C. Trent Rosecrans

CINCINNATI — sat slumped in a chair in the training room on Sunday, not even fighting the tears but letting them flow. Antone, in his ninth big-league appearance since working his way back to the Reds more than two years after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery, knew exactly what had happened in Sunday’s game. He was, once again, facing his own career mortality. Advertisement Bent over with his arm on a table and his head buried, Antone felt someone over him. When he looked up, fellow re…

Sunday, it was starter ’s turn to turn and watch one of his outfielders make a great catch. This time it was , who made a diving catch of ’s liner in the second inning. Saturday, ran down a fly ball and made a sliding catch at the wall in left-center to take away a sure double. made a sliding catch earlier in the game, and , who robbed a home run against the , made a diving catch in the fourth to preserve ’s no-hit bid. In the first game of the series, it was who made a leaping catch at the…

Former major-league shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt was one of four men arrested last week accused of staging an automobile accident to collect insurance money. Betancourt, 42, played parts of nine seasons with the , and . A native of Cuba, Betancourt’s last year in was 2013. Advertisement Betancourt, along with Abel Vera, Nancy Mercedes Pena and Maura Perez, allegedly staged a car crash and falsely documented the incident with police to receive a personal injury claim, according to a news relea…

CINCINNATI — In Sunday’s 3-0 victory over the , the didn’t steal a base for just the sixth time this season. The team’s 38 stolen bases are tied with the for the best in baseball and the figure puts them on pace to steal nearly 300 bases on the season. Advertisement The Reds’ club record for steals in a season is 310, but that was done in 1910. Since 1913, only two teams — the 1976 Oakland A’s (341) and the 1985 (314) — have stolen 300 bases. In that span, only two other teams have stolen eve…

CINCINNATI — After Tuesday night’s victory over the , catcher had a question for reliever : “How does it feel when they know what’s coming and they can’t hit it?” “I said that’s a question I cannot even answer because I don’t know, this is a gift,” Cruz said of his split-finger fastball. “This is my gift and it’s something I cannot explain.” Advertisement Tuesday night, Cruz came in with one out, bases loaded and the tying run at the plate and got a strikeout and lineout to end the threat. Wed…

The Cincinnati Bengals are off the draft clock, which means draft talk moves about a half-mile down the street to the . For the third time in the last nine drafts — but just the fourth time ever — the Reds have the second pick in this year’s draft. Though the draft is still more than two months away, the draft class has started shaking out, and the good news is that the Reds can identify their top two choices and be assured of one of those players. Advertisement So, just who might those players…

The entered May with a winning record for the first time since 2013, in part because of the first month-plus of . The Reds have yet to play a game with their leadoff hitter () or Rookie of the Year candidate () but have been able to not only keep their heads above water, but also weather several slow starts by hitters. It’s silly to try to hand out hardware just 31 games into a season, but there are certainly trends to watch the rest of the way. Let’s take stock of who is standing out thus far.…

CINCINNATI — The offense stinks right now. For 21 innings from Wednesday’s game in San Diego to the ninth inning of Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the , the Reds were scoreless. But any celebration of the scoreless streak was muted because was left at third base with the tying run and was at second when popped up to short left to end the Reds’ threat for their first victory since the previous Monday. Advertisement Sunday, the Reds were held hitless for more than four innings and scoreless for eight…

CINCINNATI — Even before he got into the clubhouse Tuesday afternoon, center fielder ran across teammate coming out of the training room. Friedl showed up to Great American Ball Park about a half-hour earlier than he usually does, around 12:30 p.m., because if he’d shown up when he wanted, nobody would’ve been in the place. Advertisement “I came in earlier than I ever would because I just wanted to see everyone, I wanted to be back in the clubhouse with the guys,” Friedl said before Tuesday’s…

CINCINNATI — Looking up at the scoreboard and seeing the radar gun showing lower-than-normal numbers, starter tried just about anything he could think of — smelling salts, putting his hand in cold water, anything to get himself going. “I was just trying to wake up,” Greene said after the Reds’ 5-4 loss to the , extending their losing streak to eight games. “I haven’t done smelling salts in God knows how long and I had to pop a couple of those things today. That happens throughout the season. Y…