After the Reds nice little winning streak, they’ve now dropped two straight as they lost a very late night game against the Padres in sixteen innings.  After Jay Bruce homered in the sixth, the Reds didn’t score for the next ten innings as they lost 6-5.  Micah Owings took the loss in what was effectively a start and he gave up the one run in 5 2/3 innings. 

Laynce Nix also belted a two run homer but eight hits over sixteen innings isn’t going to cut it.  Willie Taveras went 0 for 7 and his batting average is now below .300 at .295. 

The Reds are in fourth place but they’re just two games back of the first place Brewers. They finish up against the Padres this afternoon before the Phillies come to town.

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The Reds won a close one last night.  While Micah Owings wasn’t all that great on the mound, he was true to form and he helped out his own cause with a triple that ultimately led to two runs.  Also give some props to the pen, who pitched three shutout innings with Francisco Cordero capping things off with a shutout ninth to earn his eighth save of the season.

Jay Bruce hit his eighth homer of the season in the 6-5 win.  Willie Taveras also went yard with his first long ball.  Ramon Hernandez, hitting clean up and playing first base, picked up two hits and Paul Janish joined him.  Not bad considering Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips were both out with the flu.

Next up are the first place Cardinals.  If the Reds are going to chew into that 3 1/2 game deficit, they’re not going to get a better chance then by actually playing the first place team.   It’ll be Johnny Cueto against Joel Pineiro in the opener tonight.

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The Reds are now stuck in this win one/lose one cycle.  Two days again, Edinson Volquez led the Reds to their sixth shutout and things looked good.  Then last night happened.

With nobody out in the second inning, Aaron Harang was pulled from the game.  When the dust settled on that frame, the Reds were down 9-0.  Throw in a rough ninth inning by Paul Janish in the epitome of mop up, and the end result was a 15-3 beatdown at the hands of the Brewers.  The loss by Arroyo was his second and in that one game, he saw his ERA rise from 4.91 to 7.15.

Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce both went yard but it was way too little.  The Reds finish up the two game set tonight and it’ll be Micah Owings against Braden Looper.

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The Reds have a big series this weekend against….the Pirates? Yes, the Reds finished April with an 11-10 record and while they sit in a tie for third place, this is hardly the train wreck that things could have been considering the Reds are hitting a meager .235. Right now, it’s the Cardinals then everyone else but that doesn’t mean the Reds can’t jockey for position. That’s why a good weekend against the Pirates, who are also tied with us at 11-10, could go a long way towards pushing the Reds further into contention.

What about Joey Votto? I know he has just the three home runs but that .979 OPS is nice to look at. Throw in the 20 RBIs and 21 games and it makes for a nice success story. You wonder why this guy was held back for so long.

And then there’s the pitching. While the Reds are second to last in baseball in hitting and slugging, they’re fifth in the NL in ERA. That’s what it’s getting it done. It also helps that they’re outplaying their Pythagorean W/L by two games but that could even out over time once the offense heats up (gulp).

Tonight, we’ll have Bronson Arroyo going up against Zach Duke. It’s the battle of the 3-1 hurlers. Of course Arroyo has a 6.48 ERA and Duke has a 2.43 mark so hopefully those two numbers start to come together after tonight’s game.

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The Reds finished up their four game series with the Astros and the end result was a measly ten runs.  That’s just 2 1/2 runs per game and, hold on, what is that.  Wait a minute, somehow, the Reds managed to win three of their four games.  What’s this pitching thing anyway?  I’ve heard of it, but it’s been so long……

Don’t look now, but the hitless wonders v2 are sitting at 7-5.  That’s good for third place but the Reds are just a half game back.  The latest solid pitching performance came from Bronson Arroyo, who’s now 3-0.  He pitched seven strong and he gave up three runs on nine hits with two strikeouts.  Arthur Rhodes and Francisco Cordero then pitched shutout innings to close things out.  For Cordero, it’s his fifth save of the season.

Joey Votto had the big hit in this one.  He doubled home two runs in seventh to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead.  Edwin Encarnacion singled home two in the first inning to put the Reds on the board.  Willie Taveras also had a nice game and he went two for five with two runs.

There’s no rest here as the Reds shoot north to take on the first place Cubs for a three game set.  Hopefully Jay Bruce will be back after getting nailed on the hand.  Game one is tonight and it’ll be Micah Owings against Rich Harden.

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Sigh, this one was ugly.  The Reds lineup made Wandy Rodriguez look like the second coming of Walter Johnson and even ace Aaron Harang couldn’t get it done.  The Reds managed a measly two hits and three walks.  Two of those runners were wiped out by double plays so the Reds left three men on base.  Oh yeah, those two hits were singles and only one of those three runners left were in scoring position.  Yes, the word pathetic comes to mind.

Aaron Harang had his worst start of the season.  He fell to 1-2 and he gave up five runs on ten hits and one walk with six strikeouts in six innings.  The Astros got two runs right off the bat in the first so things got off to a rough start from the very first frame.

Edinson Volquez throws tomorrow and hopefully he can get the Reds back on track for a series win.  Felipe Paulino will be on the mound for the Astros.

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Roy Oswalt has been a thorn in the Reds side since he came into the league. He’s 23-1 against us and when he comes to town (or we go to his place), it’s almost like a forgone conclusion. Last night was a little different though. Johnny Cuetto got into trouble in the fifth inning and he walked three batters including the go ahead run at the time. The good news is, this is the only run the Astros would put on the board.

Then newcomer Ramon Hernandez came through big with a two run, ninth inning blast against closer (for now) Jose Valverde. Reds fans have to get use to these types of games because this is who it’ll be most of the year if the team’s going to have some success because the Reds have a major league worse .221 batting average and only the Astros and Giants have scored fewer runs.

Tonight, it’ll be ace Aaron Harang, who’s looked very good, going up against Wandy Rodriguez. I’ll take anyone over Oswalt. Oh yeah, and if you’re a glass half full kind of guy, the Reds are tied for first in the loss column.

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The Reds are still stuck at one win aftera complete beat down at the hands of the Pirates today.  Johnny Cueto wasn’t on and the pen was just plain off in this one.  Cuetto gave up four in six but he struck out nine with just one walk so you can walk away with at least something.  Mike Lincoln on the other hand, went down in flames.  He gave up five runs one three walks and three hits (two of which went over the fence) in the Pirates half of the ninth inning.

Six hits was it.  Brandon Phillips had two of those and he scored both Reds runs in the 10-2 loss.  Jay Bruce singled and he drove in both runs.

Tomorrow, Aaron Harang gets his chance for a win and instead of going head to head with Johan, he gets Ian Snell.  I like our chances in this one.

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The Reds have their work cut out for them.  Jerry Hairston and Darnell McDonald (hitting second??) were punched out.  Joey Votto then took him to a full count (get that pitch count up) then drew a walk so he’s mortal at least.

Nice job by Brandon Phillips.  He took Johan to a full count too before taking a walk. I like how this inning is shaping up.

Oh well, a pop out to end the inning.  Still, we made Johan work.

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Okay, the Reds played their final spring game against their minor league All Stars and they came out with a 9-6 win over the Reds Futures.  Johnny Cueto shut down the kids over four frames and that’s all I was really worried about.  A strong Cueto puts the Reds with a decent five deep rotation (if you believe in Micah Owings) and this may be the best starting five we’ve had in a long, long time (think Lou Piniella).  The Bronson Arroyo carpel tunnel thing could mean Homer Bailey starts the season in the rotation but still, that’s a quality starting five and maybe Bailey will finally find his groove.

As far as predictions, this may be the toughest team to do that with since I’ve started writing.  Let’s just say, there’s a wide range because things could go really right (Cueto and Volquez contend for a Cy Young and everyone else does their job) to really wrong (pitching goes to pieces).  I’m cautiously optimistic and I think the Reds win 85 games this year and they’re playing semi-meaningful games into September.

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