Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (89-59)	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	4	0
Cubs (58-90)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	4	0

Boxscore

Last night, thanks to an excellent start from Homer Bailey, the Cincinnati Reds returned to their record to a season-high 30 games over .500.

Bailey has been pitching much better of late, certainly placing himself into the consideration for a playoff rotation spot. Over 7 1/3 innings, Bailey allowed 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 4. The outing improved his record to a career-high 12 wins. He joins fellow starters Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, and Bronson Arroyo with at least 12 wins.

The offense was held largely in check by the Chicago Cubs except for one inning. In that inning, the 6th, Joey Votto, Ryan Ludwick, and Jay Bruce all walked to load the bases. The next batter, Scott Rolen, flew out to the center fielder. It was a hit that was deep enough for a normal runner to attempt to tag up and score from 3rd base, but Votto barely budged. That surgically repaired knee was not going to be tested.

Thankfully, it didn’t have to be. The next batter, Ryan Hanigan, came through with a bases-clearing double that gave the Reds all the runs they’d need. Plus, it allowed Votto to basically walk home.

The win reduced the Reds’ magic clinching number to 4. Mike Leake will attempt to reduce that further tonight when he starts against Chris Rusin at 8:05pm.

After Johnny Cueto’s string of bad starts–the most recent being Saturday’s loss to the Marlins–the Cincinnati Reds announced that the order of the rotation is going to change.

Oddly, though, instead of getting rest, Cueto has moved up a day in his position.

Instead of Mike Leake, Homer Bailey, Bronson Arroyo, Johnny Cueto and Mat Latos, it’s now Bailey, Leake, Cueto, Arroyo and Latos.

John Fay speculates that the shuffling will set the postseason rotation as Cueto, Arroyo, Latos, and Bailey. Separating the two hard-throwing starters of Cueto and Latos with the soft-tossing Arroyo makes a lot of sense. Those are the four guys likely to get starts during the playoffs, so it’s not a stretch to assume it’s true.

However, I’m surprised to see Cueto not getting another day of rest. Before the switch, Cueto would’ve had 6 days of rest between his starts. Now he’ll have 5. While it is one more day off than normal thanks to the off day Monday, given how Cueto’s struggled this month, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give him more rest. At 197 innings pitched, he’s 11 1/3 innings past his previous high in 2010. Some fatigue from all that isn’t surprising.

It’ll be interesting to see how Cueto performs on his next start. I expect the Reds will be watching his inning and pitch count closely. And once the division is clinched–their magic number is 5–I expect all the starters will get some rest.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (87-59)	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	4	8	2
Marlins (65-81)	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	-	6	10	2

Boxscore

Perhaps it’s the 4 pints of beer talking, but the Cincinnati Reds are playing like I feel when I watch them: I’ve already entered the play-off tickets sweepstakes, let’s get the season over with already.

The Reds lost the series to the Florida Miami Marlins today when Johnny Cueto had another crappy start. When Cueto doesn’t win the Cy Young award, look back to this start as the the reason. Cueto didn’t make it out of the 5th inning, allowing 6 runs on 9 hits, 2 walks, and only 2 strikeouts.

The Reds’ offense was more up to the task than the day before when they were shutout, but they still managed only 4 runs, half of which were provided by a 2-run home run from Ryan Ludwick. The others were driven in by Wilson Valdez and Scott Rolen. Joey Votto scored one of those, of course.

The Reds’ magic number is currently at 7 and the St. Louis Cardinals are winning as I write this. It’s unlikely the number will go down tonight.

But I hope it does soon. And that Cueto gets past his September dead-arm phase. The playoffs are coming, and the Reds need to be ready.

I am.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	R	H	E
Pirates (72-68)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	0
Reds (85-57)	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	8	0

Boxscore

That was a very, very long game.

In a game that took 5 hours and 22 minutes to play, the Cincinnati Reds finally came away with a win after a grueling 14-inning affair.

The Reds had plenty of chances to win the game, but it took until the bottom of the 14th. Devin Mesoraco lead off the inning with a screaming line drive that my tired eyes were hoping would just clear the wall. It didn’t, but it put the winning run on with no outs. Brandon Phillips reached next when he hit a ball that the catcher fielded. The catcher attempted to throw Mesoraco out at 2nd, but the throw was late. With 2 on and no outs, Chris Heisey showed bunt for the first two pitches before lining out to left field.

That brought Joey Votto to the plate. It would’ve been a nice storybook ending for him to have the walk-off hit on his birthday, but it was after midnight: his birthday was in the past. He struck out on a foul tip. Ryan Ludwick came to the plate next, and after a wild pitch that advanced both runners, he singled the winning run in on a ground ball that the shortstop couldn’t handle. The Reds players and fans could go to sleep, tired but happy.

The game wasn’t without drama. Brandon Phillips was hit by a pitch in the 8th inning. When he tossed the ball back to pitcher Jared Hughes, Hughes shouted something at Phillips and the umpires quickly intervened. Then after the game, Phillips tweeted this.

#RealTalk… Not really surprised by what I heard come outta another player’s mouth tonite but DAMN… Still PISSED bout that $h¡+!! #Racism

— Brandon Phillips (@DatDudeBP) September 11, 2012

If Phillips’ charges of something racist being said are true–and I think that would be easy enough to prove with all the recording equipment on the field–then something should be done. There’s no place for that.

Following that, Aroldis Chapman began pitching the top of the 10th. Like his last appearance, his velocity was way down and he had less control. In his 2/3 of an inning, he struck out 1, but walked 3 before being removed for Sam LeCure. One bad outing isn’t a big deal. But two in a row becomes a trend, and that dip in velocity is especially troubling.

Overall, it was an ugly game that saw both teams leave 13 men on base. But the Reds won and their magic number has dropped to 12, thanks to a St. Louis Cardinals loss.

Mike Leake will try to eat some innings for the tired bullpen tonight when he starts against Kevin Correia. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm EDT.