Shutdown

The Reds managed to rally in the final game of the series against the Diamondbacks today but had been shutout the two previous games. Dunn went 3 for 4 in the first game of the series and then was hitless the final two games.

The Reds travel now to Chicago to play the Cubs. Greg Maddux, Kerry Wood and Carlos Zambrano will start the three games for the Cubs. Dunn has twelve home runs in his career against those three. Wrigley Field is also Dunn's favorite place away from home to hit home runs.

Another homer

Adam Dunn hit career homer #174 off of Chris Demaria of the Milwaukee Brewers Monday. It was a three-run homer in the sixth inning amidst an eventual 15-5 shellacking of the Brew Crew. Dunn went hitless Tuesday and sat out the Wednesday game.

The Reds have a three game series beginning tomorrow against the Diamondbacks. The series begins against Brandon Webb who Dunn hit homer #141 off of. Juan Cruz and Claudio Vargas round out the series. Cruz has an ERA of 12.34 over his last three starts but has only surrendered one home run in those starts. Vargas has served up four home runs in four career starts versus the Reds. All in all, it looks like Dunn has some nice opportunities to add to his home run total

Rolling again

Adam Dunn hit home runs the past two days against the Detroit Tigers, giving him 15 on the season and 173 for his career.

His home run Friday came off Roman Colon who was pitching in relief of Jeremy Bonderman.

Saturday's home run was Dunn's seventeenth career home run leading off an inning as he topped the seventh with a shot off Mike Maroth.

Dunn has now hit home runs against seven of the American League teams (three each against the Rangers and Indians, a pair against the Tigers and Blue Jays and a single homer against the Athletics, Devil Rays and Orioles. Comerica Park is the 28th stadium Dunn has hit a home run in.

Aaaarrgghhh

The Pirates held Dunn to a single and a double in ten at bats over the three game series. The Reds travel to Detroit now for interleague play. Dunn has never homered against the Detroit Tigers so he has an opportunity to add another field and team to his prodigious home run list.

Shutout

The Reds high-powered offense struggled mightily against the Philadelphia Phillies the last few days, which made me think that updating the blog by series might be the way to go when nothing is happening.

Nothing was happening in Cincinnati where the Reds scored a mere five runs in three games against the Phillies. Dunn was 1 for 11 in the series, his only hit a single breaking up Jon Lieber's perfect game in the seventh inning of the second game of the series.

The Reds travel to Pittsburgh after the Hall of Fame exhibition game against the Pirates was rained out today in Cooperstown. Dunn has one career home run at PNC Stadium in Pittsburgh, career #153 last August. The scheduled starters are Paul Maholm, Oliver Perez and Victor Santos. Dunn has two career homers off of Perez and one off of Santos.

Phenom

Dunn went 0 for 4 last night, dropping his average to a Rob Deer-like .233. Dunn's ability to draw walks, though, has helped enable him be second in the league in runs scored to the Cardinals Albert Pujols.

Today the Phillies travel to Cincinnati and minor league sensation Cole Hamels will take the mound for Philadelphia. Dunn has never homered off of any pitcher making his major league debut. The closest he came suspended a career. The Giants Merkin Valdez made his debut as a relief pitcher on August 1, 2004. The first batter he faced was the above mentioned Albert Pujols who doubled off him. Valdez then got Scott Rolen out and was removed from the game.

Four days later, Valdez entered in the middle of an already ugly inning against the Reds. After four hits, an error, a hit by pitch and a force out, Valdez came in as the third pitcher of the eighth inning. Valdez struck out Ken Griffey, Jr. for the second out. A pair of walks and a single brought up Dunn for the second time in the inning. Dunn homered and then Valdez retired Wily Mo Pena to end the inning.

Valdez was optioned to the minors the following day. He is still regarded as a pitching prospect but after six seasons as a starter, he is struggling with becoming a closer this season. Let this be an object lesson for Cole Hamels.

Update

The marathon that is the baseball season already took its toll on this blog. It's sort of hard to want to worry about following the day to day activities of Adam Dunn when the ultimate objective, Hank Aaron's career total, is quite a long way away. Also, what the heck do I write about in the offseason? What sort of content is interesting on a daily basis? Plus, since I do no publicizing of this thing, I don't know if anyone is reading, making the expenditure of energy questionable, at least beyond the level where I gain personal enjoyment. So that's why I haven't posted in a while. That and not feeling like writing a blog.

Since the last update, Dunn has slugged five home runs. The first was a two-run blow off Houston's Taylor Buchholz on April 30th. Two days later, the Cardinals Sidney Ponson served up a solo shot.

On May 4th, Dunn hit his third straight home run in the sixth inning as he led the inning off with a solo homer off of Colorado's Josh Fogg.

May 7th, Dunn homered at Chase Ballpark in Arizona, his first there since the renaming of the field. He also added a three-run double in the Reds victory. Orlando Hernandez gave up all five runs to Dunn.

Dunn made sure no Hernandez was safe last night, hitting a two-run home run off of the Nationals' Livan Hernandez. This was Dunn's first home run against the Nationals. It was also the fourth Hernandez Dunn has hit a home run off of in his career. Carlos served up career #12, Roberto #63, Orlando #170 and Livan #171.

Tonight Dunn faces Zach Day, a Cincinnati native. Day recently joined the Nationals after a horrible stint in Colorado. In 2004, Day pitched for the Nationals' previous incarnation, the Montreal Expos. Dunn homered in consecutive starts off him, hitting home run #87 at home and number 84 at Stade Olympique.