Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	0
Padres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	9	0

Boxscore

Mat Latos was great in the high-pressure game against his old team, but Reds still lost in San Diego, 1-2.

Latos pitched 7.0 inning, allowing 0 runs on just 4 hits and 2 walks. Too bad for him that Sean Marshall couldn’t even get out of the eighth before giving up the tie, and Logan Ondrusek couldn’t even get an out in the ninth before he put the winning run on base for Sam LeCure to allow to score.

The offense was a stink-fest. Only four guys even got hits: Brandon Phillips (2), Chris Heisey (2), Wilson Valdez, and Todd Frazier. Heisey got the RBI and Jay Bruce, who reached on a walk, got the run scored.

The Reds’ offense is again becoming worrisome. They’ve been in slumps before, but at some point you just have to start wondering if the team doesn’t have what it takes to actually outperform the Pirates. Hopefully getting off the west coast and relaxing over the All Star breaks will completely change my perspective.

The loss brings the Reds’ record to 44-38. They are 2.0 games out of first place and 2.5 games out of third. Tonight they continue the 4-game series against the Padres at 10:05 p.m. Bronson Arroyo, (3-5, 4.06 ERA) takes on Kip Wells (1-1, 1.50 ERA).

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Louisville Bats	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	2	0	7	13	0
Indianapolis Indians	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	5	10	1

Boxscore

The RHM crew ventured out in the 100-degree heat to catch the Louisville Bats taking on the Indianapolis Indians at Victory Field.

It was not a heat that was kind to the starters. Chad Reineke, for the Bats, allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks over 5 innings. For the Indians, Daniel Cabrera topped that by giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks over 5 1/3.

The offensive stars who gave the Bats a rare win were Henry Rodriguez, who drove in 3 runs and had a home run, and Corky Miller, who went 3-4 and drove in 2. Former Red J. J. Hoover picked up the win.

Victory Field has had a beer unique to them for the past several seasons. Previously, it had been Victory Amber, which was made by Oaken Barrel, a brew pub located in the southern Indianapolis suburb of Greenwood, Indiana. It was not exactly an amber beer–closer to Killian’s than a traditional amber–but it was very drinkable at the ball park.

This year, downtown Indianapolis brewer Sun King has the job of making Victory Field’s signature brew, and they’ve made Victory Lager, which they describe as a Munich Helles. It’s a dark lager and heavier than you might expect, but the flavor was great. There are hints of hops without it being too much for those who don’t like the hops flavor. And it certainly hit the spot in the 98 degree heat.

I’ll definitely be having it again the next time I’m at Victory Field. And some day, I hope to see the Reds with a signature beer at Great American Ball Park.

Below are pictures from the night.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	1
Dodgers	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	-	4	6	1

Boxscore

The Reds got down early yesterday, and though the Dodgers’ lead wasn’t that big, they never could get back up against the pitching of former Reds’ ace, Aaron Harang.

Mike Leake started for the Reds and actually pitched very well after the first inning. Unfortunately for Leake, you don’t get a do-over, and his line ended up being 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits through 7.0 innings. Bill Bray came in in the eighth and walked two guys before being pulled for Jose Arredondo. Arredondo was on the mound when the Dodgers’ other run scored, but it was Bray’s earned run.

There’s similarly little to talk about on the offensive side of the box. Harang and his successors held the Reds to 3 measly hits: 1 for Zack Cozart, 1 for Joey Votto, and 1 solo shot for Devin Mesoraco that kept it from being a shut-out.

The loss brings the Reds’ record to 44-37 and knocks them a game behind the Pirates. After facing the NLW’s best two teams in the Giants and Dodgers, today they hope to recover against a much worse NLW team, the San Diego Padres. The “Who won the trade?” question will play out tonight when Mat Latos (7-2, 4.42 ERA) takes on Edinson Volquez (5-7, 3.68 ERA). First pitch at 10:05 p.m.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	2	3	8	12	0
Dodgers	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	1

Boxscore

The Reds waited until the wee hours to make their presence known in this one, but then the did it in a big way. Fans who went, grumbling, to bed with the team down 0-2 in the fifth awoke to the happy news that the Reds tacked on 8 runs before the game was over.

Homer Bailey was the starter for this one, and he pitched a gem. In 8.0 innings he gave up the 2 runs (earned) on 5 hits and a walk. With 115 pitches already pitched and a 6-run lead going into the bottom of the ninth, the team called on Aroldis Chapman to close it out. Chapman’s velocity was up and he struck out 2 in his hitless inning. He did not, that I heard of, perform any sort of acrobatics after the fact.

Joey Votto was still out with that knee inflammation and Scott Rolen is still out with back spasms, but the Reds aren’t willing to put either on the DL, hoping that they’ll be back in the coming days, so the Reds were playing with a 23-man roster. That number dropped to 22 in the sixth inning when Zack Cozart took a pitch directly to the head.

Even with the helmet taking the brunt of the hit, he still left the game and was under observation for the rest of the night. He was smiling before he even left the field, though, and it sounds like he was doing OK after the game. Still, I wouldn’t be totally surprised to see him out of the line-up tomorrow. There may still be cartoon birds flying around his head.

Fortunately, the remaining members of the diminishing roster are apparently ready to step up and prove their grit. Todd Frazier put the Reds on the board in the sixth with a single to bring in Brandon Phillips, and Devin Mesoraco sent a beauty right down the line in left to bring in Frazier and Miguel Cairo. Those 3 runs were really all the Reds needed.

But they weren’t done yet. Frazier hit a triple in the eighth to bring in Jay Bruce (who’d been HBP) and Mesoraco again brought in Frazier. Chris Heisey and Cairo finally got in on the RBI party in the ninth, but not before Frazier knocked in yet another one. What a show.

The win brings the Reds record to 44-35. They continue their series against the Dodgers tonight at 10:10 p.m. ET. Johnny Cueto (9-4, 2.26 ERA) goes against a familiar foe in former Brewer Chris Capuano (9-3, 2.69 ERA).

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	7	0
Giants	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	4	12	0

Boxscore

The Reds seemed to be on a roll after winning the last two games against the Giants but some shaky pitching punctuated by a very amateurish error in right field ended this one in a loss.

Bronson Arroyo was the starting pitcher for the Reds and his line is better than his performance felt at the time. In 6.0 innings, he allowed 2 runs (earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks. Logan Ondrusek came in for the seventh and gave up a run on a hit and a walk. Sean Marshall put in a no run, 2-hit eighth, and then the Reds tied it up, necessitating a ninth inning man.

It’s easy to blame the loss on what happened next, but let’s not forget that the top-of-the-inning rally was rolling along with no outs. Shockingly, Ryan Hanigan struck out. Then not shockingly, Wilson Valdez struck out. A Zack Cozart line-out left the bases loaded and the rally flat.

Jose Arredondo was the ninth inning man. He promptly got Ryan Theriot to ground out and Melky Cabrera to strike out. But then Buster Posey hit an automatic double, and after an intentional walk to Pablo Sandoval, Angel Pagan sent a high fly ball to right field. Jay Bruce ran back for it and hovered around the warning track, but then the ball dropped just behind him. Turns out he thought he was at the wall when he was actually still a few feet away. That’s what the warning track is for, buddy.

But frankly, even if he’d caught it, it wasn’t like a win would have automatically come with it. It just would have sent the tied game into extras, which are notoriously hard to win on the road. In spite of Bruce’s level of embarrassment, it may be better in the long run that the guys to just got on with their get-away day.

The bases did clear briefly in the sixth inning when Giants’ pitcher Ryan Vogelsong took exception to an inside pitch while he was bunting and decided to go talk it over with Arroyo on the mound. The play-by-play on Reds.com calls it an “on-field delay,” which is about right. Not too much interesting happened and it was over shortly.

Joey Votto wasn’t available yesterday, having inflammation in his knee, and that was really apparent when Miguel Cairo batted for himself in the top of the ninth. He actually got a hit, though, and brought in the tying run.

It was Todd Frazier who was the offensive star, though. Between the time the line-up card was made and the time the team actually took the field, Scott Rolen was scratched with back spasms and Frazier got the start-not-start. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 of the Reds’ 3 RBI.

Ryan Ludwick had a pretty good night, going 3-for-4 with a run scored. The other hit belonged to Bruce who also scored a run.

The loss at the hands of the first-place NLW team brings the Reds’ record to 43-35. Tonight the team goes on to face the second-place team in the NLW, the LA Dodgers at 10:10 p.m. Homer Bailey (5-6, 4.42 ERA) takes his best shot against Chad Billingsley (4-7, 4.18 ERA).