Last Game
Joey Votto, who’d been struggling for the entirety of the San Francisco Giants series, came through when it mattered most yesterday, driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 8th. This gave King Arthur Rhodes, he of the 0.33 ERA, the win, and by some miracle, Francisco Cordero pitched a perfect 9th for the save. The win gave the Reds an additional half-game lead on the idle St. Louis Cardinals.

Next Game
Interleague play returns as the Kansas City Royals come to town for the first of three. Bronson Arroyo hopes to continue the Reds’ modest 2-game winning streak alive, while the Royals will send out Luke Hochevar. Game-time is 7:10pm EDT.

Masset Battling Balls and Boos
Hal McCoy has a nice little article on struggling reliever Nick Masset. With his 7.27 ERA, he’s definitely had a rough year. Certainly nothing compared to his 2.37 effort last year.

“I haven’t been attacking hitters like I used to do,” he said. “I need to get ahead in the count and work off that because I know I’m a deadly pitcher when I’m ahead in the count. Then I can go where I want from there – attack them any which way.”

If he could execute that during live-game situations and pitch closer to the 2009 version, many of the Reds bullpen problems would vanish.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The last time the Reds were in first place this late in the season was way back in June 17, 2002. That Bob Boone-led team went on to finish 78-84.

Last Game
The St. Louis Cardinals have been unable to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers all week, but the Cincinnati Reds had been unable to win even one game to get out of the tie for first place. Until last night.

Aaron Harang pitched his best game of the year, which is nice to see, allowing 2 runs over 7 innings. That was enough for his 5th win, getting him back to .500 on the season. The offense got to an early lead thanks to great nights from Orlando Cabrera and Scott Rolen. And in a surprising twist, the bullpen didn’t blow the lead. The Cardinals lost again, so now the Reds are back in sole possession of first place.

Next Game
The Reds look to Mike Leake to tie the 4-game series against the Giants. San Francisco counters with Todd Wellemeyer. Game-time is 12:35pm EDT.

Rehab Roundup Time
There are several Reds pitchers working their way back from injuries.

Homer Bailey made a rehab start for the Louisville Bats the other day, and despite his displeasure with not being activated to the big club, didn’t pitch like he was ready to return. At least, he did nothing to displace Sam LeCure from the Reds rotation. Bailey allowed 5 runs over 4 1/3 innings.

Edinson Volquez, coming off Tommy John surgery in August 2009, will make a rehab start for Single-A Lynchburg. His suspension does not prevent him from rehabbing.

In reliever news, Jared Burton has been struggling as he builds up arm strength and gets back in the swing of things for Louisville. Over his last 3 outings with the Bats, he’s allowed 5 runs on 4 innings pitched. It would be nice if he became effective and forced the Reds hand with Nick Masset.

Also, did you know the Reds still had one player left over from The Trade? I didn’t, but apparently Bill Bray plods along in the system. He’s rehabbing from a Tommy John surgery in Single-A, as well. I wonder if Cincinnati continues to invest in him because they think he has value or because they’re still attempting to save face.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Heading into last night’s game, the Reds were hitting .293 with runners in scoring position. That’s second in the majors to Arizona. Last season, the Reds hit .251.

Last Game
In the very first game after the bullpen blew a lead that required the over-worked offense to come back yet again, last night, the same bullpen blew another one. It’s ugly in there. Unlike the previous time when Francisco Cordero was the culprit, yesterday the goats were Daniel Ray Herrera and Enerio Del Rosario. It’s a tough time to be a Cincinnati reliever, unless your name happens to be Arthur Rhodes. Although, just because the bullpen is struggling, I wouldn’t advocate trading 1/4 of the offense in a misguided attempt to fix it. But surely no Reds GM would be foolish enough for that.

The Reds went on lose the 4-game series opener to the Giants, 6-5.

Next Game
Game 2 between the Giants and Reds starts tonight at 7:10pm EDT, with the Reds sending out Sam LeCure against Matt Cain.

Draft Day
The 2010 amateur draft started yesterday. With the 12th pick, the Reds selected Yasmani Grandal, a catcher from the University of Miami.

“All week, we didn’t think he’d get down to us,” scouting director Chris Buckley said. “When he did, we couldn’t pass on him. Switch-hitting catcher, power from both sides of the plate. He’s very polished.”

The Reds are weak at catcher throughout the minor leagues. And with the description of his abilities from the scouts, it sounds like he was the best player available. Now the fun of trying to sign him. Thankfully, he’s not represented by Scott Boras.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds have won 7 extra-inning road games in a row, which dates back to June 2009. The most ever by the Reds was 8 over the course of the 1944-45 seasons.

Last Game
The Reds, or more accurately, Dusty Baker mismanaged the final game against the Cardinals, letting Sam LeCure stay in for the 6th when he was gassed and lucky to escape the 5th. The number of losses due to Baker have been down this year thanks to the talent level of the roster. Still, it hurts more when it’s against the Cardinals and the loss puts you back in a first-place tie.

Next Game
After a much-needed day off–the first in 20 days–the Reds travel to our nation’s capital to battle the Washington Nationals. Aaron Harang will take on Livan Hernandez at 7:05pm EDT.

National Attention for the Reds
There were 2 national articles this week focusing on the Reds and their surprising early success. What are they trying to do? Jinx them?

The first is a USA Today article about rookie Mike Leake and his unprecedented skipping of the minors. The second is a New York Times piece on how the head-scratching trade by the Reds for Scott Rolen last year has been key to this year’s winning. Plus, it includes this heretofore unknown-by-me, at least, tidbit, “[Cincinnati] was a good fit for Rolen, who has a home two and a half hours away in Carmel, Ind., where he can retreat on off days.” Carmel? That’s where I live.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds 18 wins in May this year were their most in a May since 2004, when they also won 18.

Last Game
Joey Votto started his first game in a week and was he ever awesome. He went 4 for 5 with a home run and 3 runs scored as he helped the Reds defeat the Cardinals 9-8 in the second game of the series. The win put the Reds back by themselves in first place, 1 game up on the Cardinals.

Next Game
Rookie Sam LeCure will make his second start for the Reds, while the Cardinals will turn to Chris Carpenter to get back into first place. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:15pm EDT.

Shuffling the Bullpen Chairs
Before the game yesterday, the Reds attempted to improve the bullpen with pre-existing parts. Mike Lincoln was placed on the DL for made up reasons, and Carlos Fisher was sent down to the minors. Both had pitched terribly lately. Enerio Del Rosario and Logan Ondrusek were called back up to the big leagues.

It worked yesterday, with Rosario pitching a scoreless inning after Johnny Cueto collapsed in the 6th. The rest of the bullpen was effective, too.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
With Scott Rolen’s 2 home runs last night, he is at 13 and has now hit more home runs this year than any year since 2006, when he hit 22 for the Cardinals. Also, he is 4 away from 300.