With two weeks remaining of All-Star voting, only he of the spectacular plays and active Twitter life, Brandon Phillips is leading the voting in his position. Now, while Phillips is all manner of spectacular, but this line-up ought to be loaded with deserving Reds starters. Consider Joey Votto; consider Jay Bruce; hell, consider Paul Janish. Credit where credit is due.

Of course, there is the part of me that wants Pujols to win to drive up his price for whatever sucker team signs him next season, especially since that will probably be the Cardinals.

But that’s consolation prize talk. There are still 2 weeks of voting to send our boys to the game properly. So get out there and vote! Your 25 ballots per email address do make a difference.

Boxscore

Two Sweeps in Two Days

A day after the Cincinnati Reds swept the Los Angeles Dodgers, the St. Louis Cardinals were swept by the Washington Nationals. It’s been a good few days to be a Reds fan.

What’s interesting is that the Cardinals failed to win in three different ways. In the first game against the Nationals, the bullpen was the culprit after a solid start. Then yesterday, the Cardinals pitching and offense both failed to show up at the park and they lost by the 10-run rule: 10-0.

Today, a third way to lose: the walk-off home run.

Kyle Lohse started and wasn’t very good, allowing 4 runs in 6 innings. But the offense was present enough to keep the game close. In the 9th, the Cardinals tied it on a solo shot by Yadier Molina to send the game into extras.

And in the very first extra inning–the 10th–current Cardinals closer Fernando Salas gave up a 3-run home run to Danny Espinosa for the Washington win.

St. Louis has now lost 6 games in a row and are 3-7 in their last 10. Their wonderful skid has seen them plummet from first place. They are one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers and one game ahead of the Reds.

Like I said, it’s been a good few days to be a Reds fan.