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians - all 8 games. The annual game was held the Sunday before opening day at Cooper Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. After interleague play began in 1997, the Ohio Cup was no more, at least not until the new Ohio Cup Trophy was announced as the award for the winner of the annual 6 games played between the Reds and Indians each year. Watching two of the games live this weekend I witnessed an excitement around baseball in Cincinnati as the Reds completed a 3-game series sweep of the Indians on Sunday.

Coming into the series, both teams had significant momentum. The Reds, despite being in last place in the NL Central, had won 3 straight. The Indians, on the other hand, lead the AL Central and had won 6 of 7 and their starters had not allowed more than one run in any of theose 7 games. Game 1 of the series saw the Indians overcome a 3-0 deficit before tying the game only to see the eventual winning run walked in for a 4-3 Cincinnati win. Saturday’s game pitted Reds’ hard-luck ace Aaron Harang vs. Fausto Carmona and the great pitching match-up did not disappoint. Cleveland broke the 1-1 tie with a run in the 8th and brought in Masa Kobayashi for a save opportunity. But Kobayashi did not record an out as Adam Dunn hit a long homerun to right field for a 4-2 Cincinnati win in Game 2.

Sunday’s game featured the NL and AL ERA leaders as Cincinnati’s Edinson Volquez (6-1, 1.12 ERA) and Cleveland’s Cliff Lee (6-0, 0.67 ERA) matched up. This marked just the 3rd time in Major League history that the AL & NL ERA leader have faced each other during the regular season. Volquez did exactly what he has done all season; pitch 5+ innings and allow 2 runs or less as he allowed 2 earned runs in 6 innings. Meanwhile Lee’s luck was not so good as the streaking Adam Dunn hit one of two homeruns off Lee as Cincinnati won 6-4. Reds’ closer Francisco Cordero picked up saves in games 1 & 3 as he now has 9 saves in 10 chances in 2008.

The two teams will meet once again in the continuation of the new Ohio Cup series in Cleveland on June 27-29. Meanwhile, fans can gear up for the series in Cleveland and buy Cincinnati Reds apparel and Cleveland Indians merchandise online through DFN Sports.

The #1 starter for both the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds have both been named to the Pro Baseball Fans’ top 10 active starting pitchers list. Sabathia, the 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner, went 19-7 in 2007 with a 3.21 ERA and 209 strikeouts. Meanwhile Harang, the Reds’ ace, won 16 games for the second straight season.

The Best Starting Pitchers list put an emphasis on the past three years of statistics while factoring in career success. Pro Baseball Fans lists their Top 10 active pitchers basing it on “win-loss record, strikeouts, quality starts, earned runs, and much much more.”

Where did Sabathia and Harang rank on the top starting pitchers in baseball list? Find out today over at Pro Baseball Fans.

Early in the 2008 season, there are two things that are very clear with the Cincinnati Reds. First, they need to figure out how to deal with having two left-handed 1st basemen and second, how to improve their roster against left-handed pitching. These two items seem to be a significant problem for Cincinnati, but also both could be “fixed” by one single roster move.

A manager can only do so much with what they are given, and Reds’ manager Dusty Baker has a bit of an issue on his hands. Young 1B prospect Joey Votto made the opening day roster for Cincinnati despite the fact that the Reds also have Scott Hatteberg under contract in 2008. Votto has started the season strong batting .320 with 2 HR and 5 RBI through 10 games while Hatteberg is hitting .190 with 0 HR and 2 RBI in 10 games while getting 4 ABs fewer than the younger Votto. So statistically, it’s clear in the early-going that Votto is the better choice. The Reds are reportedly shopping Hatteberg, and despite his solid clubhouse presence and veteran leadership skills, I think it’s time to hand the job to Votto.

As for the lack of hitting against left-handed batters, the Reds’ lack of offensive depth and right-handed hitters is clearly hurting this team. Edwin Encarnacion continues to struggle batting just .171 through 35 ABs which maks things worse, and the Reds have even gone as far as sitting both Hatteberg and Votto down as Jeff Keppinger got the start at 1B on Sunday @ Pittsburgh. But Cincinnati needs to make a move to get another right-handed bat on the 25-man roster, and AAA Louisville does not look to have the solution.

A review of the AAA team leads me to think that a deal is likely the Reds’ best option to get new blood into the franchise. Jolbert Cabrera and Jerry Harriston, Jr. both bat right handed and both are hitting over .400 at AAA, but both are primarily 2B and Brandon Phillips is not going anywhere for the Reds. With AAA not looking to be the best option, the best-case scenario is if the Reds could get a marginal prospect or relatively equally-skilled 1B who hits right-handed to replace Hatteberg. Either way, both of these issues need to be resolved if the Reds want to contend in 2008.