Boxscore

All good things must come to an end, and that applied to the Cincinnati Reds’ winning streak yesterday. Despite sending out their best starter against a Colorado Rockies team that hasn’t been very good this year, the Reds lost, ending the streak at 6.

Johnny Cueto started and had his second bad start out of his last three. Hopefully it’s not a harbinger of things to come. Last night, he allowed 5 runs in 4 2/3 innings. There was nothing good about that.

The bullpen took over and were scoreless the rest of the game until the 9th, when Jose Arredondo coughed up a run. Other than that, J. J. Hoover and Alfredo Simon were very good. Simon, after a rough start to the season, has come on strong lately. His 2 innings of scoreless relief last night brought his ERA down to 2.04.

Despite the effectiveness of the bullpen, the 5 runs allowed by Cueto was too much for the offense. They scored just 3 runs, all in the 4th, which tied the game at 3. Unfortunately, Cueto gave up 2 more runs in the very next inning, and the Reds never touched home plate again.

The Reds’ 3 runs came from something the Reds haven’t done lately: stringing hits together. Joey Votto led off with a single–1 of his 4 hits on the day. Brandon Phillips singled before Chris Heisey made an out. Then Ryan Ludwick doubled off the right-field wall to score Votto. Then Todd Frazier tied it by driving in Phillips and Ludwick.

The Reds do keep their place in first for another day, despite the loss. The St. Louis Cardinals dropped one in extras to the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Reds start their next winning streak tonight at 7:15pm EDT when the Rockies send out Jeremy Guthrie to face Mike Leake.

Boxscore

First place, bitches!

That’s right. The Cincinnati Reds won for the 6th time in a row last night, sweeping the four game series against the Atlanta Braves. And thanks to the St. Louis Cardinals losing 10-9 against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Reds moved into sole possession of first place by half a game.

Boy, this team is playing well right now. The pitching is awesome, the defense is awesome, and the hitting is…getting the job done.

Homer Bailey started and turned in a better-than-quality start. He pitched 6 innings of 2-run baseball, striking out 6 along the way.

The game was scoreless until the 4th when Todd Frazier doubled in Chris Heisey. But the very next inning, Bailey gave up the lead thanks to a 2-run shot from Michael Bourne. The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the 6th when rookie catcher Devin Mesoraco came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit his first career grand slam home run. That gave the Reds a lead they wouldn’t give up, as well as Bailey’s 3rd win.

The bullpen trio of Sam LeCure, Sean Marshall, and Logan Ondrusek closed the game out. Ondrusek made it interesting in the 9th when he allowed 2 hits to bring former Red Juan Francisco to the plate as the potential tying run. But a sharp grounder to Joey Votto at first base lead to a nice double play to end the game.

The Reds continue their homestand when the Colorado Rockies come to town tonight. Johnny Cueto will go against Christian Friedrich at 7:10pm EDT.

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds have a winning streak. Sure, it might end with their next game, but right now, they’ve won 4 games in a row for their longest such streak of 2012. The streak has also pushed them to their best record: 23-19, 4 games over .500.

Tonight Mat Latos turned in another fine outing to pick up his 3rd win. If he can pitch like this on a regular basis, the 2012 Reds are going to look very good. Over 7 innings, Latos allowed 5 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs. Oh, and he struck out 8. A very impressive night.

The offense was impressive, too. The Atlanta Braves sent out Brandon Beachy to start, he of the lowest ERA in the majors. Probably not any more, not after the Reds connected for 3 home runs and 4 runs off of him.

Brandon Phillips had a multi-home run game, hitting a 2-run shot in the 1st and a solo shot in the 4th. Zack Cozart contributed his own solo home run off Beachy in the 3rd.

That was all the offense the Reds got, and it was all they needed, thanks to Latos, Logan Ondrusek, and new closer Aroldis Chapman. I’ve written about how I think the Reds are mishandling Chapman, but even I can admit that Chapman’s likely to be very, very good in that game finishing role. He was against the Braves last night when he picked up his second save. His line? 1 inning, 2 strikeouts, no hits, and no runs. And lots of pitches at 100 miles per hour. He’s so much fun to watch. And clearly, that arrest had no affect on his ability.

The Reds play the third of four against the Braves today at 7:10pm EDT. Tommy Hanson will start against Bronson Arroyo.

Apparently, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman can’t drive 55.

Police said Chapman, 24, was pulled over for speeding in a black 2010 Mercedes S63 on Interstate 71 North near Interstate 270 at about 12:42 a.m.

Chapman was arrested after the officer discovered he had a suspended Kentucky driver’s license, according to a police report.

Chapman was released on bond and has a court date scheduled for June 6. He has already discussed his situation with the Reds, including general manager Walt Jocketty and manager Dusty Baker.

It may feel like it’s been a while since the Reds have had a player arrested, but the most recent one was just last year on April 17, 200 when Mike Leake was arrested for shoplifting. Along with Leake, Chapman joins the illustrious ranks of former arrested Reds Daniel Ray Herrera, Brian “Love” Shackleford, and Ryan “Farney” Freel who gave us two wonderful mug shots.

Boxscore

Mike Leake turned in his best outing of 2012 for the Cincinnati Reds last night, and it’s a good thing, too. With a record of 0-5 and an ERA of 6.21 heading into the game, Leake was decidedly the Reds’ worst starter. Leake responded by going 8 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits, a walk, and 6 strikeouts. And he lowered his ERA to a much more respectable 5.32.

In addition to picking up his first win, Leake also picked up his first career home run. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 4th inning, Leake came to the plate against his rival, Mike Minor, and launched a solo shot to left-center field to break a 1-1 tie. The next batter, Zack Cozart, hit a solo shot to the exact same spot in left-center. It was so much the same spot that it was caught by the same fan as Leake’s. The fan was even brought up into the broadcast booth to be tortured by Thom Brennaman’s voice. After that, Drew Stubbs hit his second shot of the game to make it a back-to-back-to-back inning and give the Reds a 4-1 lead they would not relinquish.

After Leake pitched the 8th, Jose Arredondo was brought out to close out the game. He started off well, getting the first two outs on a fly out and a strikeout. But then he lost the strike zone, and walked the next two batters. Manager Dusty Baker has shown he has a short string with his relievers lately, and last night was no exception.

Baker brought in Sean Marshall, who closed out the game and picked up his 8th save. Not bad for a guy who just lost the closer’s job.

Today, Mat Latos will try again to make it past the 5th inning when he starts against Brandon Beachy. The first pitch is 7:10pm EDT.