The final two games of the series with the Astros, George Grande was very clear about the fact that, though Thom Brennaman would be taking over in the FSNO booth for the weekend series with the Rockies, he (George) would be back in full effect for the series with the Cardinals starting tomorrow. I wonder whether he actually worked that into his contract.

Tomorrow the Reds start a series with the Cardinals, sending out ace Aaron Harang against one Todd Wellemeyer (whom I thought I'd never heard of, but I was just able to come up with his first name without looking, so maybe he's actually a part of our collective consciousness after all). The Cardinals, sad as they are, are currently holding the second spot in the NLC with a 24-30 record, just 6.5 games back from the lofty Brewers.

The Brewers, who have also fallen back to earth a touch, just can't keep up with the bowl-circling being done by the rest of the division. The Cubs, as bad as they are at 23-31 are keeping in the race at third, and the perennially miserable Pirates are fourth at 24-44. Houston has made a superb nosedive lately to come in fifth at 23-33, followed only by our beloved Reds at 22-36.

Wow. Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey, Jr. and Ryan Freel and Bronson Arroyo are 22-36. Josh Hamilton and Brandon Phillips and the Latin Love Machine are 22-36. How is this team less than the sum of its parts?

But worry not, because the Reds are doing something again that will utterly fail to address the actual problems of the team: bringing up Homer Bailey. I haven't hear anyone saying that he's really ready to go, so I can just assume that this is a desperate attempt to look like they're doing something--anything--to improve the team without all that pesky actually improving the team. But I guess it can't hurt too much; at least Bailey won't have the pressure to win.

I hope, though, that he will have the support of George Grande. I know how his loyalties are divided when it comes to the Cards.

Don't forget: series with the Cardinals are our traditional time for smack talk with Ms. Bellyscratcher. I haven't heard from her lately, but I know she's out there, just waiting to make a comment about the size of Dunn's head.

There's nothing official about it on the Reds' official site yet, but Brad Salmon and DeWayne Wise are no longer listed on the active roster there, and I'm seeing reports that they've been sent down and that Josh Hamilton and Todd Coffey have been called up from Louisville and will join the team in St. Louis tomorrow for the game against the Cardinals.

Those are the facts. Want an opinion? Hamilton coming back is a good thing. Coffey, I'm not so sure about.

This is an off day for the Reds, so there's no game thread and not much else to do except perform the cyber equivalent of standing in the front window waiting to exclaim “Mama's home!” when RHM returns to resume command of this particular corner of the World Wide Web. Until then, I'm going to go play with the two new radios I bought Saturday and hope that Homer Bailey doesn't live up to his name this coming weekend (Homer, what an ironic name for a pitcher to have) unless it's with a bat in his hands.

John, KC2HMZ
No Subsitute for the Real RHM

Rodrigo Lopez starts for the Rockies. He hasn't pitched against the Reds since 2005, and has an 8.53 ERA in two career starts against them.

Matt Belisle goes for the Reds, making his first career start at Coors Field. Belisle made one previous career start against the Rockies, on May 4, allowing five runs and nine hits in six innings in a game the Reds eventually won, 6-5, in 11 innings.

Your starting lineups for this afternoon's game follow:

REDS

Norris Hopper, lf
Scott Hatteberg, 1b
Ken Griffey, rf
Edwin Encarnación, 3b
Alex Gonzalez, ss
DeWayne Wise. cf
Juan Castro, 2b
Chad Moeller, c
Matt Belisle, p

ROCKIES

Willy Taveras, cf
Kazuo Matsui, 2b
Matt Holliday, lf
Todd Helton, 1b
Garrett Atkins, 3b
Brad Hawpe, rf
Yorvit Torrealba, c
Jamey Carroll, ss
Rodrigo Lopez, p

I'm about to go incommunicado again, this time for a family trip to Cedar Point. I hope that you enjoyed my one day of posting as much as I did. I may have access from the hotel, but worst-case scenario you'll be hearing from me again on Monday.

In the meantime, HMZ is in charge. Be nice to him or I won't bring you back any souvenirs.

XOXO,
Red Hot Mama