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Ryan Dempster hasn’t won a game on the road for all of 2008. With a start where he pitched 6 innings and allowed only 2 runs, you might think he would have broken that string. Especially if you knew that the Cubs scored 6.

Alas, Carlos Marmol swooped in for the vulture win. Marmol has struggled lately, so putting him in the game in the 7th with the Cubs sporting a spiffy new 3 run lead might have seemed like a good time for him to work some things out. But it wasn’t.

Mike Fontenot gave Marmol the vulture win with his go-ahead homer, leaving Dempster to stew in the dugout, happy that the team won but wishing, just wishing, that he could finally win on the road.

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Remember when Jay Bruce was called up for the Reds and he was awesome and optimistic and full of life and excited about how he was going to help the club win? Sigh. If only he were on any other team besides the Reds. Heck, at this point, he might have a better shot with the Pirates, who defeated the Reds last night and won the series.

Yes, the Pirates defeated the Reds in Cincinnati, where the Reds had been good. Pittsburgh had been anything but on the road, but they’re obviously better than the Reds. Pittsburgh now sits in 5th place, with Cincinnati 1.5 games behind them in last.

Anyway, back to Bruce. He hit two home runs in the process of going 2-3 with a walk and drove in 4. Honestly, he’s lucky to have gotten as many RBI as he did, considering he was leading off for some insane reason. Who’s the idiot manager of the Reds anyway? Oh. Right.

So despite giving his all, the Reds lost, and just a little bit of Bruce’s soul died. Unfortunately, it won’t be the last time, not as long as he plays for Cincinnati.

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The Cardinals narrowly escaped from Mark Mulder’s second outing since being reinstated from the disabled list.

Mulder came on in relief in the seventh inning. Thanks to earlier ineffective pitching from starter Joel Pineiro, the game St. Louis had taken a 4-run 1st inning lead in was tied. Mulder promptly gave up 2 runs.

But not to worry! Chris Duncan and Troy Glaus flew to the rescue, launching home runs to tie and then win the game for St. Louis.

It was a good thing, too. With the Cubs winning and the ribald rivalry with Chicago looming, it’s in St. Louis’ best interests to be as close as possible. Got to make that series a battle for first place, after all.

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The Reds lost last night, which isn’t news. The news is that Edinson Volquez had a second consecutive less-than-stellar start. His chances of starting the All Star game are fading, while his chances of garnering the nickname Edinson “Jack Armstrong” Volquez are increasing.

Brandon Phillips was the human highlight reel for the Reds, going 3-5 with a home run and 4 RBI. It wasn’t enough, though, because David Weathers was pitching.

The Pirates took their final lead off of Weathers in the 11th, getting 2 runs off of him, which was just enough to not give it up in the bottom of the inning. Not that they didn’t try. Cincinnati scored one in the bottom of the 11th and had a chance to tie it, but thankfully for the Pirates, Corey Patterson “plays” for the Reds.

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The Astros played hard but fell to the Dodgers thanks to the slugging of a former Astro.

No, it wasn’t that one, that one, or even that one. It was Jeff Kent who provided the fireworks in the top of the 11th when he hit a solo home run off of Wesley Wright.

Wandy Rodriguez struggled mightily with his control, having no luck either curving or breaking his balls. Rodriguez gave up 5 runs in 5 innings.

Houston had plenty of offense for a change, with Ty Wiggington leading the charge. But the bullpen couldn’t keep LA off the board. If only the Astros still had Shawn Chacon. His 5 ERA surely would have helped matters.

This week on the podcast:

• Shawn Chacon’s breathtaking misadventures
• Lou Piniella gets fired. Up.
• Why we hate umpires

And all this *before* Corey Patterson came up with two outs in the bottom of 11 and the winning run on base.

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Lou Piniella was ejected for the first time this year, and it did nothing but propel the Cubs to demolish the Giants. That breaks Chicago’s longest losing streak of the season at 4 games, and keeps the winning Cardinals 2.5 games back. Perhaps Lou should have done that earlier.

Or maybe not. It’s hard to lose when Ted Lilly pitched better than he ever has all year, allowing 2 runs over 8-plus innings. Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless ninth to close the game in a non-saving situation. I imagine that after all that losing, Wood just needed a little work. Either that, or wanted to be one appearance closer to injury.

However, things aren’t looking up just yet. Jason Marquis starts for Chicago tonight.

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Dave Bush struggled in his start for the Brewers, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) in his 5 innings of work as the Diamondbacks stormed past them.

Milwaukee took an early lead in the first inning, but gave it up at the first chance they had. Seriously, that’s no way to catch the Cubs and Cardinals, guys.

I know I had a couple pithy things to say about this game, but I’ve forgotten it since this morning. I often do forget about the Brewers. It’s probably due to the fact that I still think of them as an American League team.

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Aaron “Lemon” Harang lived up to his nickname for only one inning during his start against the Pirates when he allowed 2 runs in the 6th. The other 6 innings were good, though, and the Reds stayed close.

Then Ken Griffey, Jr. pinch hit in the bottom of the 9th with the tying run on. To me, it felt like he was saying, “Guys, this is the Pirates,” as he swung and launched the walk-off home run into the seats.

Of course, it might have just been the Pirates helping the Reds showcase Griffey to any American League team in need of a designated hitter. After all, Griffey’s defense didn’t hurt the Reds last night. All they needed was his bat.

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Kyle Lohse threw 7 innings yesterday allowing only one run, unearned, helping the Cardinals to their 48th team win and his 10th.

Is there any doubt in the minds of Reds fans that Dave Duncan is a god among mere mortals? I haven’t followed other teams enough to know what happens to their cast-offs, but the ones from the Reds turn to gold. Josh Hancock, Ryan Franklin, and Kyle Lohse are the ones that come immediately to mind. Watch out next year, NL Central, when the Cardinals rule the world with Todd Coffey and Bronson Arroyo!

St. Louis scored some runs, too. The pitching coach’s son is apparently back with the team, and he hit his 5th home run. Albert Pujols also drove in a couple runs, playing the entire game at first.

And in momentous news, Mark Mulder made his first appearance since Mexican Independence Day last year. Mulder was okay, allowing 2 hits and no runs in his one inning of work. If he’s healthy and effective, he could be quite a shot in the arm for the club. If nothing else, he’s well-rested.