Last Game
Swept. Two series ago, the Reds swept the Indians while playing in Cincinnati. Yesterday, they gave up the trifecta to the Indians in Cleveland, and didn’t even look good doing it.

The final score was 1-8, and the only solace the Reds can take is that they would have lost only 1-5 if not for the most blatant missed call of the decade in the 7th inning. Frankly, that’s not very good solace.

I’m disgusted and already tired of talking about it. Moving on…

Next Game
The Reds have the day off today before starting up a series against the Twins on Friday. Homer Bailey (5-4, 4.03 ERA) takes on Nick Blackburn (3-4, 7.48 ERA). The Twins are sporting a 27-40 record right now, so the Reds had better put the hurt on them.

Worth Watching (even if it doesn’t feel like it right now)
The July 14 game between the Reds and the Cardinals has been selected for national broadcast. Since FS Ohio can no longer air it, they’re picking up the day game on June 27 instead. So, if you have access to a t.v. next Wednesday, you can use it to get a little mid-day baseball fix.

If it seems like this is happening a lot lately, there’s good reason. The Reds television ratings are among the top 3 teams in MLB: the Cardinals, Tigers, and Reds are all within 0.1 rating point of each other.

With numbers like those, the Reds might consider renegotiating their television contract. Gotta pay Votto.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
While Scott Rolen is an important veteran presence on the the Reds, he is not the oldest player on the roster. Born April 4, 1975, he is 11 months younger than Miguel Cairo, born May 4, 1974.

Last Game
The Reds lost a heartbreaker last night to the Cleveland Indians, 2-3. It was tied at 1 since the fourth inning but the Reds managed to squeak a run in in the top of the tenth, just under the tag and everything. But then, a story that’s becoming all too familiar: Aroldis Chapman blew the save. He gave up a walk-off 2-run home run to deliver the game into the Indians’ win column.

Next Game
The series finishes up tonight at 7:05 p.m. in Cleveland. Bronson Arroyo (3-4, 3.84 ERA) takes on Justin Masterson (3-6, 4.38 ERA). Both pitchers are coming off pretty good outings, but Arroyo has been giving up too many home runs.

The final game of the series will determine whether the Reds win or tie the Battle for Ohio. Tonight’s game will be played by two first-place teams, as the Indians’ just overtook the ALE from the Chicago White Sox.

Inside the park HR for Phillips?
In Monday’s game against Cleveland, Brandon Phillips hit a ball into left-field that took a bad bounce off the wall for Johnny Damon and Phillips came all the way home. The play was scored an double with an error, so Phillips did not get credit for the inside-the-parker.

The play certainly wasn’t the caliber of defense we’ve become accustomed to as Reds fans, but was it really an error? Balls take bad hops and it’s not an error to be of average defensive skill and unlucky.

So Phillips is appealing the scoring decision to MLB. He’s not making a big deal about it; just giving it a try and won’t complain if MLB doesn’t see it his way. It would be pretty cool though, especially after Jay Bruce just had an inside-the-park home run against the Mets on June 15.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Joey Votto leads the National League in:

• average (.368)
• doubles (29)
• walks (55)
• intentional walks (12)
• on-base percentage (.491)
• slugging percentage (.667)
• extra-base hits (42)

Last Game
The Reds lost their first game in 7 tries last night to the Cleveland Indians. It was a slugfest, too, with the final score being 9-10. Each of the starting pitchers allowed 7 runs.

Scott Rolen was back from his lengthy stint on the DL, and he had his best game of the season last night. Not that that the bar was set too high this year, but he did go 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.

Next Game
The Reds continue the series and the Battle for Ohio with the Indians tonight at 7:05 at Progressive Field. Mike Leake (2-5, 5.05 ERA) goes against Josh Tomlin (3-4, 5.56 ERA). When the Reds faced Tomlin last week, they touched him for 6 runs, so the offensive fireworks may continue tonight.

It’s Not Like They Took a Yield Sign or Anything
After the game, Mat Latos implied that his woes on the mound were due, at least in part, to the Indians stealing his signs. “…they put better swings on the ball than they did most of the time without a runner on second base,” he said.

Three things I’d like to point out:

• The runner on second was stealing signs? How’d that runner get on second?
• During Latos’s 4.0 innings of work, the Indians went 3-for-8 (.375) when there was a runner on second base. They went 5-for-12 (.417) when there was no runner on second.
• Unless they are doing the New England Patriots-style high-tech electronics thing, stealing signs isn’t illegal. Going to the media and saying “they were stealing signs” like it’s something fans should be outraged about is like going to the media and saying “they were hitting really well” and expecting people be take up their torches and pitchforks. In both cases, the other team isn’t doing anything wrong and it’s your job to figure out how to fix it.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
If the Indians win tonight and the White Sox lose, the final game of the Battle for Ohio will be between two first place teams. The last time that happened was July 1999.

Last Game
The Reds got all the back-ups into the line-up but still extended their winning streak to 6 six yesterday by beating the Mets by a score of 3-1. Johnny Cueto walked in the Mets’ 1 run in the second inning, but he also struck out 8. The Reds are now 38-27, putting them 4.0 games in first place in the NLC.

Next Game
The Reds head to Cleveland today to continue their Battle for Ohio with the Indians. First pitch at 7:05 p.m. It ought to be a good one, too, with Mat Latos (5-2, 4.64 ERA) going against Derek Lowe (7-5, 3.78 ERA).

Baker v. Lowe, Part Deux
Lowe, as you’ll recall, went off on Dusty Baker for calling for a pitch inside on him last week when the Indians were visiting Cincinnati.

It was an out-of-proportion response to an inside pitch, even for an AL pitcher, so obviously there was more to the story. However, it’s all very shrouded in mystery as both Lowe and Baker were willing to bash each other to the media, but neither would say exactly why except that it was over something that happened years ago when they were both with California teams.

The strongest hint we got was Baker making a snide comment about Lowe drinking on the job. This isn’t very satisfying, though. Why would the manager of one team give a rat’s ass about a pitcher on another team drinking on the job? Did Lowe hit Baker’s car in the parking lot?

Whatever it was, the feelings are still very close to the surface, and Lowe doesn’t have to hit tonight since they’re playing in an AL park. I hope he doesn’t take anyone’s head off.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds 6-game winning streak ties the season high. The Red also won 6-games in a row May 19-24.

Last Game
The Reds won the game and swept the series against the Indians last night with a 5-12 victory. Surprising in a game with a line like this one that the starter, Mike Leake, couldn’t qualify for the win, having not put in adequate innings. At least he didn’t get a loss.

Next Game
The Reds head to New York to visit the Mets tonight. Bronson Arroyo (2-4, 3.79 ERA) takes on Dillon Gee (4-4, 4.42 ERA). Gee’s ERA isn’t too impressive, but his performance has been on the upswing. He has struck out 27 in his last 27.2 innings.

Happy Birthday, Baker
Dusty Baker is 63 today. Some people might say that’s a little old to be getting into playground shouting matches with players. (Though, with Derek Lowe having just turned 39, it’s not as lopsided a match-up as you might expect.) In fact, Richard Justice went on a condescending rant to that effect yesterday on MLB.

Now, I’m as likely as anyone to say guys ought to just suck it up and play, but I wasn’t feeling it when Lowe volunteered his ambiguous hatred for Baker in the form of an unnecessarily heated reaction to an inside pitch.

When the normally cool Baker also spewed vitriol, even after having a night to work out his response to the media, my first thought was, “some serious shit must have gone down,” not “oh grow up, boys.”

I don’t know if we’ll ever find out what incident prompted this mystifying interaction, but I bet ratings will be higher for Lowe’s next start when the Reds are in town.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Joey Votto now trails Jay Bruce by only one home run for most on the team.