Boxscore

This is about the time of year when the baseball dolldrums start to set in for me. As if the back-to-school activities weren’t distracting enough, everything in the sport itself is starting to blend together. The sample sizes are so large that even spectacularly good performances and spectacularly bad performances don’t really impact things to much.

Take, for example. Bronson Arroyo, who started for the Reds last night. He came out of the game looking like Badroyo for sure: 5 runs (earned) on 10 hits in 5.1 innings. But even in this morning’s harsh light, his line today (7-7, 4.05 ERA) barely looks any different than it did at this time yesterday (7-6, 3.87 ERA).

I guess my point is that, even though I know, intellectually, that each game has the same significance, at this point in the season, each individual game just doesn’t feel as important. I don’t know if people are freaking out about the fact that this is the Reds’ first losing streak since early July, but speaking for myself, I’m having trouble mustering up any outrage.

Of course, who cares what I think? It’s the players who have to keep up their intensity, and I don’t think we really saw that so much yesterday. Scott Rolen may have put in the best performance of everyone, having gotten on base 4 times with 2 hits and 2 walks. Or maybe Zack Cozart, with his solo shot in the seventh. Each scored 1 run. Not exactly mind-blowing performances, but the best the Reds had to offer yesterday.

Mr. Intensity himself, Joey Votto, is soon to be back, though. He’s on the road trip with the team, but no one’s saying whether he’ll actually take the field. Maybe having Votto out for an extended stretch will turn out to be just what the Reds needed for victory: having to make up for his absence being a kick in the pants immediately after the All-Star break, then, just as the team is coming down from its adrenaline rush, bringing him back in to actually kick everyone in the pants.

In the meantime, it was still a loss, and it dragged the Reds’ record all the way down to 66-43. The series continues tonight at 8:10 p.m. when Johnny Cueto (RHP, 14-5, 2.52 ERA) takes on Mike Fiers (RHP, 5-4, 1.88 ERA).

Boxscore

The Reds broke another winning streak yesterday afternoon by losing to the Pirates 6-2.

Homer Bailey has officially started a streak of his own: yesterday was his second bad outing in a row. He lasted only 4.2 innings, giving up 4 runs (earned) on 9 hits and a walk. But unlike last Tuesday, the offense could not bail him out this time and he got his seventh loss of the season.

Jose Arredondo finished the fifth without allowing a hit. Alfredo Simon pitched the next three innings and gave up 3 hits but no runs. Logan Ondrusek didn’t fare as well in the ninth: he allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits, but those weren’t the runs that made the difference anyway.

The Reds have been short-staffed for a while now. Joey Votto is finally almost back after arthroscopic knee surgery, and Brandon Phillips was a late scratch on Saturday, being almost ready to play after his calf tweak. Devin Mesoraco remains on the concussion DL, and apparently it was no one else’s turn to be the hero.

Only Drew Stubbs, Jay Bruce, and Ryan Ludwick even managed a single hit against AJ Burnett (each also drew a walk). Stubbs scored both of the team’s runs: one thanks to a Bruce double after a walk in the bottom of the first, and the other on a solo shot in the third.

That loss brought the Reds’ record to 66-42. The lackluster performance ends an otherwise good homestand on a low note and makes things feel worse than they really are. Today will be a better day: the Reds head to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers. Bronson Arroyo (RHP, 7-6, 3.87 ERA) faces off against Yovani Gallardo (RHP, 9-8, 3.92 ERA) at 8:10 p.m.

Boxscore

In the first game of the showdown between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates, Mat Latos dominated from both sides of the plate.

Latos went 7 1/3 innings and shut out the Pirates. He allowed 4 hits, 3 walks, and struck out none. With the shutout assistance from the bullpen–Jonathan Broxton and Aroldis Chapman–Latos picked up his 10th win of the season. He now joins Johnny Cueto as the second starter on the team with wins in the double-digits. Homer Bailey is likely to be next to join them, as he has 9 wins. Bronson Arroyo is a ways away with only 7.

On the offensive side, the Reds took the lead in the 2nd thanks to an inside-the-park home run from Chris Heisey. Latos himself contributed to making things easier for himself by hitting a 2-run home run in the 5th inning. The ball was caught by a Pirates fan who promptly got rid of the ball. It was the first home run of the year for Latos, but the 3rd of his career.

Three runs was more than enough for the Reds’ 65th win. The win increased the Reds’ lead over the Pirates to 4 games and assured Cincinnati of being alone in first no matter what happens in the remaining two games.

Boxscore

At the beginning of July, the Reds visited San Diego for a four-game series with the Padres. They lost the first game and won the next three. Yesterday afternoon, the Reds finished another four-game series with the Padres in Cincinnati with the exact same result: lost the first and won the last three.

That’s a winning percentage I can get on board with, even though this time the one loss broke the 10-game winning streak.

Johnny Cueto started for the Reds in yesterday’s afternoon affair. He went 7.1 innings and allowed all 4 runs (earned) on 8 hits and a walk. Logan Ondrusek finished out the eighth inning without allowing a baserunner. Jose Arredondo pitched the ninth and allowed only a walk.

With 9 runs and 13 hits, there’s a lot to talk about on the offensive side. Jay Bruce, Scott Rolen, Zack Cozart, Miguel Cairo, and Ryan Hanigan each had multiple hits. But it was Todd Frazier who hit a 2-run home run in the second and brought in another run on a force out in the eighth who can take the credit for the most RBI.

Frazier’s home run started the scoring in the second, but it was a big inning all around. Cozart and Cairo followed it up with singles, setting up Hanigan to double in a run. Cueto and Xavier Paul made outs, but then Drew Stubbs drew a walk which let Jay Bruce single in another couple runs while leaving runners on the corners. A balk then brought in Stubbs. There were another couple walks, but that turned out to be the end of the scoring. You had to see an inning like that end, but as it turns out, that inning alone was all the runs the Reds would need.

The win brings the Reds’ record to 64-41. Tonight they host the toughest contender they’ve faced in a while: the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mat Latos (RHP, 9-3, 4.17 ERA) faces off against the Pirates’ new acquisition, Wandy Rodriguez (LHP, 0-0, 4.50 ERA). First pitch at 7:10 p.m.

Boxscore

Last night, the Reds won their second in a row against the Padres.

Bronson Arroyo had a little trouble on the mound, but he manned his way through 6.0 innings to give the bullpen a break last night. He allowed 4 runs (earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks. Then came the parade of once and future closers: Sean Marshall pitched the seventh, Jonathan Broxton pitched the eighth, and Aroldis Chapman took the ninth. Only Chapman allowed so much as a hit.

The offense is hurting. Joey Votto isn’t quite back from arthroscopic knee surgery. Brandon Phillips wasn’t in the line-up due to a calf injury. Devin Mesoraco is on the 7-day DL with a concussion. But apparently none of that matters if you’ve got Ryan Ludwick.

Ludwick owned 4 of the Reds’ 6 RBI. In the first he hit a 2-run home run to take the lead, in the fifth he singled in Jay Bruce to retake the lead, and in the seventh he was party to some really poor baserunning that, nontheless, brought in the insurance run.

Honorable mention goes to Drew Stubbs, who was 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.

The win brings the Reds record to 63-41. They’ve won more than 60% of their games. How crazy is that? This afternoon they finish the series with the Padres. Johnny Cueto (RHP, 13-5, 2.39 ERA) takes on Ross Ohlendorf (RHP, 3-1, 5.05 ERA). First pitch at 12:35 p.m.