Before I go to be -- I mean, go out partying with my wild party girl friends, I'd like to give out a few quick kudos:

• Congrats to the Reds who, after their win and Pittsburgh's loss, are now a whole game out of last place.
• Congrats to Little Eddie on his first major league home run. I'm loving the new hair.
• Congrats to Adam Dunn on his two home runs tonight. And he did it without the benefit of a cutesy nickname from RHM. Impressive.
• Congrats to Luke Hudson who wasn't too bad over five innings and got the win. Good job Love Shackleford, Matt Belisle, and Randy Keisler, too.

And a few quick other things:

• As much as I hate to say it, Randa actually looks pretty good in blue.
• I'm not an anti-Aurilite, but sometimes I just wish he wouldn't open his mouth. Rich, honey, don't do this. Your words can alienate your team and fans, but they can't make demand for your services materialize out of thin air.
• It's been over two weeks since I've gotten to do any smack talking, and the Reds don't play the Cardinals again until the middle of September. But I think I've come up with a new, totally unexpected target for my smack. Tune in tomorrow to see if I go through with it.

Great game tonight. I look forward to seeing more tomorrow. If I've recovered from my partying, that is.

Go Reds!