Boxscore

At long last, an interleague win.

The Cincinnati Reds won their first game against an American League opponent in 2011, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1. That makes the Reds 1-5 on the season, having been swept previously by the Cleveland Indians.

They narrowly escaped being swept by the Blue Jays, though, thanks to Bronson Arroyo’s best pitching performance of the season. He went 8 innings, striking out 5 and allowing one run on 5 hits and a walk. He also evened his record to 6-6.

The offense continued to have problems pushing runners across the plate. The team managed the bare minimum required for a victory, and it was all thanks to the bat of Miguel Cairo. After Joey Votto got a hit in the 6th, Cairo hit a two-run homer to give the Reds the lead.

Francisco Cordero closed the game out with a perfect 9th for his 15th save.

Boxscore

Two Sweeps in Two Days

A day after the Cincinnati Reds swept the Los Angeles Dodgers, the St. Louis Cardinals were swept by the Washington Nationals. It’s been a good few days to be a Reds fan.

What’s interesting is that the Cardinals failed to win in three different ways. In the first game against the Nationals, the bullpen was the culprit after a solid start. Then yesterday, the Cardinals pitching and offense both failed to show up at the park and they lost by the 10-run rule: 10-0.

Today, a third way to lose: the walk-off home run.

Kyle Lohse started and wasn’t very good, allowing 4 runs in 6 innings. But the offense was present enough to keep the game close. In the 9th, the Cardinals tied it on a solo shot by Yadier Molina to send the game into extras.

And in the very first extra inning–the 10th–current Cardinals closer Fernando Salas gave up a 3-run home run to Danny Espinosa for the Washington win.

St. Louis has now lost 6 games in a row and are 3-7 in their last 10. Their wonderful skid has seen them plummet from first place. They are one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers and one game ahead of the Reds.

Like I said, it’s been a good few days to be a Reds fan.

Boxscore

West Coast Sweep?

The Cincinnati Reds swept the Los Angeles Dodgers. On the road.

That’s right, the Reds traveled to the west coast–the coast that has derailed so many seasons in the past–and may just have re-railed their season.

Travis Wood started today, pitching 6 innings of 1-run baseball. He allowed 5 hits and walked one, but was good/lucky enough to keep the Dodgers from ever scoring more than once. I’d say that’s the power of good defense, right there.

The bullpen was more than up to the challenge after that, with Jose Arredondo, Bill Bray, and Nick Massett never letting the Dodgers creep closer.

The offense was represented primarily by something that’s been missing most of the season: Scott Rolen’s bat. Rolen went 3-5 and drove in 3 of the Reds’ 7 runs. Fred Lewis and Ryan Hanigan each drove in a pair, as well. Hopefully, manager Dusty Baker can keep Rolen healthy and sharp for the rest of the season.

And a defensive gold star has to be given to Jonny Gomes, who had his best defensive game of the season. You can view his impressive magic trick of turning a double into an out here.

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds seem to have at least one game like yesterday’s every year. They had a 7-2 lead heading into the 8th, and the bullpen had a spectacular implosion that resulted in a painful loss. Many teams have done this to the Reds, including the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals. And now add the Los Angeles Dodgers to that list.

Everything was going great for the majority of the game. Johnny Cueto started and followed up his complete game effort last start with 7 strong innings of 2-run baseball. The offense provided more than enough runs by scoring 7, including a 3-run home run from Joey Votto.

But the bullpen failed the second it was given the ball in the 8th. Nick Masset was the first hapless fellow, getting only 1 of the 4 batters he faced out. Bill Bray was next. He came in to face one batter with the bases loaded, whom he promptly walked. Then Logan Ondrusek completed the 8th inning’s orgy of sucking by allowing a grand slam to tie the game.

The game eventually headed into extra innings, but the Reds were already done. The 8th inning killed them again. Carlos Fisher ended up getting the loss by allowing 4 runs in the 11th, but you could make a good case that any of those pitchers from the 8th was deserving.

The series with the Dodgers is even now, and despite the painful loss, the Reds still have a chance of taking the series today, assuming they can bounce back.

Boxscore

Clearly, more off days are needed.

The Cincinnati Reds managed to get themselves an honest-to-goodness winning streak going after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in their series opener tonight. Sure, the Reds have won just 2 in a row–the bare minimum for a streak–but every streak gets to 2 at some point.

Bronson Arroyo started for Cincinnati and finally found some goodness. Instead of his early, third-inning exit, he actually made it through 6 innings. Arroyo allowed 1 run, while scattering 5 hits.

The Reds’ offense wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders as they left 8 on base, but they managed to get one hit with runners on. And that was enough. With the bases loaded in the 5th inning, Scott Rolen found a hit in his tired bat and drove in the only runs the Reds needed.

The bullpen of Logan Ondrusek, Nick Masset, and Francisco Cordero made the lead stand, and the Reds improved their record to 30-28.