Boxscore

Last night, the Reds won their second in a row against the Padres.

Bronson Arroyo had a little trouble on the mound, but he manned his way through 6.0 innings to give the bullpen a break last night. He allowed 4 runs (earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks. Then came the parade of once and future closers: Sean Marshall pitched the seventh, Jonathan Broxton pitched the eighth, and Aroldis Chapman took the ninth. Only Chapman allowed so much as a hit.

The offense is hurting. Joey Votto isn’t quite back from arthroscopic knee surgery. Brandon Phillips wasn’t in the line-up due to a calf injury. Devin Mesoraco is on the 7-day DL with a concussion. But apparently none of that matters if you’ve got Ryan Ludwick.

Ludwick owned 4 of the Reds’ 6 RBI. In the first he hit a 2-run home run to take the lead, in the fifth he singled in Jay Bruce to retake the lead, and in the seventh he was party to some really poor baserunning that, nontheless, brought in the insurance run.

Honorable mention goes to Drew Stubbs, who was 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.

The win brings the Reds record to 63-41. They’ve won more than 60% of their games. How crazy is that? This afternoon they finish the series with the Padres. Johnny Cueto (RHP, 13-5, 2.39 ERA) takes on Ross Ohlendorf (RHP, 3-1, 5.05 ERA). First pitch at 12:35 p.m.