Last Game
Donald Lutz got his first big league home run with some style yesterday. His 3-run dinger in the second inning put the Reds on the path for a 1-5 win and a series sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.
The win gave the Reds a 4-2 homestand and puts their record at 22-16. Even that is only good enough for second place in the NLC, though, where the Cardinals have 1 more win and 3 fewer losses. And it only puts the Reds half a game up on the Pirates.
We knew the Central was going to be tougher this year with the departure of the Astros, but this is more contentious than I anticipated.
Next game
The Reds have today off, which is good because they’ve still played more games than anyone else in the division. After today, though, the Cubs and Pirates should have caught up, while the Brewers and Cardinals will still have played a game fewer.
Tomorrow the Reds go to visit the downtrodden Miami Marlins. The Marlins have half as many wins so far this season as the Reds, so it may be a good opportunity to put some distance between the good guys and everyone else.
Cueto is soon to be off the bench and back on the mound if this rehab start goes well.
Johnny Cueto pitched his first rehab start with the class-A Dayton Dragons on Thursday. He went 3.0 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 0 walks. He struck out 4.
Now, you’d think an ace like Cueto wouldn’t be allowing runs to single-Aers, but I suppose that’s not really the point of a rehab start. He felt good enough that they’ve scheduled him a second trip to the mound in Dayton. Tomorrow he’ll again face West Michigan with the Dragons.
As of this writing, there were 12 seats still available to choose through the Dragons’ website, so if you want to go, act fast.
What to say to sound smart at the water cooler
The Reds lead all of baseball in home wins. They are 16-6 when they play at home.