It's nice to know that there's still one team in this organization that knows how to put together a late-inning rally.

I missed the 7-4 spanking the Reds took at the hands of the Braves last night in favor of watching the Indianapolis Indians squeak by the Louisville Bats 8-7. Justin Germano took the mound for the Bats, and I was very interested to see how the bounty the Reds got in exchange for Randa would fare against this solid Indianapolis team.

Though the Bats got off to the early 0-2 lead in the first inning thanks to RBI hits from Chris Denorfia and Alex Pelaez, Germano let the Indians score in each of the first four innings to lead it 5-2. The Indians appeared to have the game easily in hand, especially when they tacked on two more runs against Joe Valentine in the eighth inning to lead it 7-2.

Though the Bats had not scored since the first inning, they came into the top of the ninth looking to make things interesting. Lead-off man Jeff Bannon knocked a grounder that slid just past the third baseman to start things off. William Bergolla grounded out to third, but Pedro Swann immediately hit a home run to right field to score Bannon and himself. Denorfia walked and was then hit in by Eric Crozier's double to right field. Pelaez doubled to left field to bring in Crozier and the score was 7-6 in Indianapolis's favor. Boos poured down like rain.

Indians' pitcher Mark Corey faced his last batter of the evening when he intentionally walked A.J. Zapp, and then it was up to Brian Reith. Reith immediately gave up a center-field single to Miguel Perez, tying the game. Pinch hitter Steve Lomasney popped out to second base, and Bannon struck out in his second at-bat of the inning to end the threat.

Chris Booker came in to pitch the now-necessary bottom of the ninth. Booker's warm-up pitches were hitting 88 mph on the stadium radar, and the pitches he used to walk Cesar Crespo, the first Indians batter, were 93-94 mph. Ray Sadler popped up a horrible bunt that Booker hardly had to move to catch, and had Booker delivered a strike to first, he might have doubled off Crespo. Instead, he gave up a double off the center field wall to J.J. Fumaniak to bring in Crespo and end the game 8-7.

In pursuit of that final double, Denorfia smashed into the wall and did not get up for a while. Several of his teammates and a trainer went out to help him, but he left the field under his own power. He did appear to be limping at first, but was walking normally by the time he was passing the big screen where they were re-playing the video of him hitting the wall and crashing to the ground. Both the Indians' and Bats' game recaps do not mention the incident at all, so I can only assume that Denorfia is OK. I guess I'll find out when I see whether he's in the line-up for tonight's game as the Bats continue their effort to end the Indians' playoff hopes.

On August 11, I invested way more time and research than I usually put into my posts into a page full of snarky predictions about how the month of August was going to turn out for the Reds and the rest of the NLC. Now that August is over, it seems like it's about time to see how I did.

Actual Game Results

• The Reds did, indeed, take two of three from the Brewers. I get a star!
• Instead of taking three of four from the Giants, however, the Reds dropped that many. Take that star away.
• I was equally wrong when the Reds won two of three against the Diamondbacks instead of the other way around. Is it possible to have negative stars? Since the Reds proved me wrong the good way, I'm happy to just let it go.
• The Reds failed to sweep Washington as I was hoping they would, but still had a respectable showing taking two of three.
• The Reds did sweep the Pirates, though I totally blew it on calling the rain-out for the fourth game in the series.
• If I'd seen the rain-out coming, maybe I would have called the whippin' they were going to take at the hands of the Astros for the last two games of the series.

So, all-in-all, not great on my part. I had the Reds with a 66-67 record at the end of the month, in third place in the division. While a 66-67 record right now would be enough to get them third place, that's not remotely what they actually have. The Reds finished August 62-70, all by their lonesome in fifth place. Pretty much the same way they started August. Pretty much the same old crap.

Looks like I kind of suck at this serious prediction stuff. Maybe that's why I don't do much of it. Something I do a lot of, on the other hand, is…

Goofy Off-Handed Comments

• The Cards did seem to get “tired of the tedium of just winning all the time” as they lost 11 in the month of August, including a fantastic 10-0 shutout at the hands of the Pirates. Lovely.
• I said that Joe Randa would have finally regained Super-Joe form. He's not quite there yet, but he did have two home runs in three games, plus some walks, so maybe he's heating up. Speaking of Randa, this story on the Padres site has some interesting stuff about his family in Milwaukee.
• The Pirates did bring back Craig Wilson especially for the series with the Reds on the 28th. He has not, however, gotten himself hurt again yet, and if he wants to make a place for himself in rehab purgatory of Indianapolis, he'd better hurry. The Indians final homestand ends tomorrow.
• I scored when I said that the Reds blogs and message boards would be quieter than usual, though I don't think it's been because everyone's pondering the “existential quandary of what it really means to achieve .500.”
• I absolutely called it when I said that the Reds would crash headfirst into the nearest available tree like a kid learning to ride a bike. The context of why I said that was going to happen isn't important, just the fact that I said it.

So, August is over but the promise of September is shining brightly! Or glowing dully! What will this new month hold for them? Lots of bad predictions, plenty of goofy off-handed comments, and, unfortunately, probably a lot more of the same old crap.

From the Associated Press:

BRISTOL, Conn. - This season's “College GameDay” on ESPN will feature entertainer Nick Lachey providing features as a regular contributor, including onsite appearances.

“Nick is a huge sports fan and will add a unique perspective to the show,” said Norby Williamson, senior vice president and managing editor for ESPN. “He will provide wide-ranging, off-the-field features spotlighting the tradition of the game, its fans, athletes and personalities.”
--snip--

As you'll recall, the Cincinnati Enquirer published a guest commentary by Mr. Lachey at the end of May blasting the management for DFA-ing Graves. So at the very least, we know he has plenty to say about sports.

If he catches on, maybe he'll pull some strings and get the Reds some better ESPN coverage.