Hot Doggie!

The Reds asserted their dominance over the Astros in the most thrilling way possible tonight. Kyle Lohse finally got his much deserved win, holding the Astros to just 4 hits and no runs through 8 innings. Matt Belisle closed it out with a hitless 9th. Meanwhile, the offense was lighting up Jason Hirsh, who allowed 10 runs in his 2 2/3 innings for Houston. Dave Borkowski had a slightly less unpleasant evening, giving up another 4 runs through 4 1/3 innings. The remaining inning was handled by Brad Lidge, who had a much better night than the other two, though it didn't matter at that point, as the score was already 14-0.

Brandon Phillips, Scott Hatteberg, Adam Dunn and David Ross all hit home runs for the good guys. The homers accounted for 8 of the Reds' 14 runs. Ken Griffey Jr. and Rich Aurilia were both pulled from the game after the 4th, because it's nice to let some of the other guys play when you're up by 13 runs. Norris Hopper and Juan Castro took their places in the lineup. Dunn was pulled in the 7th and replaced by Todd Hollandsworth. Even Jason LaRue came in to catch for the 9th. Just about every position player got in the game (except Javy and McClayton (I don't know who first started calling him that, but I can't not call him McClayton anymore (also, I move that double negatives be acceptable when you actually mean it to come out that way))). Every starter contributed to the hit parade, save Griffey, who was walked in every at-bat he had. Every starter scored a run and 6 of them contributed RBI. What a night for the offense and the pitching. It's great when everything comes together like that.

Here's the box for your viewing pleasure.

Tomorrow it's Chris Michalak against Roy Oswalt. The game's at 12:35, so of course it won't be on TV. There's always Gameday and the radio, though. Give Marty and Steve some love.