Those socks equal wins for the last two days. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

Mat Latos was completely awesome in this 2-1 win over the Cardinals. The RBI belonged to Joey Votto, who was 2-for-4 on the night, and Xavier Paul, who managed to get an RBI without getting a hit all night.

Next game
Tonight Bronson Arroyo (RHP, 2-2, 4.24 ERA) tries to keep it going against the Cardinals when he takes on Jaime Garcia (LHP, 2-1, 2.89 ERA). First pitch at 8:15 p.m.

The Reds are currently .5 games behind the Pirates and 0 games behind the Cards but they have a 0.004 winning percentage disadvantage. A Reds win tonight would catapult the Reds from third to first if it’s paired with a loss for the Pirates. The Pirates face a slightly easier foe in the Brewers at 8:10 p.m.

Hal McCoy profile on MLB Network
Tuesday, April 30 (today) | 6 p.m. ET | MLB Network

The MLB Network will be airing a profile of Reds’ beat writer for the Dayton Daily News, Hal McCoy. Specifically, it’s about his interaction with his driver, Ray Snedgar, whom he hired to drive him to each game since he’s now legally blind. Snedgar is a 31-year US Air Force veteran and recent widower, so these are a couple guys who have seen some things. From the PR:

This feature continues their story by following McCoy and Snedegar on their drives to and from Great American Ballpark for two days earlier this month. MLB Network equipped Snedegar’s car with two wallet-sized GoPro cameras over the roundtrip drives to give insight into their daily routine, how McCoy now watches a baseball game (at one point in the feature, McCoy says that he has not seen a home run land since 2003), and how revered McCoy is by Reds players, manager Dusty Baker and fans as he and Snedegar walk through the ballpark before and after games.

Tune in tonight at 6 p.m. for a different perspective on the game. You don’t have anything to watch until 8:15 anyway.

What to say to sound smart at the water cooler
Go over to Red Reporter to read the roundtable responses to the question of what to do about left field. That will give you up to 5 potentially smart-sounding things to say about left field when you’re chatting with coworkers.

Look, man, it’s not them; it’s you. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Last game
The Reds began a visit with the Washington Nationals on the wrong foot yesterday, losing 1-8. They left Bronson Arroyo out there for 6.0 innings, even though the 6 runs (5 earned) he allowed came in the second and third innings. I guess they figured there was plenty of time to make it up?

But that would require the offense to be present, and the Reds offense has been away on holiday lately. The Reds’ only run came from a solo shot by Joey Votto in the fourth inning. Hell, that was the Reds’ only HIT.

Also, the Reds had two errors. Blerg.

Next game
Tonight Homer Bailey (RHP, 1-1, 3.24 ERA) tries to make up for the disastrophe that was last night’s game when he faces off against Jordan Zimmermann (RHP, 3-1, 2.67 ERA). Bailey is coming off a no-decision against the Marlins last Sunday, while Zimmermann’s coming off a loss to the Mets.

A bad day? Or something more?
I didn’t have the stomach to watch most of last night’s game for myself. It’s just too eerie to hear cheers going up for those guys in the doppelganger uniforms at exactly the opposite times as when I would cheer. It’s like slipping into a parallel dimension or something.

But I did see some, and I wondered whether this was really just a combination of Badroyo making an appearance, the offense playing hide-and-seek, and the defense having a bad day. Could it really be a perfect storm, or are the Nationals just a superior team? After all, they do have a barely-legal who’s hitting better than Votto (OBP’s not even close, but we all know Votto’s not paid to get on base) and they were picked by ESPN to win the World Series this year.

On the other hand, the Nats were under .500 coming in to this series (10-11), and the Reds can take credit for pinning 2 of those losses on the Nationals in the first week of the season. And though the season record between these two teams is now even, the Reds still outscored them 28-18 in the four games they’ve played so far. Also, it’s April.

What to say to sound smart at the water cooler
Of the last 12 times the Reds have played the Nationals, 5 of the games went into extras.