Joey Votto is clearly running away with the NL’s first base All Star position. So much so, that I think it’s easy to lose perspective. Here’s a couple facts to help increase the resolution on this number:

• Since last week’s tally, Votto has received over 1.3 million votes. The second-place vote getter has only 1.5 million votes for the entirety of the voting.
• Votto has about 3 times as many votes as the second-lace finisher, but he also has more votes than 2nd, 3rd, and 4th combined.
• If you were to try to single-handedly pull Lance Berkman into first place, it would take you 342 days of submitting one vote every 10 seconds, with no breaks for Skyline chili or sleeping.

So, I think Votto’s safe.

Brandon Phillips, on the other hand, is still lagging. He’s less than a million votes behind, but voting ends midnight Thursday. He really does deserve it, but with Tony LaRussa managing the NL team this year, he’s not likely to get in unless folks start putting in some serious clicking.

Have you done your clicking yet? All you have to do is go to MLB.com to fill out your ballot. You can vote 25 times per email address, and if you’re like me, you’ve got several email addresses, including one or two you would even give to MLB.

Tallies as of June 26, 2012:

FIRST BASE

• Joey Votto, Reds: 4,475,180
• Lance Berkman, Cardinals: 1,516,737
• Freddie Freeman, Braves: 1,462,586
• Brandon Belt, Giants: 1,291,982
• Ryan Howard, Phillies: 873,526

SECOND BASE

• Dan Uggla, Braves: 2,641,361
• Brandon Phillips, Reds: 1,870,966
• Jose Altuve, Astros: 1,479,652
• Rickie Weeks, Brewers: 1,202,051
• Omar Infante, Marlins: 1,093,119

OUTFIELD

• Matt Kemp, Dodgers: 4,118,524
• Carlos Beltran, Cardinals: 3,717,483
• Ryan Braun, Brewers: 3,168,617
• Melky Cabrera, Giants: 3,045,884
• Andre Ethier, Dodgers: 1,948,973
• Matt Holliday, Cardinals: 1,880,342
• Andrew McCutchen, Pirates: 1,685,543
• Angel Pagan, Giants: 1,613,948
• Hunter Pence, Phillies: 1,610,283
• Michael Bourn, Braves: 1,553,285
• Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies: 1,506,613
• Shane Victorino, Phillies: 1,365,023
• Jason Heyward, Braves: 1,322,217
• Jay Bruce, Reds: 1,195,031
• Martin Prado, Braves: 1,142,946

To see the tallies for the other positions, you can go to this story on MLB.com and scroll all the way to the bottom.

Boxscore

The Reds got their winning streak up to 1 last night by beating the Brewers in the first game of the series.

Oh, Mat Latos. This was a performance we really, really liked. Let’s stop worrying about proving that it was worthwhile to trade for you and just keep pitching like that, huh? In 9.0 innings of work, Latos allowed 1 run (earned) on 4 hits and 2 walks. He struck out a career-high 13, giving all the fans at GABP free pizza and ice cream. A yummy performance all around.

And if that weren’t enough, Latos brought his bat as well. He went 2-for-3, though no one could seem to bring him in. Drew Stubbs, freshly off the DL, also went 2-for-3, but he also got to score 2 of the Reds’ 3 runs. Joey Votto, though hitless on the night, scored the other run thanks to a walk in the fourth inning.

The RBI belonged to Brandon Phillips (1) and Jay Bruce (2). The Reds didn’t hit any home runs last night, but that’s how the Brewer’s got their one run. Whatever.

The win brings the Reds’ record to 40-32. Game 2 against the Brewers is tonight at 7:10 p.m. when Bronson Arroyo (3-5, 4.19 ERA) defends against Marco Estrada (0-3, 4.50 ERA).

This weekend was the big Reds’ Hall of Fame induction gala when the Reds welcomed three first basement of various eras to the hallowed halls of its HOF:

• Sean Casey played with the Reds 1998 – 2005
• Dan Driessen played with the Reds 1973 – 1984
• John Reilly played with the Reds 1880 – 1891

That last one must be the “museum” part of “Reds Hall of Fame and Museum.” I don’t know the era well enough to know whether his numbers were actually any good, but at 6’3″ in the 1880s it’s little wonder they called him “Long John.” He must have been quite a beast.

Plenty of folks had an up-close view of the gala, and it sounds like it was a zany-fun time. Check out some of these posts to help take your mind off last night’s game:

• Meggie Zahneis has a feature piece on MLB.com about the event.
• Dave at OMG Reds offers a bulleted list of observations from the gala, and a lovely picture of cake.
• The Cincinnati Reds blog on Cincinnati.com put up a list of live-tweets written while it happened.

My personal thought about the induction, though, is a little different than the others. What I notice is that if Casey were on the roster today, he wouldn’t even be the oldest one: Miguel Cairo has his beat by two months.

Boxscore

The Reds lost another heartbreaker last night 4-3.

Mike Leake was the starter for the contest. He was recently swapped in the rotation with Mat Latos, ostensibly because he’s too similar to Bronson Arroyo to have them starting back to back, and not because Latos has been pretty terrible lately. Leake put in a strong performance yesterday, allowing 2 runs (earned) on 5 hits through 8.0 innings pitched.

It was Aroldis Chapman who got the short end of this game by blowing the save in the 9th inning. He managed to strike out one, but then Joe Mauer smacked a double to left, setting up Josh Willingham to homer them both in. The Reds had the bottom of the inning to recover, but that didn’t turn out to be enough time.

On the offensive side, Wilson Valdez continues to inch his way into our hearts, but it’s still a long road, especially when he grounds out to end the game. He went 2-for-5 last night with a run scored and an RBI, which helped bring his AVG up to .237 and OBP to .244. Perhaps these are not the traditional numbers of a #2 hitter, but they’re better than almost all the starting pitchers.

The other RBI were brought in by Joey Votto who broke his 2-game hitless streak with a 2-run home run in the eighth inning. Votto was on deck when the game ended.

The loss brings the Reds’ record to 39-32. Today they begin a series with the Brewers in Cincinnati. Latos (5-2, 5.20 ERA) takes on Yovani Gallardo (6-5, 4.22 ERA). First pitch at 7:10 p.m.