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In the first game of the battle for first place, the Cincinnati Reds didn’t have quite enough to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis moves to 1 1/2 games ahead of Cincinnati.

Aaron Harang started and was solid, with the exception of two long fly balls to Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick. In most other parks, they would have been caught at the warning track, but in Great American, they fell into the first row of the seats. The perils of being a flyball pitcher for the Reds. They should do something about that. Oh yeah, Mike Leake goes tomorrow.

Both of those home runs were 2 run shots, and were all the Cardinals could manage. The Reds attempted a comeback, but fell short. They scored 2 on their own 2-run shot from Drew Stubbs in the 7th. Then in the 9th, Jonny Gomes singled and was driven in by by Drew Stubbs. The comeback faltered, though, when Ramon Hernandez swung at the first pitch he saw and grounded into a double play.

At the game, I at-first thought I heard the announcer say Chris Heisey was pinch-hitting, but he was instead only pinch-running for Ryan Hanigan. I think I would’ve preferred Heisey over Hernandez. It would have been a gutsy move instead of throwing old “Mr. Clutch” in there.

The Reds send out the aforementioned groundball pitcher Mike Leake today, while the Cardinals counter with Adam Wainwright at 7:40pm. Should be a good one.

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The Houston Astros finished their sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals today, beating the first place team and the undefeated Chris Carpenter.

The Astros rode the best start of Bud Norris’ career, as he went 8 innings and allowed 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 8.

The Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter got his first loss of the season thanks to a terrible 3rd. Lance Berkman singled in the Astros first run. He was followed by Carlos Lee, who, with 2 on, popped out to the shortstop. He was frustrated by his failure and slammed his bat into the ground.

Apparently, Chris Carpenter has been paying attention to the sore-loser antics of Albert Pujols, and took exception to Lee. After a few words, the dugouts emptied. Eventually, sad, widdle Carpenter–the guy who’d actually won in the battle against Lee–got over his hurt feelings enough to return to playing a child’s game. Except that he didn’t calm down quite enough as Hunter Pence took him deep to give the Astros a 4-0 lead.

The loss narrows the Cardinals’ lead over the Cincinnati Reds to 1/2 game. The series this weekend could be quite enjoyable. I’m hoping for some fireworks. With this many crybabies on the Cardinals roster, it shouldn’t be too hard to get them riled up.

Boxscore

Now that’s what I call pitching!

Johnny Cueto threw a beautiful game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, tonight, providing a glimmer of hope that his pitch-inefficient days may be behind him. It took Cueto 102 pitches to get through all 9 innings. He allowed 0 runs, just 1 hit, 0 walks, and struck out 8. It was beyond awesome, and I hope he can pitch like that more often than not in the future.

The game was close through the first 6 innings. The Reds took an early lead, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Joey Votto and an RBI double from Scott Rolen.

The Reds really broke it open once they got to the Pirates bullpen, with 2 runs in the 7th and 4 in the 8th. Joey Votto may have had his hitting streak snapped in the first game against Pittsburgh, but he hasn’t slowed down. In addition to his sacrificial fly, he also collected 2 hits, another RBI, and scored twice. Rookie Chris Heisey also had an outstanding game, collecting his first hit and his first home run. He had a 3-4 day at the plate.

It sure is nice to see the Reds playing so well lately. They’re now 18-15, 3 games over .500 for the first time all season. And with how good the starting pitching has been lately, they may have a chance against St. Louis this weekend.

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds put away the Chicago Cubs Sunday, thanks to the continued awesomeness of rookie starter Mike Leake and young stud Joey Votto.

Leake won his 3rd game of the season, to lead the Reds starters in wins. He again lasted 7 innings, shaming all the other older, more experienced starters. He also had excellent control, striking out 7 and walking only 1. And that’s not even mentioning his no-hitter he took into the 6th. Most strikingly for a Reds pitcher, he only threw 91 pitches. He continues to impress.

Also impressive, Joey Votto. The Reds took an early lead in the second that Leake made stand up until the 7th. The Cubs took their only lead on a home run from Tyler Colvin. But in the very bottom of the inning, Joey Votto came to at with 2 on and the team losing by 1. He launched one off Ryan Dempster to right field to retake the lead.

Francisco Cordero closed out the 9th for his 10th save.

Boxscore

Everything was following the script we’re used to. The Cincinnati Reds were down late, and in the 8th, the offense got to work. Joey Votto hit a solo shot. And then Scott Rolen, still rockin’ that cleanup slot, followed Votto with his own solo home run to tie the game.

Unfortunately, the New York Mets were paying attention in the series opener when the Reds won in their last at bat. So the Mets did their best Reds imitation when Mets catcher Rod Barajas homered in the 9th off the Reds Francisco Cordero. After a punchless 9th for the Reds offense, the ball game was over.

Bronson Arroyo started for the Reds and was adequate. He pitched 7 innings and allowed runs on 7 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. A better start from him would have gotten the Reds a win. Sadly, this offense can’t be expected to score much more than 4 runs each night.

Upstaged, the Reds do still have a chance to win the series Wednesday afternoon. Tune in to see if they take–and hold–an early lead!