After a 1-4 June, Arroyo has been singing the blues a lot recently.

Going into Tuesday night’s game against the Diamondbacks, the Reds knew they were going to need to get solid pitching and strong defense if they were to beat Dan Haren on the mound.  Unfortunately, I guess nobody told Bronson Arroyo the news.

Haren has been lights out all year, leading the National League in ERA (2.19) and second in the Majors to Kansas City’s Zach Greinke (1.95).  For the Reds to win, they needed to continue their hot hitting and put runs on the board early to get to ‘Zona’s struggling bullpen.  Simply put, that did not happen as they dropped the opening game of the series 6-2.

Arroyo, coming off his standard, atrocious outing in Toronto where he gave up seven runs (six earned), three walks and three homeruns in 3 2/3 innings, didn’t look any better on the mound in Cincy.  After getting out of two jams in the first two innings, Arroyo allowed three runs in the third, which proved to be all the D-Backs needed.

June has not been a good month, both for the Reds and specifically for Arroyo.  I think the talk of a possible offseason surgery to repair his carpal-tunnel syndrome needs to be brought into question given his recent woes on the hill.  Arroyo claims the cortisone shot he received before the season has worked and he doesn’t feel pain or numbness when he pitches.  Yet, he also mentions that he is never “100 percent” on the mound either.  Thanks, Captain Obvious.  You don’t need to be a doctor to make that kind of observation.  I could have told you that after being six beers deep sitting in section 510.  Bronson’s arm looks like a wet noodle attempting to throw a steel anvil– it’s ugly.

Arroyo’s ERA in the month of May was 4.28, not great but respectable considering he still has eight wins on the season.  In June– 6.82– ouch.  It might be time for Bronson to address this carpal-tunnel issue before things get any more out of hand, and not because I miss hearing him strum on the guitar. 

All I care about is whether or not he can locate his pitches– consistently. Whether or not his curveballs actually break rather than staying up in the zone so the opposing PITCHER doesn’t take him deep (see Haren, Dan).  Basically, I only care about the things that win ballgames.  Right now Bronson just doesn’t have it.  I’m not a doctor but I think an examination is in order given the horrendous efforts that Arroyo has displayed this month.  Of his six outings in June, he has given up at least five earned runs or more in four of those starts. 

I can’t even blame the offensive for this loss.  When you face a pitcher of Haren’s caliber you know you will need to manufacture runs early.  While the Reds didn’t do that (they actually didn’t have a hit until the 5th inning) the opportunity was lost when Arroyo gave up a three-spot in third.  That’s all Haren needs.  Combine the early lead with a struggling offense, poor pitching and two more fielding errors and you don’t stand much of a chance to come away with a victory. 

Hopefully Johnny Cueto can step in and continue his solid pitching when the two teams square off tonight for game two.  After utterly dominating the D-Backs on their field in May, this was not the way the Reds hoped to start this homestand.  But it’s a new month, we are only one-game under .500 and still very much in the Central race and there is plenty of baseball left to play– point being, it’s not time to start singing the blues just yet, not even for a seasoned musician like Bronson.