You'd never know it by the final score, but the Reds took home a nail-biter this afternoon when they beat the Cubs 2-5 to take two of the three in the opening series of 2007.

Why in the heck the Reds' offense had so much trouble with Jason Marquis I'll never understand, but the Cubs were similarly unsuccessful with Kyle Lohse on the mound for the Reds. Though he did give up 10 hits and a walk in his six and a third, he allowed only two runs (earned).

The parade of relievers that followed included Victor Santos for two outs, Rheal Cormier, Kirk Saarloos, and Mike Stanton for an out apiece, and David “Inclement” Weathers for the final inning and the save. None of them gave up so much as a hit. Theoretically, a reliever would approach his true ERA as his pitch count approached infinity. Perhaps manager Jerry Narron thinks he'll get luckier keeping these guys as far from infinity as possible.

On the offensive side, only Scott Hatteberg contributed a home run; the 2-run insurance number in the eighth inning after Edwin Encarnación walked. My brother called today and told me that Hatteberg is 37. Does he look that old? I think I would have guessed 32. In any event, it takes some of the steam out of making fun of Jeff Conine's age.

Speaking of, Conine also contributed an RBI today, as did EdE. Everyone's got to contribute.

The win brings the Reds' record to 2-1 and puts them in a tie for second place in the division over the Pirates who swept Houston. They're going to get cold quite tomorrow, though, when they come up against one Mr. Matt Belisle at 7:10 p.m. He's been overlooked as a starter for a couple years, and he's ready to take it out on some swashbucklers.

For the Cubbie perspective, check out The View from the Bleachers.

I'm sneaking in a game thread from work, so there won't be any commentary on the line-up construction. I'll leave that to you guys. C. Trent has the line-ups for us.

The Cubbies
Alfonso Soriano CF
Matt Murton LF
Derrek Lee 1B
Aramis Ramirez 3B
Jacque Jones RF
Michael Barrett C
Mark DeRosa 2B
Cesar Isturis SS
Jason Marquis P

Your Redlegs
Ryan Freel CF
Adam Dunn LF
Brandon Phillips 2B
Ken Griffey Jr. RF
Edwin Encarnación 3B
Scott Hatteberg 1B
Alex Gonzalez SS
Javier Valentín C
Kyle Lohse P

The Reds hot streak was sapped by the cold streak tonight when they dropped the second game of the season to the Cubs, 1-4.

Bronson Arroyo pitched seven innings, and was excellent for about three of them. Other than getting himself into trouble in the fourth and allowing two runs on a botched defensive play and running out of gas at the end of his tenure, Arroyo was adequate. He would end up allowing four runs (earned) on eight hits.

After Arroyo, Mike Stanton got an out, and it only took him one walk to get it. Todd Coffey finished out the eighth, and allowed a hit but no runs. Jared Burton was crummy in his major league debut, walking three on his path to one out. Victor Santos put in a strong performance to finish out the ninth.

Ryan Freel scored the Reds' one run on a hit to the wall by Adam Dunn. Like several Reds' hits tonight, it looked like it should have been out of the park, but nothing was carrying this evening. This offense could be quite scary come the middle of May, but till then, Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr., and Arroyo were the only ones to notch hits against Ted Lilly.

The loss brings the Reds' record to 1-1. Tomorrow, the Reds send Kyle Lohse into battle against Jason Marquis at 12:35 p.m. I'm liking Lohse's chances.

For the Cubs perspective, see View from the Bleachers.

Today, Red Hot Mama turns 2, and though I post under that same name, I really think of her as her own separate entity, complete with her own stages of development. And like a child of that same age, RHM sometimes drives me crazy, sometimes keeps me up at night, but always has a special place in my heart.

That being the case, I've gotten her a little birthday card. Enjoy!

Finally, the off-day is over and baseball is back. It's even in the evening time, so I can watch on t.v. Too bad the t.v.'s in a different room from the computer these days.

For the Cubs:
Soriano - CF
Jones - RF
Lee - 1B
Ramirez - 3B
Floyd - LF
Barrett - C
DeRosa - 2B
Izturis - SS
Lilly - P

And Now…Your Cincinnati Reds
Ryan Freel - CF
Brandon Phillips - 2B
Adam Dunn - LF
Edwin Encarnación - 3B
Ken Griffey, Jr. - RF
Jeff Conine - 1B
Alex Gonzalez - SS
David Ross - C
Bronson Arroyo - P

Dunn's out of the two-hole, apparently because Griffey's dropped to fifth. Gotta love Narron's inability to leave the line-up alone!

Hey, today's a special day: Red Hot Mama is 2! More on that later, but let's win one for the birthday girl, fellas.

Go Reds!