Boxscore

Well, that sucked.

Johnny Cueto turned in his worst start of the 2012 season for the Cincinnati Reds, lasting only 4 innings and allowing 6 runs–5 earned–while giving up 8 hits and 2 walks and striking out 2. His ERA ballooned to 1.89.

The offense turned in what you would expect from a Dusty Baker-led team: 2 runs. Those were driven in by Ryan Hanigan and Drew Stubbs in the 7th.

The Reds fell back to 1 game above .500, where I feel they will continue to flounder so long as Baker is the manager. Joey Votto can only hit so many walk-off grand slams. I’d really prefer they fired him now before too much more of the season is wasted.

The Reds split the short, 2-game series with the Atlanta Braves and fell 2.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. Tomorrow, they travel to New York to take on the Mets at 7:10pm EDT. Mike Leake starts for the Reds, while the Mets counter with Johan Santana.

Boxscore

I wanted to write a game wrap for this afternoon’s tonight’s rain-delayed game, but there are really only two things to say about it.

• Joey Votto is awesome. Totally awesome.
• His awesomeness kept Dusty Baker off the managerial hot seat for one more day.

Boxscore

For Joey Votto bobble head night, we watched the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals from the comfortable confines of the Champions Club.

In this episode of the podcast, we review the abundant food selections in the Club, as well as discuss the recent trip to the disabled list by Scott Rolen.

The continued frustrating play of the Reds warranted a mention or two, as well, thanks to the Reds managing to score just one run during the game.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The big news before yesterday’s Cincinnati Reds game was the third baseman Scott Rolen was experiencing pain in his shoulder again.

“[Rolen] called me today and said it was barking,” [trainer Paul] Lessard said. ”That’s why we called Doc (Tim Kremchek) to come in and take a look at him. We took a quick look at him, and there’s nothing really specific right now. It’s kind of sore all over.”

After that examination, Rolen was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

“I’m hurting,” Rolen said. “I’m in pain. I’m not healthy right now. As much as I want to help the team, I’m hurting the team.”

I feel for Rolen. In his time with the Reds, when he’s been healthy, he’s been an invaluable addition to the roster. Unfortunately, age and injury are catching up with the 37-year-old athlete.

After 4 surgical procedures on that shoulder–the most recent one in August of 2011–it’s not crazy to wonder if this is the end of Rolen’s career. That’s possible, but only time will tell. For now, Rolen’s going to rest his shoulder for 2+ weeks. If the pain subsides and the inflammation dies down, hopefully he can come back and swing a productive bat again. He was hitting well as recently as Spring Training.

Until then, manager Dusty Baker’s conundrum of how to treat an under-performing veteran in the face of an over-performing rookie has been solved. Todd Frazier is likely to get a lot of starts at 3rd in Rolen’s absence. He’s well-positioned to make the most of it.

Tonight’s Cincinnati Reds’ game against the Washington Nationals will feature a 2012 Joey Votto bobblehead doll giveaway. Or as I’ve taken to calling it, the Vottohead doll.

The RHM crew will be there to get ours. Somehow, there are still some tickets left. I’d expect it to sell out. But arrive early. Only 25,000 will be given away.