Joey Votto and Scott Rolen just hit back to back home runs to break a 3-3 tie with the Cardinals.  For Rolen, it’s his second of the game.  This one is still early though (rain delay, so it’s just the middle of the third).

I’ll keep this brief because it seems like the more I write, the worse the Reds do.  Just kidding (and making excuses) but the short of it is, the Reds won, and for today, they’re in first place.  Next up are the Brewers and after my hiatus, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon.

It was Chris Carptener. That’s at least one of the reasons why the Reds were held to a measley three hits in a 6-0 loss to the Cards this afternoon. Drew Stubbs doubled and Joey Votto and Scott Rolen singled and that was the extent of the Reds offense. In all, they scored just six runs in the three game series and in a lot of ways, the Reds were lucky to walk away from St. Louis with even a single win.

Aaron Harang threw a solid game but it still resulted in his fourth loss. HE gave up three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. Carlos Fisher was knocked around for two runs and Micah Owings, who might be pitching himself into a rotation spot, pitched a shutout inning.

it didn’t take very long for the Reds to fall out of their second place perch. They’re also back into the losing section of the division at 12-13. Now they’ve got three against hot (at least not too long ago) Mets. In fact both the Mets and Reds have two game losing streaks that followed extended winning streaks. Game one has Oliver Perez throwing against Mike Leake. Leake has pitched into the seventh in all four of his starts so hopefully he can pick up a win for the Reds before things get out of hand.

Don’t look now, but the Reds have a winning record.  After five straight wins, they now sit in second place in the NL Central with a 12-11 record and while the Cards still have a comfortable three game lead, the Reds have a couple more chances to chip into that.  Even better, the Reds have put a little bit of room between them and the rest of the division although one good losing streak could put them back into the second half of the division.  Still, we can enjoy it while we can.

Johnny Cueto picked up his first win of the season.  He gave up two runs on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  The Reds then used five guys to get through the final four innings.  They gave up their share hits (7) but didn’t allow a run.  Nick Masset pitched a shutout eighth and Francisco Cordero pitched a shutout ninth and he picked up his ninth save of the season.  With twelve wins for the Reds and nine saves for Cordero, most of the Reds wins are tight.

Jay Bruce has broken out finally and he went three for four with two RBIs and a run.  He drove in the first two runs with two different singles then scored the go ahead run on Jonny Gomes single.  Brandon Phillips pitched in with a pair of singles and he scored one.

Homer Bailey gets the nod today while Kyle Lohse throws for the Cards.  Bailey has to produce soon or he could find himself back with the Bats for yet another stint.   He’s got some weird numbers because he’s striking out a batter an inning, but hitters are also hitting .326 against him.  His best start was his first and even that would be considered mediocre.  Still, he can put the doubters in their place by throwing well today.

The Reds need to win tomorrow to avoid a losing week but more importantly, they’re tied with the Houston Astros for dead last in the NL Central. Yeah, those Astros that lost their first eight games. If there’s a silver lining, it’s the fact that the Reds are just four games back of first place. They just have a ton of teams in front of them. Right now, the Cardlinas are the only team with a winning record at a mediocre 10-8. You know that’s not going to last long so the Reds can’t bury themselves too early.

Of course getting shut out on four hits isn’t going to help things and that’s what happened today. Ryan Hanigan doubled for the only base hit and to make matters worse, they were caught stealing twice. This wasn’t a pretty day and it was against a Padres pitcher (Wade LeBlanc) who doesn’t have a ton of big league experience.

Johnny Cueto fell to 901 with a rough start. He gave up five runs on seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts in six innings. Daniel Ray Herrera had a nice outing and he pitched two shutout innings of relief.

The Reds try to avoid the sweep tomorrow afternoon. It’ll be Homer Bailey that’s hoping to play the stopper. Clayton Richard gets the nod for the Padres.

The Reds blew a 9-3 lead but then scored two in the bottom of the eighth to edge the Dodgers in an 11-9 pitchers duel.  The Reds needed just eleven hits to scored their eleven runs and they left just two batters on base.  Joey Votto went two for three with a home run and three RBIs.  Soctt Rolen also had a nice game and he went three for four with two runs.  Votto is now over .300 (.306) and Scott Rolen is getting there.  Even though the pitching almost blew this one, it was nice to see the bats break out.

Homer Bailey was knocked around for five runs in 5 1/3 innings and you wonder how much longer he’ll be in the rotation.  It probably didn’t help that Edinson Volquez isn’t coming back anytime soon after his 50 game suspension.  Nick Masset was also hit hard for four runs over 1/3 of an inning.  Mike Lincoln picked up the win although he got just one batter out while Francisco Cordero threw a shutout ninth (two strikeouts) to pick up his fifth save.

It was nice to see the Reds end their five game skid.  Now they need to make it a winning streak.  Tomorrow it’ll be Aaron Harang against Hiroki Kuroda.  This would be a good time for Harang to turn things around.

Wow, the last time I wrote, I talked about how the Reds were just a breath away from first place.  Now after five straight losses, their in fifth place sitting at 5-8.  Not pretty and three of those losses have come at the hands of the Pirates who while improved, still aren’t contendors yet.  Today, Jay Bruce hit a pair of solo home runs but the Reds managed just one run on three hits outside of that.  Paul Janish doubled home Johnny Gomes for the other run.

On the flip side, Bronson Arroyo was roughed up and he fell to 0-1.  He gave up five runs on five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts over six innings.  Mike Lincoln kept the Reds in it with two innings of shutout relief but the bats never got going.

Offense has been a problem.  Jay Bruce brought his average up to .178 with todays game and he doubled his RBI total.  Brandon Phillips is hitting .224 and while Joey Votto’s .283 batting average is respectable, it’s still below expectations.

Next up are the Dodgers at home after a day off.  Homer Bailey throws in the series opener against Chad Billingsley.

Homer Bailey is tough to figure out.  He’s struggled at the big league level but showed some life late last year.  When he gets sent down he’ll look mediocre at times but then look dominating at other.  Inconsistent is a nice easy label but you have to just wonder why.  This year he’s off to a rough start and he fell to 0-1 yesterday.  He gave up five runs on eight hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.  You just wonder how much longer Dusty Baker will ride Bailey before he puts Micah Owings back in the rotation. It’s too bad because it wasn’t too long ago that Bailey was the top pitching prospect in baseball.

Mike Lincoln had a nice outing with two innings of shutout relief.  Unfortunately the Reds comeback fell short in the 5-3 loss.  Paul Janish was the hitting star and he went two for three with a two run home run.  Brandon Phillips drew a pair of walks. 

The finale is this afternoon.

Pitching went out the window as the Reds beat the Marlins 10-8 in eleven innings.  Since the Reds 0-2 start, they’ve gone 5-1 since.  Me likee.  Joey Votto had the game winner with a single in the eleventh and he finished three for five with a run and an RBI.  Brandon Phillips went four for five with two runs and two RBIs while Rick Hanigan went two for four with a three run home run.  Johnny Gomes also went yard in the game.

Bronson Arroyo was pelted for five runs but he lasted six innings.  Micah Owings pitched two innings of shutout relief to improve to 2-0 while Francisco Cordero pitched a shutout eleventh for save number four.

Game number three is tonight.  Homer Bailey throws against Chris Volstad.  It’s early but the Reds are only a half game back of the Cardinals.

Two solo home runs wasn’t enough for Scott Rolen because he came through for the Reds in the tenth with an RBI single to give the Reds their fourth win.  Three hits and three RBIs isn’t too shabby and with Rolen’s solid start, I’m not missing E-squared all that much anymore.  Orlando Cabrera also pitched in with a two run home run in the 6-5 win.

Johnny Cueto had a rough start but the pen and the hitters bailed him.  He gave four runs in his five innings of work.  Nick Massett pitched a shutout ninth and he improved to 2-0 while Francisco Cordero pitched a shutout tenth for save number three.

Game two of the series is tonight.  Bronson Arroyo gets the start against former Tiger Nate Robertson.  Game time is 7:10.

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