I told you the Reds could take these guys, even if it was a bit of a wild ride to get there. I'm tired of writing bullet points; let's see whether I can stitch together some paragraphs into a proper game wrap.

Each team started the game with three pretty boring, scoreless innings. The Pirates got the offense started in the fourth when Rob “Better Just Copy and Paste My Name from GameDay” Mackowiak hit a three-run homerun. The Reds put a run up on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Felipe “Red Hot” Lopez doubled, advanced to third on a passed ball, and was knocked in on a single by Ken “Born Hall of Famer” Griffey, Jr.

The Reds pulled to within a run in the fifth inning when Javy “Latin Love Machine” Valentín hit his first homerun of the year. Valentín enjoyed two RBI on two hits tonight.

Adam “Now Where Am I Supposed to Sit?” Dunn tied up the game with a solo shot in the sixth. He was followed by Joe “Should Have Named My Daughter Amanda” Randa who got aboard with a double to be knocked in by Jacob “What Did I Do To Sit So Long?” Cruz who, in turn was knocked in by Valentín to give the Reds a 5-3 lead.

Kent “6 runs on 7 hits is NOT brilliant” Mercker came in to relieve “Is That An Earthquake? No, It's Ramón” Ortíz. Ortíz turned in a quality start allowing three runs over six and a third innings. Mercker allowed no runs over the seventh and eighth innings.

Ryan “This Was Easier When I Thought Graves Was Untouchable” Wagner built some character in the ninth when he gave up two runs: one of his own, one thanks to a crazy-wild throw not-quite-to-first by Ryan “Boom Goes the Dynamite” Freel. Wagner got the blown save as the score went 5-5.

In the bottom of the ninth, Jason “I'm Really Not So Bad” Romano doubled and Freel moved him to third on an infield single. Lopez surprised the crowd by bucking conventional Reds' wisdom and making contact to bring in the game-winning run.

Reds win over the Pirates, 6-5. Tomorrow, Eric “Please Don't Make An Example Of Me, Too” Milton takes the mound to try to start another Reds winning streak. Go Reds!