Last game
The Reds won their second tough series in a row to start the season last night. Johnny Cueto put his 6 innings of 3-run ball again Steve Strasburg’s 5.1 innings of 6-run pitching to win the rubber game against the Nationals. The offense just barely got him the win, breaking a 3-3 tie in the inning when Cueto came out of the game.

Sean Marshall finally got to make an appearance, having been unavailable before due to shoulder fatigue. Jonathon Broxton and Aroldis Chapman also put in an inning. All three of the relief innings were pointless. As in, no points were scored.

Derrick Robinson, the young guy brought up when Ryan Ludwick got hurt, got his first major league hit and got to score a run when pinch hitting for Cueto in the sixth. He got a standing ovation for that. Jay Bruce was the most productive contributor, going 2-for-5 with 3 RBI.

Next game
The Reds go to visit the Cardinals tonight. Mat Latos (RHP, 0-0, 4.05 ERA) will face off against Jaime Garcia (LHP, 1-0, 1.59 ERA). It’s one of those weird early-spring start times: first pitch at 4:15 p.m.

Above average
We’re only 6 games in to the season, but so far the Reds’ offense has been highly present. It’s a nice change of pace from last season. Here are some tidbits that jump out at me as I look at the stats:

• Todd Frazier has 9 RBI. That’s almost 30% of the teams’ total 38 runs so far. He’s also hitting .480 in 25 ABs.
• Of the 6 guys who have played in all 6 games, 3 are hitting over .300. NOT among them: Joey Votto. He’s hitting only .238. He has, however, taken 8 walks already. Even that only gets him the third highest OBP of those 6 guys.
• The one with the highest OBP is Frazier, of course. Second is Shin-Soo Choo. He’s 9-for-24 so far with 3 walks. He’s getting on base at a .516 clip. This guy has been a real boon so far.

This is awesome! And I’m sure it’s going to last.

What to say to sound smart at the water cooler
The Reds were only 3-3 after their first 2 series last year against the Marlins (2-1) and the Cardinals (1-2).