Last Game
The Reds pulled the series even yesterday by beating the Pirates 4-5. Johnny Cueto got the win and Brandon Phillips redeemed himself a little with a 2-for-4 night that included a home run. He’d gone 0-fer and left 7 on base the day before.

Next Game
Tonight is the rubber match, with Mike Leake (2-5, 4.95 ERA) defending against Kevin Correia (2-5, 4.19 ERA). Don’t let the record fool you: Correia has been a hard-luck loser. His team has won only one of his six quality starts this season.

A Consistent Rotation
In the past, Dusty Baker has talked about needing consistency, but that’s just translated into seeing the same crappy performance day after day. But now, just as the Earth rotates predictably through the vacuum, the Reds have rotated predictably through the rotation all season long.

Through these first 55 games, the Reds have used only five starting pitchers: Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey, and Mike Leake. That’s the longest streak of using only five starters to begin a season since they went 79 games in 1992.

And unless someone gets hurt, it’s probably going to stay this way. These guys aren’t perfect, but the bullpen damn near is, so there’s not really the laser focus on the pitching for a change. More urgent is keeping the Reds’ power flowing.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds are 23-6 in games where they hit at least one home run.

Last Game
The Reds dropped the series opener to the Pirates in spectacular form, 8-4. Homer Bailey, who previously owned the Pirates, got totally lit up.

Next Game
Tonight Johnny Cueto (5-3, 2.54 ERA) goes out for revenge. He’s facing off against Brad Lincoln (3-0, 1.04 ERA). Cueto’s been good and Cueto’s been bad the last few starts, but we really need good Cueto tonight after the small number of innings Bailey ate through yesterday.

Mirror, Mirror
The Cardinals/Astros game mirrored the Pirates/Reds game for much of the evening last night:

• The Reds and Cardinals both struck first
• The Pirates and Astros both came back quickly and authoritatively
• The score was 8-4 in both games at approximately the same time

The most notable difference is that the Cardinals actually made a late-inning attempt to come back. Whereas the Reds only managed to put 1 on the board in the ninth, the Cardinals managed to put up 4. It wasn’t quite enough, though, and the Cardinals lost, 8-9. This put the Pirates firmly and solely into second place in the NLC, 2 games behind the Reds and 1 game ahead of the Cards.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Homer Bailey was the winning pitcher in the Reds’ 10,000th franchise victory on April 20, 2012.

Last Game
The Reds were off yesterday. Before that, they closed out a series with the Astros.

Next Game
Today the Reds start a three-game series with the second-place Pirates tonight. If the Pirates sweep the series, they can be tied for first. Yet again the Reds face A.J. Burnett, this time with Homer Bailey on the mound.

Let’s Get a CG Streak Going
The last time the Reds faced A.J. Burnett (just 6 days ago) it ended in a 1-2 loss. The last time Homer Bailey faced the Pirates (just 7 days ago) it ended in a 8-1 win and a 4-hit complete game.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Homer Bailey was the 7th overall pick in the 2004 draft. He was 18.

Last Game
It was a solid series, but the Reds just couldn’t put together the sweep last night as they lost to the Astros 3-5. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have been getting beaten up by the Mets, putting the Pittsburgh Pirates in second place when I woke up this morning.

Next Game
The Reds are off today; it’s their second off-day in less than a week. Tomorrow they host those second-place Pirates.

Innings Eater
It’s always one of those “how can time possibly go so fast?” moments when I realize how long Bronson Arroyo has been with the Reds. This is his seventh season with the team. A baby born when he came to Cincinnati would be enjoying the summer between first and second grade now.

He hasn’t set the world on fire in that amount of time, but has persistently put in work. So much so, in fact, that in the time he’s been with the team, Arroyo leads the NL in starts (211) and innings pitched (1,349).

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
It’s draft day! You can even tune in to see the selection of dozens of players who will never crack the bigs. It’s on MLB Network, and the Reds’ first pick will probably be around 8:20 p.m. ET

Last Game
The Reds had an off-day yesterday to recover from their first lost series in the last six.

Next Game
Tonight the Reds visit the Houston Astros. Just two days after facing an “A.J.” in A.J. Burnett for the Pirates, tonight they take on a “J.A.” in J.A. Happ, who’s going for the ‘Stros. Mike Leake will take the mound for the good guys.

Joey Votto: Rock of Consistency
Until Wednesday’s game against the Pirates when Mike Costanzo got a start there, Joey Votto was the only guy who had started at first base for the Reds for the season. No other position had had only one starter. Until then, he was also the only guy who had batted third in the line-up; Jay Bruce filled in on Wednesday.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds’ team ERA for the month of May was 3.29.