C. Trent has the line-ups for today's game:

Reds
Alex Gonzalez SS
Scott Hatteberg 1B
Brandon Phillips 2B
Adam Dunn LF
Edwin Encarnación 3B
Josh Hamilton CF
Jeff Conine RF
David Ross C
Aaron Harang RHP

Braves
Kelly Johnson 2B
Pete Orr 3B
Jeff Francoeur RF
Matt Diaz LF
Doug Clark CF
Scott Thorman 1B
Brayan Pena C
Tony Pena SS
Buddy Carlyle P

Looks pretty close to what the Reds are going to be running out there on a semi-regular basis this season. C. Trent also says that the Reds who have been hurtin'--Ryan Freel, Bubba Crosby, Elizardo Ramirez, Bill Bray, and maybe Gary Majewski--ought to be available by Wednesday.

It's my brother-in-law's birthday party today, so I'll miss at least part of the game in favor of cake and ice cream, but if anyone's feeling like commenting on the game here, I'd love to read what you have to say.

Kyle Lohse was the story yesterday as the Reds beat the Red Sox 2-1.

Lohse went five innings and allowed zero runs on three hits. He struck out three. Now, I'm not one to get all excited over one spring training start, but YIPEE!! I'd love to see Eric Milton pushed down to the fourth starter. He'd be pretty good for a fourth starter. Overpaid to be sure, but what are you going to do?

Dustin Hermanson pitched a hitless sixth. Jon Coutlangus gave up two hits in a scoreless seventh. Jared Burton allowed Alex Ochoa to cross the plate in the eighth for the Sox' one run. Victor Santos got the save in the ninth with a hitless inning, including a K.

When the Red Sox face the Reds, I'm interested to know how ol' Wily Mo Peña is doing. Yesterday he went 2-for-3 with a double. How nice for him.

On the Reds' side, Chris Denorfia scored both of the Reds' runs. The first one was a homer to lead off the game. The second came in the third inning when Adam Dunn knocked him in. Deno was also the only Red with more than one hit. Also very nice for him.

The win brings the Reds' spring training record to 13-3. Damn I hope they can keep this going into the season. Today Aaron Harang and the Reds host the Atlanta Braves.

The Most Valuable Network has landed a new celebrity blogger to write about the Reds in Shawn Weaver at Redlegs Rundown. If you spend any amount of time reading Reds blogs, you're certainly already familiar with Shawn's work over at Cincinnati Reds Blog, since it's been there about forever. One benefit of the Redlegs Rundown blog, though, is that you can see the titles of the entries. Which is nice, because Shawn writes some pretty good titles.

So, I made sure to check out the Reds preview on Deadspin when it came out on Monday, and my exact quote to the CTS was, “it was awful. I didn't read any of the other previews, so I don't know how it compared, but if they were all that bad, I don't know why anyone would go to Deadspin.”

Apparently I'm in the minority, though, because JD and RLN both called it “entertaining” and the commenters on the entry on Deadspin entirely failed to call it the stupidest piece of crap they've read all year.

Nothing against Clay Travis of Claynation, of course. I'm sure he's a hell of a guy. He just wrote a stinker of a preview. Case in point:

1. It's hard not to be optimistic when Bronson Arroyo is one of your two staff aces. Wait, did I just write that? Was Rick Mahler not available anymore? Can we get Jose Rijo back? Arroyo has never won more than 14 games in a season. And while he and Aaron Harang are not a bad one-two punch, you get the feeling both guys would rather be doing back-up vocals for a band at Bonnaroo.

How is it even possible to throw around the phrase “two staff aces” and then act like it's a bad thing? And how lazy is it to make fun of Harang because of Arroyo's music? Jeez, if you're going to blast the Reds pitching because of their hobbies, at least personalize the bashing. There's an ocean of material RE Todd Coffey and Star Trek.

Or this gem:

3. Twenty-year-old pitching phenom Homer Bailey is waiting in the wings. Which is important. Because evidently the Reds are building their team around pitching now. This makes sense. Especially with a cavernous ballpark like Great American where no runs are ever scored. Wait, that's not the case. This makes zero sense.

Remember the part where I said “Nothing against Clay Travis” a few paragraphs ago? Yeah, never mind. The minute you say pitching isn't important unless you play in a big ballpark is the minute you've lost all credibility in anything you write about baseball.

The worst of all:

5. Will Griffey Jr. be willing to make the move to right field? Will he recover from a nasty Bahamian family-wrestling match that resulted in a broken left wrist? As is par for the course since his return to Cincy, questions loom. What's almost certain is that he won't play in more than 145 games. Since he hasn't yet in seven seasons with the Reds. And that he'll still have buckteeth.

My initial response to this paragraph is full of ranting and expletives. But I'd like to be constructive here, so maybe a little education is in order. A “buck”is a male rabbit (it's also a disparaging term for a black man, but I'm praying that's not what the author was getting at). “Buckteeth” are teeth like a rabbit's. Griffey does not have buckteeth.

A “hare” is also a rabbit. “Harebrained” is a word that comes to mind after reading this Reds preview. I'll let you look that one up yourself.

The East Valley Tribune mentions the Reds today in the D-Backs Notebook under the subheading More Jorge:

Asked if he wants to be a closer, Julio has a one-word answer: “Yeah.”

Yet Julio, a part-time closer for the D-Backs last season but behind Jose Valverde this spring, said he is not fazed by reports that teams in need of a closer – Florida, San Francisco, Cincinnati – have scouted him this spring.

“I don’t care. I play baseball. I want to play baseball. It is just a rumor,” Julio said.

The D-Backs have scouted Florida and could have an interest in Marlins’ 22-year-old right-hander Yusmeiro Petit, obtained by the Marlins from the Mets two years ago. Petit struggled in the Marlins’ bullpen last season, his first in the majors, but has a strong minor league track record.

The D-Backs will not pay any of Julio’s $3.6 million salary this season if traded, making Cincinnati an unlikely trading partner.

I'm glad to hear that the Reds are still checking out their options, though the bullpen situation doesn't seem too bad to me. I'm a little baffled by the author's assertion that the price tag would take the Reds out of the equation. Florida is another of the listed teams, after all. Personally, I've known the Reds to spend way too much for relief pitching.

In other news, Rheal Cormier's name comes up in a story in this morning's Seattle Times Newspaper. JJ Putz is suffering elbow stiffness, and the author is nonplused about the prospect of bringing Cormier in as a stopgap:

The names that have been linked to those teams in trade rumors include San Francisco's Armando Benitez, Arizona's Jorge Julio, San Diego's Scott Linebrink, Washington's Chad Cordero and Texas' Akinori Otsuka. Other pitchers who could be available are Rheal Cormier and Byung-Hyun Kim, neither of whom are too inspiring.

I'm not sure what the Mariners would have to offer in exchange for Cormier anyway, since the Reds are in a position to buy, not sell, pitching right now. I imagine Krivsky is on the lookout for a lefty outfielder. Or they could flash that $3.6 million and get Julio. We could probably be convinced to part with Cormier for that.