Last Game
Joey Votto, who’d been struggling for the entirety of the San Francisco Giants series, came through when it mattered most yesterday, driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 8th. This gave King Arthur Rhodes, he of the 0.33 ERA, the win, and by some miracle, Francisco Cordero pitched a perfect 9th for the save. The win gave the Reds an additional half-game lead on the idle St. Louis Cardinals.

Next Game
Interleague play returns as the Kansas City Royals come to town for the first of three. Bronson Arroyo hopes to continue the Reds’ modest 2-game winning streak alive, while the Royals will send out Luke Hochevar. Game-time is 7:10pm EDT.

Masset Battling Balls and Boos
Hal McCoy has a nice little article on struggling reliever Nick Masset. With his 7.27 ERA, he’s definitely had a rough year. Certainly nothing compared to his 2.37 effort last year.

“I haven’t been attacking hitters like I used to do,” he said. “I need to get ahead in the count and work off that because I know I’m a deadly pitcher when I’m ahead in the count. Then I can go where I want from there – attack them any which way.”

If he could execute that during live-game situations and pitch closer to the 2009 version, many of the Reds bullpen problems would vanish.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The last time the Reds were in first place this late in the season was way back in June 17, 2002. That Bob Boone-led team went on to finish 78-84.