Voting for the All Star game has ended, and the last time Major League Baseball released the vote totals, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto was far-and-away the overall vote leader for the National League. He’s set to join a list of some impressive Reds.

He will join Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Ken Griffey Jr. as Reds who have won the overall NL vote.

“That would an enormous deal for me,” Votto said.

Votto leads St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Lance Berkman by 3 million votes. When Votto wins, this will be his third All-Star game, but his first as a starter.

“It means a lot,” he said. “We’re a small-market team. For the fans to think I worthy of garnering so many votes is a great honor. If I win the NL vote, it will be one of the cooler things that has happened for me.”

It sounds like the rest of the baseball world is starting to wake up and realize the awesomeness that is a grown man named Joey. The Reds better hurry and lock up this guy to a long-term contract soon.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (42-34)	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	5	13	0
Giants (44-34)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	9	1

Boxscore

After two games in the series between the division leading Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants, the Reds have been outscored 6-5. But thanks to not scoring at all during the first game and saving those runs for the second, the series is tied and the Reds have a chance at the series win today.

From looking at the pitching match-up beforehand, it wasn’t the outcome I expected. Matt Cain, he of the recent perfect game and with an ERA in the 2s, against Mike Leake, who struggled at the beginning of the season but has made signs of improvement lately.

Instead of another shutout for the Giants–it would’ve been a 5th straight–the Reds jumped on Cain early. As-early -as-you-can early. Zach Cozart lead off the game with a solo shot, and before the inning was over the Reds added two more, giving Leake a 3-0 lead before setting foot on the mound.

Mike Leake was excellent with that lead. It took 111 pitches, but he accomplished his first complete game. And if it weren’t for a mistake pitch to Pablo Sandoval in the bottom of the 9th–Sandoval kindly deposited that into the right field seats–Leake would have had his first shut-out, too.

In his 9 innings, Leake allowed 1 run, 9 hits, 1 walk, and struck out 4. Oh, and he joined Pete Harnisch in becoming just the second Reds pitcher to pitch a complete game and hit a home run in the same game. It was Leake’s second home run on the season.

Clearly, Leake was the primary Reds’ star of the game. But Joey Votto and Jay Bruce showed some excellence, too. Votto went 3-5, with his 33rd double, and scored a run, while Bruce may just be getting on another of his patented streaks again. He went 4-4 and drove in 3 runs. Maybe that will make Thom Brennaman swallow some of his disgust for Bruce for a while.

The two teams finish the series this afternoon at 4:05pm EDT. Mat Latos goes to the mound for the Reds, with everyone hoping that his excellent outing last time was a sign that he’s settled down and will start pitching the way he knows how. The Giants will counter with Barry Zito.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Twins (28-41)	0	1	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	5	10	0
Reds (38-31)	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	1

Boxscore

Sigh. Last night’s game started off so well.

Chris Heisey hit a 2-run home run in the first inning with Zach Cozart on base to give the Reds an early lead. But starter Homer Bailey wasn’t up to the task of holding the lead against one of the worst teams in the majors. Bailey allowed runs in the second, third, and fourth, giving up the early lead.

But the offense was up to the first loss of the lead. In the bottom of the fourth, with the Reds down 3-2, Scott Rolen came to the plate with a man on and launched his third home run of the season. The Reds had a 4-3 lead.

Bailey settled down for the fifth, pitching a scoreless inning, but he got into trouble in the sixth and couldn’t make it out. And with the bases loaded and one out, manager Dusty Baker brought in newly activated reliever Bill Bray. Bray failed, allowing 2 inherited runners to score.

This lead loss was one the offense couldn’t overcome, despite opportunities.

The loss brings Cincinnati’s losing streak to a season-high 4 games in a row. They turn to Johnny Cueto to stop it this afternoon at 4:10pm EDT.

As RHM said yesterday in her injury report, left-handed reliever Bill Bray was “due to come back any time now.” And that time was just before last night’s game.

Bray was activated from the disabled list and reinstated to the active roster. To make room for him, J. J. Hoover was optioned down to the AAA Louisville Bats.

Hoover had been doing very well for the Reds, so hopefully losing him won’t damage the team. Hoover had a 3.00 ERA over 17 games with Cincinnati.

“It was a very tough decision,” Baker said. “J.J. did a great job for us. He got ready a lot quicker than we anticipated. We thought he’d be ready in the middle of the season. He performed well. It wasn’t anything he did. It was a matter of numbers.

“We told him he’ll be back. Hopefully, he’ll be back to stay a long time. He certainly has the stuff and he was intestinal fortitude for the job. He works hard. You don’t know when he’s around half the time. That’s what you want out of rookies. That’s old school — seen and not heard. He’s the epitome of that.”

Ah, the obligatory “tough decision” comment. Has a manager ever said it was an easy decision to get rid of a player? Regardless, this should make Baker feel more comfortable. He’s been longing to have another lefty in the bullpen.

After almost two weeks of not playing because of a strained oblique and flu-like symptoms, Cincinnati Reds outfielder Drew Stubbs was finally placed on the disabled list.

I can only imagine that this happened after Walt Jocketty woke up from a week-long nap and wondered why Stubbs wasn’t playing. I mean, the only other explanation would involve assuming that the Reds management staff doesn’t fully understand how the disabled list works.

Whatever the reason, Stubbs was finally put on the disabled list, giving him some time to rest and recover. In his place, the Reds recalled Willie Harris.

Despite Harris’ awfulness earlier in the year, the move does make sense. In addition to Stubbs hurting, Chris Heisey strained his groin, making him unavailable for at least a couple games. The outfield depth is thin, and Harris might be able to help there. I’d love for him to improve on that .086 batting average.