Boxscore

The Reds lost last night, which isn’t news. The news is that Edinson Volquez had a second consecutive less-than-stellar start. His chances of starting the All Star game are fading, while his chances of garnering the nickname Edinson “Jack Armstrong” Volquez are increasing.

Brandon Phillips was the human highlight reel for the Reds, going 3-5 with a home run and 4 RBI. It wasn’t enough, though, because David Weathers was pitching.

The Pirates took their final lead off of Weathers in the 11th, getting 2 runs off of him, which was just enough to not give it up in the bottom of the inning. Not that they didn’t try. Cincinnati scored one in the bottom of the 11th and had a chance to tie it, but thankfully for the Pirates, Corey Patterson “plays” for the Reds.

Boxscore

The Astros played hard but fell to the Dodgers thanks to the slugging of a former Astro.

No, it wasn’t that one, that one, or even that one. It was Jeff Kent who provided the fireworks in the top of the 11th when he hit a solo home run off of Wesley Wright.

Wandy Rodriguez struggled mightily with his control, having no luck either curving or breaking his balls. Rodriguez gave up 5 runs in 5 innings.

Houston had plenty of offense for a change, with Ty Wiggington leading the charge. But the bullpen couldn’t keep LA off the board. If only the Astros still had Shawn Chacon. His 5 ERA surely would have helped matters.