Awesome. After some 20 hours of unscheduled down time, I'm pleased to see that Red-Hot-Mama.com is back on her feet. The official word from our host is that some IPs were incorrectly assigned during routine enhancements to the software. It was supposed to take 2-4 hours to correct.

In fact, this is how I imagine it really went down…

Ed (stumbling and bumping into a desk): Ouch, hey, who the hell left all these cords all over the floor?
Jim: Ed, you spaz.
Ed (rubbing his owie knee): Can't you people put your crap away?
Jim: What did you run into? Dammit, Ed, did you pull out those power cords again?
Ed: Oh, shit.
Jim: You've taken down all our sites! You really are a spaz.
Ed: This is going to take forever to fix. People are going to be pissed.
Jim: We better tell 'em.
Ed: Don't tell them I tripped on the cord!
Jim: Well, what do you want me to say?
Ed: Say we were doing routine maintenance--no, say we were providing enhancements. They can't be mad at us for messing up when we were trying to do something good for them.
Jim: OK, OK. When are you going to have this cleaned up? Tomorrow afternoon?
Ed: Don't say that! They'll freak. Say a couple hours.
Jim: You know you can't do it in two hours.
Ed: Fine, say “2-4 hours.” Later we can say it was a typo of “24” or something.

Can't complain, though. They *were* providing enhancements after all. At least he didn't spill coffee on it this time.

The Reds were back to their losing ways on Tuesday with a 2-9 thrashing at the hands of the Mets.

Elizardo Ramirez took the mound for six innings and put in a weak performance by his standards. Four runs (earned) on six hits and a walk. It doesn't really matter, though, because he could have put up zeros in all categories and still left the game with just a one-run lead. Which he knocked in himself in the fifth inning.

David Weathers continued the tragic legacy that is the Cincinnati bullpen by allowing four runs (earned) on three hits and two walks over the course of one-third plus innings. Kent Mercker managed to hold the Mets hitless for the next two outs, an accomplishment worthy of celebration.

Todd Coffey gave up a run in the ninth (earned) on two hits. In fact, it would have been more than that if Jose Valentín hadn't tried to stretch a triple into an inside-the-park home run and got himself thrown out at the plate. Imagine the Latin Love Machine's brother trying for an inside-the-parker. Just goes to show the stupid things you'll do when you're up by six and the end of the game nowhere in sight.

The only non-pitcher to collect an RBI for the Reds was the Latin Love Machine proper, Javier Valentín. With no outs in the seventh, Austin Kearns singled, Scott Hatteberg walked, and Brandon Phillips singled to load the bases. Valentín plated Kearns with a sacrifice fly. Rich Aurilia then came up and, in probably the single most heartbreaking moment of the game, grounded into a double play.

Ryan Freel, Kearns, and Phillips continue not actually dragging the team down. Freel went 3-for-4. Kearns went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Phillips went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Six Reds went 0-fer.

The loss brings the Reds' record to 38-33. Tonight at 7:10 p.m. they try to take the rubber match. Joe Mays will take the start of Brandon Claussen, who is on the DL. Of course, Mays would have taken his start anyway. He faces Alay Soler.

The Reds took a brief reprieve from all the losing on Monday with a victory over the Mets 4-2.

Bronson Arroyo took the mound and spared us the bullpen by pitching a complete game. He gave up two runs (earned) on seven hits and a walk.

The team spark plugs were firing. Ryan Freel didn't take part in any scoring but did go 3-for-5 with a stolen base. Brandon Phillips went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI.

Only one of the Reds' runs came on a home run: a solo shot by Ken Griffey, Jr. in the sixth. The home run puts his and his father's combined homer total to 700, which is nice. He went 1-for-5 on the night with two strike outs.

Their first run, in the second inning, scored when Austin Kearns singled, stole second two batters later, and came in on David Ross's base hit to left field.

With one out in the eighth, Adam Dunn and Kearns each singled. Scott Hatteberg was hit by a pitch to load up the bases, setting up Phillips to plate two with a double to right. Ross struck out and Arroyo flied out to end the inning.

The win brought the Reds' record to 38-32. They would continue the series with the Mets on Tuesday, sending Elizardo Ramirez up against Paul Lo Duca.

Looks like Brandon Phillips is going to be on Players Talk Live, an MLB Radio show, at 4:25 p.m. Wednesday. According to the story (currently the third in the rotation on Reds.com), you can e-mail questions for the Reds' second baseman to answer during the program to radio@mlb.com

You can get to the broadcast from the MLB Radio page, where you'll also see that George Grande talking about Bronson Arroyo is a featured highlight. In the Players Talk archives, you'll see interviews with Sean Casey and Ray King, so you'll even have something to do while you wile away the afternoon.

The boys looked frustrated. They looked beyond frustrated. Stymied, perhaps. The game, like the season, felt like it was swirling out of control and there was no one who could help.

Ryan Freel thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double to lead off the game. Rich Aurilia pinch grounding into that double play in the seventh. Brandon Phillips grounding out in the ninth. Jerry Narron grinning ironically as the game skittered out of his reach. The body language of these guys couldn't have advertised their frustration any more clearly if it was on a freaking billboard.

But it was the look on David Weathers' face that caught my attention. He looked like he expected (wanted?) to be taken out of the game on every pitch. I realize that I'm reading a lot into a facial expression, but I think we won't be seeing much more of Weathers, and not because the Reds are going to cut him.

That thought put my own frustration into perspective. Though Weathers couldn't come through for the Reds this evening, he's done a lot more for the team during his most recent tenure than I ever would have expected he could, and personally, I appreciate his contribution.

Meanwhile, Todd Coffey took the mound and promptly gave up a triple and a home run. The expression he wore showed that he understood that there wasn't anyone else who could rescue him. Then he settled down and got the job done. So maybe there's a little hope yet.

Nevertheless, a little help is always appreciated.