The Cubs won their game today. The Pirates won theirs, too. But the Reds have not fared so well. At least they're in good company: the Cardinals lost to the Mets 12 -7 today.

What a mess today. Ben Kozlowski, starting in place of Eric Milton who's out with a strained calf, did a decent impression of 2005 Milton by giving up a home run to Tigers' lead-off batter, Ivan Rodriguez. He also allowed three runs in the second inning, putting the Reds down 4-0.

The Reds rumbled into scoring form when newly acquired first baseman Scott Hatteberg hit a solo shot in the fourth inning. The Tigers scored again on Elizardo Ramirez in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-1, Tigers.

But the Reds were rolling. In the fifth, right fielder Ryan Freel stole second just in time for second baseman Tony Womack to knock him in. And you guys said he couldn't hit. In the sixth, DH Jacob Cruz doubled and scored, and the score was 5-3 Tigers after six.

Faltering Tigers' pitching allowed Cruz to walk in a run in the seventh, followed by catcher Miguel Perez sacrificing in another to tie the score 5-5 in the middle of the seventh. Unfortunately, that's about the time that Ryan Wagner gave up a solo home run to Reggie Taylor, followed by Omar Infante's two-run double that brought the score to where it would stay: 8-5 Tigers.

Pitching continues to be the festering wound of this Reds' team, but I'm even more dispirited to see that Wily Mo Peña followed up his two-walk performance yesterday with three strike outs today.

Tomorrow Justin Germano takes on Tigers' pitcher Mike Maroth at 1:05 p.m. in Sarasota. Meanwhile, Michael Gosling will be facing Brad Radke in Fort Myers, also at 1:05 p.m.

You may remember a story on February 25 about the possibility of the Reds joining forces with the Pirates during spring training to build a joint baseball complex in Sarasota.

Well today Pittsburgh's CEO, Kevin McClatchy, denied the report, or at least his personal involvement in the discussions. Way, way down at the bottom of this page on the Pittsburgh Pirates' official website, you'll find this quote:

Quotable: “I never spoke to the Cincinnati Reds about a joint facility in Sarasota. Where that came from, I'm not sure. But we're very happy with the relationship we have with the City of Bradenton and the county. We've been here longer than most teams have ever been in their Spring Training facility. The people of Bradenton have been great to us and we look forward to a long relationship here.” -- McClatchy, on reports the Pirates were considering moving their winter home to Sarasota.

Our friends at Bucco Blog is suspicious of McClatchy's motivations:

If you know McClatchy's doublespeak, all he really says above is that HE never spoke with the REDS, that he didn't know where the source came from, and that the org is happy in Bradenton.

He did NOT say the organization didn't speak with anyone.

I don't know McClatchy well enough to know about that, but I'd be pretty irritated to be called a liar if I were the Reds official who talked about this story to the press.

Rich Aurilia. The man does not have one redeeming quality. He's incredibly arrogant and seemingly unaware of the fact that he sucks at baseball. His range in the field rivals that of Sean Casey. He's completely unable to hit outside of GAB. He steals playing time from not one, not two, but three more deserving players. Oh, and yes, his goatee looks stupid. Seriously, take a look at his home/road split from last year.

Home: .332/.380/.561
Road: .231/.296/.321

Now, a discrepancy between the home and road numbers of a player is pretty common, but Aurilia's OPS is 320 points lower when he leaves Great American. His road numbers would make Tony Womack proud.

Oh, and speaking of Tony Womack, it's already looking like he's come in with that same sense of entitlement that Aurilia seems to have. There's only one real difference I can see between the two: Tony Womack won't be able to hit at home, either.

All my anguish traces back to Dan O'Brien. I shall hunt him down and I shall throw heavy objects at him until he points his finger at me and says “Negatory”. Then I'll call him a douchebag and go cry, thinking about how good of a job he did at making the team worse.

Which Reds personnel or former Reds personnel do you hate with an undying, burning passion that will never be quenched?