Boxscore

Jerry Hairston, Jr. capped off a career-best first half of the year and celebrated by tweaking his hamstring when running to first. Cincinnati should have traded him when they had the chance.

C.C. Sabathia faced the Reds for the second time in a week or two, dominating the Reds again. Cincinnati mustered just two runs, both of which came on sacrifice flies. So much for small ball getting you victories.

Homer Bailey made his triumphant return to the big leagues, filling in for the disabled Aaron Harang. Bailey actually did well, turning in his best start of the year, of not his career. He went 5 2/3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and struck out 4. His fastball was back in the 90s, too.

Cincinnati heads to the break in 4th place. They’ve played well lately, winning 7 of their last 10, so it’ll probably delude the owner into thinking they can compete this year. I do hope they actually attempt to stockpile better talent. If their GM makes smart moves, the Reds could be a force next year. Well, assuming Dusty Baker is handed his justly deserved pink slip.

As for Milwaukee, they rebounded from two straight losses to the Reds. Sabathia proved to be the ace pitcher they traded for, stopping the losing streak and letting them pick up a game on the Cubs. Milwaukee hits the halfway mark in 3rd place, only 5 games out.

This week on the podcast, the Crack Technical Staff and I talk all-star selections, good players that bad teams out to trade, and everything in between. Specifically:

The Brewers signed C.C. Sabathia

Inspiring the Cubs to follow up with Rich Harden

The Pirates might like to send Jack Wilson to the Dodgers,

While the Reds may still think they’re in it.

Even though it’s clear that HAIRSTON SHOULD GO!

The Cubs represent in the All Star Game Roster

While the Reds represent in the List of Guys who Lied About Being Drafted in the 30th round.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Despite early-season predictions of the Central again being the weakest division in the National League, that hasn’t been the case in the first half, especially judging by the number of players representin’ the NLC.

Led largely by Chicago not sucking for a change, 7 Cubs were placed on the team. Geovany Soto, Kosuke Fukudome, and Alfonso Soriano were all voted on as starters, although Soriano is injured and probably won’t play.

Lance Berkman and Ryan Braun round out the other fan-voted starters from the Central. Not bad for last year’s weakest division. 5 of the 8 starting spots. And there’s a great chance that either Edinson Volquez–the Reds token star–or Carlos Zambrano will start the game.

How the pathetic have risen.

This week on the podcast:

• Shawn Chacon’s breathtaking misadventures
• Lou Piniella gets fired. Up.
• Why we hate umpires

And all this *before* Corey Patterson came up with two outs in the bottom of 11 and the winning run on base.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Boxscore

Dave Bush struggled in his start for the Brewers, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) in his 5 innings of work as the Diamondbacks stormed past them.

Milwaukee took an early lead in the first inning, but gave it up at the first chance they had. Seriously, that’s no way to catch the Cubs and Cardinals, guys.

I know I had a couple pithy things to say about this game, but I’ve forgotten it since this morning. I often do forget about the Brewers. It’s probably due to the fact that I still think of them as an American League team.