I'll be helping fill up RHM's allotted space on the internet while she is dealing with her family stuff. Hopefully she'll be able to be back soon, because we all miss her already.

Luckily for me, I get to jump in while the Reds are in one of their patented sucky streaks. The good thing is that they don't tend to last more than 8 games, so we're at least half way through, right?

You'll have to excuse me, but I didn't know that I would be writing a recap when I was watching the game, so my thoughts may be vague and choppy:

• Um, the offense got manhandled last night. They managed just 4 hits and 3 walks and the quality of the performance can be summarized in just one player: Ryan Freel. Freel got on base 3 times during the night, so YAY for him right? No, because he also got picked off once and caught stealing once. For some reason, he decided not to make an out on the bases his third time on despite it being followed by consecutive 3 and 2 counts. So don't ever say that Freel never learned from his mistakes…after he made them 3 or 4 or 10 times.
• It looks like Ken Griffey Jr. is going to start hitting again, finally. Junior now has a six-game hitting streak - a streak that George Grande has surely been touting for the last 4 games. He's also hit 3 home runs in his last 6 games as well, including his 22nd of the season last night. Good thing nobody was on for it or else the Reds would have lost 5-4 and put a dent in their solid 20-12 record in 1-run games.
• Besides Freel and Griffey, the other offense on the night was provided Scott Hatteberg, who hit his 10th home run of the season giving the Reds six players who have double-digit home runs this year though one of them now plays for the Washington Nationals. The box score also says that Royce Clayton hit a home run as well, but we all know that's not possible so it must be a typo. Maybe the Dodgers' bullpen has a charity program set up much like the Reds' pen.
• Elizardo Ramirez had a typical Lizard start last night. He got beat up in one inning - this time it was the third - but otherwise held the Dodgers in check. Unfortunately in that one inning his gave up more runs than the Reds scored the rest of the night, so it didn't really work out for him. The bullpen relieved him in the fifth inning and proceeded to pitch 4.1 shutout innings. They really have a knack for pitching well when the offense sucks, don't they?
• Edwin Encarnación finally got to start again. He didn't have a hit, but he did make two shiny plays in the field. We'll give him a silver star for his sticker book for that game. And yes, he in fact does keep a sticker book. The kid has to have a hobby while he's sitting on the bench 2 out of every 3 games.
• Adam Dunn pulled the golden sombrero last night by striking out four times against the Dodgers. I hear he also gets free fried ice cream from Chi Chi's as well. MMMMMMM.

That's all for that game. The Reds take on the Dodgers tonight as they try not to get their asses swept at home. Game time is 7:10pm ET as Greg Maddux (9-11, 4.69) makes his first start as a Dodger against Eric Milton (7-6, 5.37). Let's win at least one against these stupid Dodgers!