Here at Red Hot Mama, we've always been about a little ironic laughter. After all: there's no crying in baseball, just bitter, caustic sarcasm.

So, with that in mind, I'm pleased to present the silver linings to the clouds in this shit-storm Reds fans have been weathering lately.

1. Matt Belisle's ERA went down tonight, all the way to 3.45.
2. The Reds can only lose one more game to the Astros this week.
3. After tomorrow, the games will be on too late to have to watch.
4. With two more errors tonight, Edwin Encarnación keeps dragging down his own trade value.
5. Placing Eric Milton on the DL will give some young, fresh-faced buck the chance he's always dreamed of: to be the next hard-luck loser.

The Reds made room for Jared Burton, who was coming off the DL, by putting Eric Milton on the DL. From Reds.com:

The Reds placed starting pitcher Eric Milton on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left elbow on Wednesday.

Reliever Jared Burton was recalled from his injury rehabilitation assignment and was reinstated from the 15-day DL. Burton had been out since April 8 with a strained left hamstring.

Milton gave up four earned runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings in Tuesday's 7-6 loss to the Astros.

“He just went in after the game and complained about it a little bit,” Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky said. “As a precaution, we had the MRI at Dr. Kremchek's.”

I'd love for someone to come up on Sunday and make an impact, though--as we've said before--Milton hasn't actually been all that horrible.

Yet more from the same story:

Milton is 0-4 with a 5.17 ERA in six starts this season. The team did not announce a replacement starter for Sunday's game at Los Angeles, but Krivsky said he was considering pitchers on the current staff or looking to Triple-A Louisville. While lefties Phil Dumatrait and Bobby Livingston are performing well at Louisville and are on the 40-man roster, this could be an opening to promote top pitching prospect Homer Bailey.

Baily? Really? Is there yet a person out there who's been willing to say he's ready? I mean, don't we have enough high hopes turned to disappointments already?