Wow!

Since I have failed to report on anything in a while, let it be known that the days that I did not write contained mostly humiliating losses to the lowly last place Cubs and the not-so-lowly Wild Card leading Padres, along with a loss to the Astros. The one win over the Cubs in the duration was once again behind Bronson Arroyo's recently fantastic pitching.

Now onto something I actually saw (on TV) and can actually write about.

Holy crap! They won! Harang has 14 W's! The bullpen tried to keep it familiar, though. They certainly tried their darn'dest to blow the lead. Stormy came through to preserve the win, though, a 5-4 win. After Sunday's debacle it seemed impossible that the Reds would ever win again, but they did. Barely.

Houston scored first, when Luke Scott's RBI triple tried to kill Brandon Phillips (sure, it might actually have been Freel's throw that hit him in the eye, but I'm blaming Scott). Denorfia would have none of it, though, and quickly responded with his first Major League homer, a 2-run affair that put the Reds up by 1. They continued the scoring in the 5th, and by the middle of the inning Cincinnati was up 5-1. The Reds, however, failed to score again, and Cincinnati fans spent the rest of the game holding their breath.

Harang gave up a run in each of the 5th and 6th innings, bringing the score to 5-3. He ran into heaps of trouble in the 8th and handed the ball over to Schoeneweis, who allowed 1 run (credited to Harang) and didn't get anyone out. Weathers stepped in to finish the 8th and 9th rather uneventfully. The Reds scraped out a win and their fans finally breathed again. Is "breathed" a word? It sounds very wrong, but dictionary.com says it is right. Of course, some things that are right sound wrong anyway. Like "dived." Apparently "dove" is no longer a word, so instead of saying, "I dove into the water," you must now say, "I dived into the water." Who decides these things? I want to be on that committee. "Oscillate" must go.

Right, back to baseball. Bronson Arroyo takes the mound in Houston today at 2:05. It's on ESPN! Go Reds!

Tales of Interest

First off, apologies to Matt Groening for stealing the title from an episode of Futurama (which, by the way, was a fantastic show).

I wanted to point out a few things I've come across/had pointed out to me lately.

• Daedalus has introduced the world to a new voodoo doll. Here's hoping this one works as well as Voodoo Albert.
• RHM finally got her latest podcast up and running. I can't listen to it because DIAL-UP SUCKS. Call her hotline!
• Write On Sports is a new site dedicated to blogs of all kinds of sportiness. Some of the members of the Reds blogosphere are listed there and I'm sure more are on their way. I haven't really had a chance to check it out much, but since they were kind enough to link to us, we'll return the favor.
• Eddie Guardado seems to be in pretty good spirits after having his arm cut open. His only complaint was that the scar "messed [his] pretty arm up." The part about Eddie is underneath the main story about Ross's foot pain, also a tale of interest.

One Game Closer

That was a close one. For some reason, though, I never felt like the Reds were going to lose. That could be because I didn't get to actually see Franklin blow yet another lead. Brandon Phillips and Jason LaRue get big kudos for their efforts. LaRue did not look very excited about winning the game, though. In fact, he looked a little po-ed. But maybe he's just like that; all business and no fun.

The Reds chipped away at the Padres hold on the Wild Card in what I'm sure was heartbreaking fashion for San Diego. After jumping all the way out to a 1 run lead in the 2nd, the Padres hopes were dimmed a bit when Rich Aurilia smashed a 3-run homer in the 3rd. Cincinnati retained the lead until the 6th, when Ryan Franklin decided to make things interesting (I suppose I should point out that Eric Milton was the starting pitcher. He went 5 innings and gave up one run before leaving with a sore elbow). After Franklin allowed 3 runs on 3 hits in 2/3 innings, the Padres were back on top, 4-3.

In the 8th, however, Brandon Phillips's grounder got Edwin Encarnacion home from 3rd and tied the game at 4's. Neither team scored again until the 11th. Jason LaRue came up to bat with nobody on and 1 out in the 11th for the Reds. He swung at and missed the first pitch, but the second was sent sailing into the stands in left field, fair by mere feet. LaRue came home to the traditional beating and marched his way straight to the dugout, no smiles, though he did take the time to hit a few rocks on his way. When all was said and done, the Reds had won 5-4 and taken a small step closer to making it to October.

Bronson Wins 3 in a Row

It's amazing! Bronson Arroyo is determined to own the world for the rest of September. He's had 3 great games in a row, all of which led to W's. We like W's! That's why the blog starts with one. Okay, not really. Arroyo pitched 8 innings and allowed only 2 runs. Scott Schoeneweis pitched the 9th, giving up a hit and no runs.

During the 2nd inning, Gameday says Juan Castillo grounded out, and was also out on batter interference. I have no idea what that means. He was batting, he grounded out, he was the 3rd out, and then he was out again? Obviously, this is a baseball concept I do not understand. It'd probably make more sense if I knew what actually happened. Other than that, there wasn't much action until the 6th inning.

In the top of the 6th, Chris Duffy and Jack Wilson singled for the Pirates, and later scored on Freddy Sanchez's single. The Reds responded with 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th. Aurilia, Encarnacion and Dunn all scored a run to put the Reds up 3-2. Royce Clayton doubled in the 7th and Aurilia brought him home with a single to bring the score to its final 4-2.

The Reds now sit just below .500 with a record of 71-72. They are 4 1/2 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central (just barely holding onto 2nd place), and 3 1/2 games behind the Padres in the Wild Card (just barely holding onto 5th place). That's still better than a lot of the early predictions.

Lies

Apparently I was wrong. We did go to the game Saturday after all, but I went with Christina instead of my mom. And we got tickets for free, rather than half-price. Christina's parents' neighbors, whoever they are, are awesome people. They were the best seats we've ever had at Great American, and even more best because they cost 0 dollars.

Our fabulous seats

Unlike the last three games I've been to, it was warm and sunny. A great day for a game. We got there a little late, and instead of sitting down to watch the rest of the 2nd inning, we went hunting for food. We discovered that one hot dog vendor will sell hot dogs for $3.75, while the one right next to it sells them for $8.75. I hadn't noticed that ever before. Apparently people will buy 9 dollar hot dogs, though.

At some point we missed Jason Bay's home run and we came back to a 2-1 game. Jackass and Loudmouth, the two old men sitting in front of us, ruined any chance we had of enjoying a game that had so little to enjoy. The Reds kept it close for a while, but all the while Loudmouth kept yelling about how much he hated the guys. I was moments from smacking him when he started laying into Coffey. Jackass kept moving his head so that I couldn't see a damn thing that was going on. I'm not tall, so that's a problem to begin with anyway.

Memorable moments:

• Free team photos to every fan but me
• Brandon Phillips's two-run homer right after we were noting the game's level on the Meter of Suckitude
• Helmet Sundaes (now with M&M upgrade)
• Mr. Red stealing a Pirates fan's hat (returning it after rubbing it under his arm)
• I couldn't see the corner in right field and thought Dewayne Wise's double in the 7th was a home run
• Seeing more of Great American than I have ever seen before
• Finding Adam Dunn's apartment (we really just saw a Texas flag hanging off the balcony of an apartment near the ballpark, but it could have been Adam's)
• I made Buckeyes and am very proud of myself for not screwing them up

Unfortunately, the Reds lost this game 7-4. I blame Ryan Franklin. Or, more appropriately, Narron for using him again and again, knowing that he blows close games again and again. I also blame the cat for waking me up this morning by sticking his claws in my foot. At least the dog just lays on me.

Evil Kitten

Reds Beat Stuffing out of Pirates

Take your best record in the NL Central since the All-Star break and shove it, Pirates! Your bad assness was not strong enough to overcome the power of Kyle Lohse's unusually pronounced name, or Freel's lead off home run, or Javy's multiple home runs, or Dunn's 40th home run (for the 3rd straight year). Winning 9-1 last night makes me kind of sad that we decided against the game tonight. But, if we did go, I'd just have to listen to my mother complaining that she's missing the Ohio State/Texas game.

Lohse looked grand once again, with 7 innings pitched and 1 run earned (on 7 hits). Todd Coffey and Gary Majewski (who has been out so long I couldn't remember his first name) finished out the 8th and 9th innings respectively without allowing any more runs.

As previously mentioned, it was all about home runs for the Reds last night. It was all about home runs for the Pirates, too. Their one run was scored on a homer from Ryan Doumit. If the Reds can just do that every night for the rest of the month, maybe there's still hope. The Cardinals were soundly thrashed by the Diamondbacks last night. That helps.

Tea for Two

Two more series, two more wins. And two wins in a row for Bronson. There's a refreshing change of pace. Unfortunately, post-season hopes are dwindling, and fast. The Reds are now 6 games (I think) behind St. Louis and have several teams ahead of them in the Wild Card. And, with their win last night, Houston is now creeping up and threatening to move between the Reds and Cardinals in the division. Alas! But all hope is not lost. Though there are several teams to overtake in the Wild Card, there are only 4 1/2 games between Cincinnati and San Diego (and only a game and a half between Cincinnati and everybody up to San Diego). The Marlins are making the last bit of the season interesting.

On the bright side, Arroyo pitched a pretty nifty 3-hit shutout against the Giants on Tuesday. I missed the last inning because somebody had to watch the end of Big Brother. Or perhaps it was the beginning of Rockstar Supernova. Either way, reality television ruined my evening. The offense garnered only 3 runs, but they were more than enough, thanks to Arroyo's shutout. Arroyo's other win was against the Padres this past Friday (reverse chronological order! AHHHHHHHH!). It was another lopsided game, with the Reds winning 6-2. Is it an indicator that Arroyo is ready to blast us through September like he did at the beginning of the season? I hope so. I also hope that a few more people jump on board and follow suit. Like, the whole team.

Aurilia has been tearing the place up lately. He's had several multiple hit games and has been making some very nice plays on the defensive side. He's jumping on board. Freel's always on board. Griffey can't be on board right now, as he dislocated his toe trying to emulate Freel. No word yet on when he'll be back.

Eddie Guardado will not be back at all this season. Turns out he has a torn ligament in his arm. That's quite a bit worse than tendinitis. Guardado was placed on the 60-day DL to make room for Jason Johnson, whom the Reds acquired last week and I think I didn't mention. He's a pitcher of the long-relief variety. Long-relief for now, anyway.

Cincinnati also picked up Sun-Woo Kim from the Rockies. His 19.26 ERA was scary as can be, but he allowed just 2 runs in his start yesterday. He's going to need a few more of those before I stop being scared for him, but that was a good way to start (Edit: I had no idea the game was on ESPN yesterday, and now that I've read what other people have to say about it, maybe Kim's start wasn't as good as it sounds).

Cincinnati is finally done with California for a bit, as they take on Pittsburgh this weekend. I might be at the game Saturday. I don't know yet. Half-price tickets are awfully tempting.

Happy September!

Let's make it 6 in a row. I expected the Dodgers to be tough, but I was holding out hope for at least one win. I'm not going to be depressed about it, though. Last year the Reds tore through the West Coast and it did very little for them. Considering that, perhaps they can be torn up by the West Coast this year and have very little done to them. Last year they weren't on the brink of making the playoffs, true, but there are only 1 1/2 games between Cincinnati and San Diego and 3 games with San Diego coming up. Plus 3 more later this month. That's plenty of opportunity to stay in the Wild Card race. We'll just have to do something about the Phillies. Kidnap Howard? Don't.

In light of the off day (even though every day feels like an off day when the Reds are in California) Edit: It is not an off day. That was yesterday. I guess that proves my point. I was going to give you a whole bunch of links. However, graduating from college has left me reliable-internet-less. Cursed dial-up is all I have, and right now it refuses to cooperate in any manner, save at least allowing me access to my own blog. I really hate dial-up.

In general, those links were going to consist of:

• Daedalus has lots of stuff to link to. Chelipe was particularly entertaining
• RHM says her blog is worth a bit more than $23,000 in internet money or something. We are worth a measely $8,000 and change
• JD's peeps took over a Dodgers blog
• Rumblings about David Wells (all for naught, as the Padres apparently got him)
• And others

Not Like Last Year

So far the rest of the road trip hasn't gone so hot, huh? It seems these guys have an affinity for consistency, though. If you're going to lose, at least you can lose by the same score two days in a row. It confuses everyone who didn't actually see the game. After the first 4-1 loss to the Giants I just figured that the 4-1 I saw the next day was still the same game and they accidentally put it up twice. I had hope for a brief moment that they might have won.

The same thing happened today. Lost to the Dodgers 6-5 on Monday, and when I watched Sports Center or something this morning, I saw 6-5 again, and had another brief moment of optimism.

Anyway, if one wants to find a bright spot, there is always the fact that though the Reds have lost 5 games in a row, they didn't lose the Wild Card lead until last night, and they're only a half game back. At least everybody else has been sorta crappy, too. That's not really bright, but it's all I've got.

Harang gets to try to stop the skid tonight. Well, actually, the whole team gets to try that. Harang starts tonight while the whole team tries to stop the skid. That sounds more appropriate. 10:10 again, because we're still in California.

1 Down, 9 to Go

The Reds are tied for first place again! Yay! I tried to watch the game. I got through the first 3 or 4 innings and then fell asleep. Unfortunately I missed the good part. I saw Eric Milton giving up home runs all over the place despite the pitcher-friendly nature of AT&T Park. I saw Brad Hennessey mowing down our lineup like it was his job (haha. I'm funny). I saw a 3 next to SF and a 0 next to CIN on the TV screen.

I did not see Encarnacion's RBI single that started off the Reds' scoring. I did not see the Reds' bullpen mow down the Giants like it was their job. I did not see Ross's solo home run in the 8th that broke the 3-3 tie. I did not see the 2 insurance runs they put up in the 9th. But all of these things happened, and Cincinnati won 6-3.

Dave Williams helped the Mets demolish the Cardinals, and in so doing helped the Reds into the first place tie. Way to still be a team player, Dave!

Aaron Harang looks to keep the good times rolling tonight. It's another 10:15 game.

Coffey Gets to Eat his Jell-O Early

I had been kind of upset earlier that I didn't get to see what got Coffey thrown out of the game this afternoon. Happily, there is a replay of it on the Reds' site. I don't think it warranted getting tossed. That was a bad time to toss the guy, too. I can't imagine what kind of pressure Franklin must have been feeling, having to come in to a 3-1 count with the bases loaded. And a tied score, no less.

I didn't think Coffey was the kind of guy that would react in a way that would get him ejected. I don't think he did, either. All he said was "Right down the middle" or something to that effect. Can't be positive because I'm basing it on lip reading. On the other hand, his gesture, while probably meant to show the ump where the ball was, kinda looked a little more like where the ump should shove it. However, I maintain that Mr. Bell was just pissy. I did not see these pitches, so I cannot comment on the accuracy of the calls, but I really don't think ejecting Coffey was necessary. Ross was in his face, but he got to stay in the game (not that I'm complaining).

Anyway, though the Reds jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning (off Roy Oswalt, no less), a whole lot of bullpen mess later in the game resulted in a 7-3 loss for the good team. I can't say that Coffey remaining in the game would have changed the result, but I'd like to believe that he would have had a better shot at striking out Ensberg than Franklin had at that point.

Chris Michalak started and had a pretty good game, allowing only 1 run in 6 1/3 innings. Coffey came out for the rest of the 7th, walked some people to load the bases, and we know how that one ended. Franklin succeeded in walking Ensberg, and was then taken out in favor of Rheal Cormier, who allowed some runs, but at least finished out the 7th inning. Bray and Belisle allowed 1 hit and no runs between them in the 8th and 9th innings. Cincinnati's 3 RBI were courtesy of Griffey, Hatteberg and Hollandsworth.

So, not the exciting finish I had been hoping for in Houston, but the Reds still won the series. And we can look back fondly on the thrashing they gave the Astros yesterday.

Up next is a little trip out West, starting with San Francisco and their Giants (who just swept the Diamondbacks, which is kind of scary). I'm not a big fan of staying up until 1 in the morning anymore, so I probably won't be seeing the ends of many of these games. But who knows? Tomorrow is my last day of college for the rest of forever (or at least until I finally accept the fact that I'm going to need a Masters degree to get any kind of liveable salary). Maybe I'll celebrate by staying up super late every night until I get a real-life job. Because that's smart.

Eric Milton against Brad Hennessey at 10:15 tomorrow night. Go Reds!

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.

Tuskegee Airman

This is kind of neat. I listened to Col. Warren's interview with Marty on the radio on Sunday. I think it was Marty, anyway. He's a funny guy. Real sharp. Since Steve's not going to be back, I think they should hire him.

Three in a Row

Three posts in one day AND three wins in a row for the Reds! Amazing!

I suppose if I don't like how a game is going I should just write about it on here. I did not like seeing guys strike out with the bases loaded with 2 outs. I wrote about it, and TADA! Rich Aurilia hits a 3-run homer in the 8th to tie the game. Brandon Phillips and Todd Hollandsworth followed with singles and Royce Clayton, of all people, hit the game-winning RBI single. Unfortunately for Bronson, he had already left the game behind 2-0, and so he starts a new chase for another win. Scott Schoeneweis looked awfully good playing closer tonight. He gets the save and Ryan Franklin gets the win. Arroyo actually had a pretty decent outing, going 6 innings and only giving up 2 runs. The offense was just a little slow in backing him up.

Cincinnati's record now stands at 65-60, 2 games behind the Cardinals, who did not play today. Still leading the Wild Card by 2 1/2 games. Tomorrow Kyle Lohse goes against Jason Hirsh. Unless the Astros do something crazy and use Roy Oswalt instead. He's slated for Wednesday, but who knows what's going to happen?

Loaded

I haven't been able to watch the game continuously, but every time I get a chance to check in they've got the bases loaded with 2 outs and somebody strikes out. That's getting old real quick.

Cardinals and Pirates

Check it out! Another week without posting! I'm slacking.

Anyway, down to business. I'm not exactly sure where I left off in the games, so I will just point out that the Reds only managed to win one of the three games against the Cardinals. No matter, though, we are still winning in the games won category, 9-6. The two don't play each other again during the regular season, so, if nothing else, the Reds have succeeded in beating the Cardinals more than the other way around. The most interesting news to come out of the series could perhaps be that Bronson finally has win number 10 under his belt.

Harang did not look so awesome on Tuesday as the Reds were shut out 5-0. Wednesday was way cool, with Griffey, Dunn and Aurilia all hitting a home run a piece, not to mention EdE's two. Combined with Arroyo's 7 innings of 1 run baseball, Cincinnati pulled off the win by a score of 7-2. Kyle Lohse looked grand again on Thursday, also pitching 7 innings and giving up only 1 run (on a home run to Rolen). Unfortunately, Jeff Weaver also only allowed 1 run (a home run to Griffey). Then, to make things interesting, Ryan Franklin allowed a run to the Cardinals in the 9th, forgetting that they were in St. Louis and the offense did not get a chance to make up for it. Or at least, that's what I'm pretending happened. The Cardinals would go on to beat up on the Cubbies like they haven't all year, so maybe we can take solace in the fact that they may not have lost the series to the slumping Stupid Birds, but to the recovering Stupid Birds.

Bring in the Pirates. Game one on Friday, Chris Michalak did not live up to my hopes born of reckless optimism and instead looked about like everyone else thought he would. But he still had that one great game. He'll always get to remember that. Michalak gave up 6 earned runs in his 4+ innings. The offense never really got much going, and despite a credible attempt at a 9th inning rally (which included another late-game home run from the only Javier Valentin), the Reds went down 7-3. Saturday was much more exciting. After the Reds went up 6-0 in the 1st inning, the Pirates came back in a frightening fashion and by the 7th inning the score was tied at 7's. Our heroes, however, would have none of that, and put up 7 more runs in the bottom of the 7th. What a day for the number 7. Freel also attempted to take out Ronnie Paulino while running to home plate, which was rather humorous, given that Paulino is fairly large and Freel is not at all. Cincinnati won 14-7. The game ended on a bit of a sour note, though, as Eddie Guardado left the game with what turns out to be a pretty nasty case of tendinitis and has been placed on the 15-day DL. The Reds are now without a designated closer once again. Matt Belisle has been recalled to take his place on the roster. It's about time. The Reds scored first on Sunday despite the Pirates best efforts to take the lead early (including a few attempts at bunting with Freddie "I Lead the League in Hitting" Sanchez). The Reds scored first in a big way, thanks to 2 2-run homers from Hatteberg and Dunn in the 3rd. Harang had an awesome day and got himself his 13th win, allowing just one run in his 7 innings. Schoeneweis (turns out I can pronounce his name, just can't spell it) and Weathers both kept the Pirates hitless and Cincinnati won 5-1. Hooray!

I'm Never Going to be Able to Pronounce his Name

The Reds picked up a new pitcher today, Scott Schoeneweis. He comes via the mythical land of Canada. Scott's got a record of 2-2 and a not so pretty ERA of 6.51, but he's a lefty, and we like those. He is also apparently a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to pitching. Jerry Narron described him thus (courtesy of the article linked above):

"He has started, he has done things out of the 'pen, he's been long, he's been short, he's been a specialist," manager Jerry Narron said. "He has some very good numbers against left-handed hitters in the past. He is a ground-ball guy. He has a lot of experience."

Also, Kent Mercker's career seems to be officially over. He blew the crap out of his elbow. Poor Kent. Best of luck to you in whatever endeavors you embark upon now.

And since we're talking about sad things, it appears that both of Ken Griffey Jr.'s parents are battling cancer. I'm quite impressed with his decision to play this week, knowing that. Many sympathies to the Griffey family.

Another Player of the Week for the Reds

Edwin Encarnacion was named National League Player of the Week for the week of August 7 through 13. Go EdE! A great boost for the Free Edwin Encarnacion campaign. You might recall that one Brandon Phillips was also awarded Player of the Week honors earlier this year.

Among other things, our beloved third-baseman had 4 home runs and 8 RBI last week. He is also in the midst of a fantabulous 10-game hitting streak. Congrats to Edwin!

Reds Finally Defeat Phillies

After some really boring games the last time the two teams met up, the Reds and Phillies actually provided some edge-of-your-seat entertainment in this series. 14 innings for Friday, which were exciting until the Phillies had to go and win the game. Using every available pitcher in the bullpen plus a few starters was also entertaining, though ultimately problematic for Elizardo Ramirez. Saturday, after a very disappointing inning and a third for the Lizard Man, Chris Michalak (I feel compelled to inform you that the "c" in his name is a mirage, because everyone else mentioned it, too) put on one heck of a show. It seems most people don't think he'll repeat the performance. I'm going to err on the side of reckless optimism and assume he'll do it a few more times. Sunday was another extra-innings nail biter, punctuated by battles between my uncle and I over whether or not the Reds suck. The Reds won the battle for me in the 11th inning, also winning the game and thus the series. Wahoo!

Now you get recaps of some sort because I get some kind of extra joy out of beating the Phillies compared to beating any other team (save the Cardinals and the Yankees).

Friday Kyle Lohse, who also spells his name differently than he pronounces it (as if I have room to talk about funny name spellings), gave up just one run over 6 1/3 innings and struck out 8. Good job Kyle! Bill Bray, unfortunately, got knocked around a bit, giving up 3 runs in his 2/3 of an inning. Not so good a job Bill! Eddie Guardado and Elizardo Ramirez gave up a run each, Ramirez got stuck with the eventual loss, as his one run was the Phillies' winning run in the 14th inning. Encarnacion had 2 home runs and Valentin had another (something he's been very good at lately). All of the Reds runs were scored on these home runs. Unfortunately, the Phillies had one more run up their sleeves than the Reds. They held onto it until the 14th inning, when Aaron Rowand hit one to center off Ramirez and David Dellucci scored.

Ramirez came back on Saturday to start, which turned out to be a bad idea. Brave and commendable in theory on his part to even try, but very bad in practice. After 1 1/3 innings and 5 runs, poor Mr. Lizard was pulled from the game and shortly returned to Louisville. Chris Michalak came to the rescue, and rescue the Reds he did. The Phillies managed just one run off of him in 6 2/3 innings. Quite a Reds debut for him. The offense was alive once again, scoring 6 runs in the first 4 innings. With the exceptions of Dunn and Griffey, everybody had a hit. Freel, Hatteberg, Valentin and Phillips all had multiple hits. One of Phillips's was a home run in the 4th. The Reds entered the bottom of the 8th up 6-5, where Michalak gave up his one run, a home run to reigning Home Run Derby King Ryan Howard. Tied at 6 going into the 9th, the Reds decided they wanted to win this one within 9 innings. Luckily the Phillies used Rick White to pitch and the Reds put up 3 runs on singles from Encarnacion, Valentin and Phillips. Eddie Guardado gave up a run in the bottom of the 9th, and then with 2 on and Ryan Howard batting, it appeared that all might be lost, but Howard failed to work his home run magic and instead struck out, giving Cincinnati their first win against the Phillies this year, a 9-7 victory.

Today Eric Milton took on Brett Myers. It seems that I was playing the part of bad luck charm today, as every bit of the game I saw was something good happening for the Phillies, and thus bad for the Reds. So, I watched a bit of everything else that was on television (including NASCAR) to avoid feeling responsible for a loss I really had no control over. It worked, as the Reds won 7-5 in 11 innings. Encarnacion, Dunn and Aurilia hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the 6th (which is something ESPNews failed to mention in their little story, I might add). The Reds were up 5-3 in the 9th, when Eddie Guardado allowed 2 runs, and the Phillies tied the game, and it went to extra innings for the second time in the series. This time Cincinnati came out the winners, scoring 2 runs on a double from pinch hitting Juan Castro. Interesting choice for pinch hitter if you ask me, but it worked, so no complaints. It seems Milton had a not too awful start again, though he only made it through 5 1/3 innings, so maybe it was kind of awful. I didn't really see him. Coffey, Cormier, Weathers and Bray all worked hitless innings or parts thereof. I seem to recall hearing that Brett Myers is a bit of a Reds killer in the pitching department, so it's nice to see that he didn't do that today.

Now, thanks to the Pirates' sweep of the Cardinals (HAHAHA!), the Reds are a mere game and a half back of 1st place going into another series with St. Louis. The ESPN types seem to think Cincinnati has a pretty good shot at overtaking the Cardinals in the division (glad to see they're finally on board, bandwagon bunch of jerks (I've got a thing against national media, just so you all know)). Hopefully they are entirely demoralized and falling apart because of the sweep, and not about to become a holy terror born of vengeance. We find out on Tuesday, when Harang and Carpenter face off in St. Louis.

Oh yes! Along with Elizardo going back to Louisville, Mr. Kent Mercker has been put on the DL yet again (the reason Michalak is with the Reds), and this time it might be the end of the road for his career. That's too bad.

Splits

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but Blogger sucks, as usual. Anyway, on with the show.

It figures that that Cardinals would be in town when I have to be working my butt off every night/morning for the fake campaign in my poli-sci class. Instead of watching dramatic walk-off home runs, I am watching our Lone Shark ad over and over. Granted, it's hilarious, but there comes a point when you've seen it too many times. I'd much rather watch David Ross own the world. I did get to see Ryan Freel's AHHHmazing catch Tuesday before heading out for a rare night of drunken debauchery. Though I was not drunk, nor was there much debauchery, just painting. And, even though I didn't get to see much of it, it's good knowing that we made up a few games on the Cardinals. Monday is a day I'm going to try to forget. I do not recall ever losing to the Cardinals 13-1. Tuesday, however, thanks in very large part to Ryan Freel, the Reds took the Cards down, 10-3. Apparently they also punched the stupid birds in the gut with a dramatic 8-7 last minute win last night. I wish I'd seen it. I liked the picture in the paper today, though. Ryan Freel looks crazy. Bronson Arroyo failed to get his 10th win yet again today. I wonder if he's thinking too much about getting that 10th win. Maybe he needs to forget about the win all together and just play baseball. I would think that at this level he would know that, but I bet it's hard to do, after trying and failing so many times. He's up to what, ten attempts now? All together that adds up to a series split, but for the season as a whole, the Reds are up on the Cards 8-4. Take that Birds!

I think there are many new people in the Reds dugout/bullpen now that I haven't mentioned yet. One Mr. Rheal Cormier (pitcher type), has a spectacular name, but I'm not too sure on his skillz yet, as I haven't seen him very much. He came from Philly. Justin Germano went to Philly for him. That's kind of sad, as I rather liked Germano. Kyle Lohse (also a pitcher type) used to play for Minnesota, but now he plays for Cincinnati. Zach Ward (minor league pitcher type) went to Minnesota in his place. Ryan Franklin (another pitcher type) also came to Cincy via Philly. They get a PTBNL. And last but not least, Wednesday Todd Hollandsworth was snatched away from Cleveland and is now in Cincy, too. He's not a pitcher type, he's an outfield type. The Indians get a PTBNL too!

Oh, apparently Ryan Freel has a little dude in his head (mad props to RHM for the link).