Last Game
The Reds beat the Pirates 4-0 to guarantee at least a tie in the 4-game series. Bronson Arroyo pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings, and the offense gave him 4 runs to work with. The bullpen didn’t blow the lead this time, but it did take 2 pitchers to get one out in the 8th and an arguably unnecessary appearance by Francisco Cordero in the 9th. With the win–and a later Cardinals loss–the Reds move back into sole possession of first place.

Next Game
The Reds wrap up their 4 games with the Pirates and have a chance to win the series. Johnny Cueto will start, hopefully blister-free, against Charlie Morton at 7:05pm EDT.

Transactions from Yesterday
Paul Janish was placed on the bereavement list yesterday for the passing of his grandmother. Our thoughts are with him. Drew Sutton was called up to take his place on the roster.

In other sad news, pitcher Justin Lehr will have to undergo Tommy John surgery and is done for the year. He put in a few solid innings for the Reds last year, and it’s a shame he won’t be able to work his way back to the club in 2010. Hopefully, he’ll come back stronger for 2011.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Four Reds players have made their Major League debut so far this year: Logan Ondrusek, Mike Leake, Chris Heisey, and Enerio Del Rosario.

Last Game
The Cincinnati Reds started a 4-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday, and also finally caught up to the St. Louis Cardinals in number of games played. Thanks to their 7-5 win over the Pirates, the Reds are now tied for first place. Aaron Harang was good enough to get the win, although his single and then later scoring from 1st base in the 4th may have been more important than his mediocre start. It’s always fun to see the pitcher hit, and it’s even more fun to see the pitcher run. Hey, at least Harang’s faster than Bengie Molina.

Next Game
The Reds play the second game of the series against the Pirates tonight at 7:10pm EDT. Mike Leake will take on Paul Maholm.

Bailey to the Disabled List
Yesterday, the Reds placed Homer Bailey on the 15 day disabled list and called up reliever Enerio Del Rosario.

Bailey wasn’t exactly happy about the move, although being blindsided with it probably didn’t help.

“No one asked my opinion,” Bailey said. “I can understand missing one start. But I’m not a doctor.”

Considering Bailey is 24 years old, I can understand the Reds’ caution. As Redleg Nation points out, the number of pitchers–successful or not–still pitching at age 25 who first appeared in the majors at 21 is slim. Give the kid a chance to heal without doing further damage and maybe the Reds will have a chance of beating the odds.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds have won a 5-game winning streak at home, which is a season high.

Last Game
That was painful, wasn’t it? So painful, it’s hard to write about. It was only one game and one loss, but it sure did feel like the end of the season right there. We’ll see if the team can rebound from the devastation in Atlanta. Given that there were 4 errors yesterday (and there easily could have been more), some fielding practice might not be the worst idea in the world. We’ll see if Dusty Baker has figured out how to make his players practice yet.

Next Game
The Reds travel to Cleveland for the Ohio Cup and to start interleague play. Interleague has always been a struggle for the Reds in the past, and with the sweep by the Braves, the team isn’t exactly primed to win. Bronson Arroyo takes on Jake Westbrook at 7:05pm EDT.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
In the 13 years of interleague play, the Reds have had a winning record against the American League just 3 times.

Last Game
Aaron Harang had another less-than-stellar start, although he has improved greatly from the beginning of the season. Remember when he was the best starter on the team? There are definitely things to like about him being the worst. The offense even came back to tie the game with the Braves in the 9th, but were unable to get across the go-ahead run. Thankfully, the St. Louis Cardinals lost, so the Reds are still in first.

Next Game
It’s an afternoon game as this second 2-game series in a row wraps up. Mike Leake will go against Tommy Hanson at 1:05pm EDT. The game is televised on the MLB Network, although Fox Ohio lied about it being a radio-only game last night.

Battle of Young Studs
Today’s game against the Atlanta Braves features two young pitchers who have shown great promise in their young careers. Leake, who has no prior professional baseball experience before this year, we know. Tommy Hanson, we don’t.

Hanson, 23, is in his second season in the majors. He’s 14-7 with a 2.89 ERA in 29 starts on his career. This year, his ERA is about the same, and he’s struck out 56 in 50 innings over 8 starts. He is coming off a rough last start, though, when the Diamondbacks scored 5 off him. Still, it will be a challenge for the Reds. Can they manage to take some non-strike pitches?

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
After 40 games, the Reds are 23-17, which is the exact same record they were at in 2006 when they finished the year in 3rd place at 80-82.

Last Game
Johnny Cueto followed up his 1-hit complete game shutout performance in his last start with a 7 innings of 1-run baseball against the Milwaukee Brewers last night. Granted, not as good as the last outing, but I’ll take 7 innings of 1-run ball every start of the year. The offense came to life once Brewers start Yovani Gallardo left the game to give Cueto his 3rd win. The Reds won 6-3 to keep their slim 1/2 game hold onto first place.

Next Game
The Reds finish their short 2-game series against the Brewers today. With the win last night, they’re hoping for the sweep today. Home Bailey starts for the Reds, while the Brewers send out Manny Parra. Game-time is 12:35pm EDT.

Adding Another Cuban to the Humidor
The Reds signed another Cuban player yesterday to go along with Aroldis Chapman.

Felix Perez is one of those 5-tool outfielders that made Jim Bowden lose all sense of propriety. Originally signed by the New York Yankees last year for $3.5 million, the contract was voided when it was discovered his stated age–20–was a lie. MLB banned him for a year, and the Reds reaped all the benefits.

Perez, who aged 5 years since his last contract, signed for $550,000. He will be sent to Arizona for evaluation, and then will likely head to the Dayton or Lynchburg minor league clubs.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds lead the majors in the never-heard of before stat of runners going 1st to 3rd on a single. They’ve done it 32 times this season.