Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
REds (53-42)	0	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	8	11	1
Braves (54-41)	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	9	0

Boxscore

After the way the Cincinnati Reds have been playing of late, it sure was nice to see them end the unofficial first half of the season with a win. The win over the Atlanta Braves also earned them a split in the series against one of the major’s best teams.

It wasn’t always a sure thing, though. Tony Cingrani started and pitched fairly well, but his defense let him down and cost him the win. Thanks to Todd Frazier losing a pop-up in the sun in the second, Cingrani ended up throwing 24 more pitches to end the inning. What should’ve been the final out to the inning resulted in a run scoring and Cingrani blowing his pitch count. He was removed after the fourth.

The bullpen held the lead. They allowed a few runs, but the lead was never in jeopardy. Speaking of, it sure was nice to see the offense create a lead and then add to it as the game continued. So often they’ve scored early and then never again. But not Sunday.

After the fiasco with Frazier allowed the Braves the early lead in the second, the Reds came right back in the third. Joey Votto doubled in Cingrani, who’d reached on a bunt. Brandon Phillips grounded out, scoring Shin-Soo Choo. And then Jay Bruce brought Votto home with his 19th home run.

Later in the game, Choo provided needed insurance runs with his 13th home run. Also, Phillips and Frazier each drove in runs in the 9th.

All in all, it was a nice last game before the All Star break. Hopefully, the offense that showed up yesterday won’t get lost driving around during the break. It’d be nice to see that Reds team from May again.

In case you missed it last night, Homer Bailey threw the second no-hitter of his career.

The last time, it was against the Pittsburgh Pirates last year on September 28. This time, it was against the World Series defending champions San Francisco Giants.

This time, Bailey was slightly more effective, needing only 109 pitches–6 fewer than last year–to dispatch the Giants. In his 9 innings, he struck out 9, walked one, and allowed no hits and no runs.

Now that he has two no-hitters, Bailey joins some prestigious company. There are only 5 pitchers in Major League history with more than 2 no-hitters.

• Nolan Ryan (7)
• Sandy Koufax (4)
• Bob Feller (3)
• Cy Young (3)
• Larry Corcooran (3)

Bailey’s got some opportunity to join them. Until then, he’ll have to console himself with being the equal of guys such as Justin Verlander, Roy Halladay, and Randy Johnson. Tough company to keep.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (45-34)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Athletics (46-34)	0	0	0	4	0	0	1	0	-	5	8	1

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds were swept by the Oakland A’s in their two-game series, the exact opposite of that great 1990 World Series. The loss drops the Reds’ record on the road trip out west to 1-4.

There were no stars of the game for the Reds. It was a terrible, uninspired, and boring game from start to finish.

Homer Bailey got the loss, giving up 4 runs over 6 innings. He struck out 7, which was nice, but those 4 runs. Ouch.

Not that it mattered. Even if he’d shutout the A’s, the Reds still would’ve lost. The bullpen gave up one run over its 3 innings. But the offense continued to fail to show up. In 9 innings, they managed no runs and just 2 hits.

The lack of passion the Reds have been playing with lately is difficult to watch. I hope they can turn it around. It’s no longer early.

After almost two months recovering from a hamstring issue, Chris Heisey has been activated and is back in the lineup as the designated hitter against the Oakland A’s tonight.

Heisey had been playing games with the AAA Louisville Bats for the last week, going 4 for 20.

“I felt really good at the plate,” he said. “I didn’t have the results to show for it, but I hit some balls hard. I saw a lot of pitches. I worked a lot of deep counts, which is something I want to get better at up here. It was a good little practice for me.”

Donald Lutz was sent down to AA to make room for Heisey’s return.

Heisey will be back, but the Reds will be without star second baseman Brandon Phillips, who was placed on the paternity list. I didn’t know that was a thing, but it’s apparently been there since 2011, added at the same time as the concussion list.

Players can miss one to three games, and Phillips is expected to miss the two-game series against the A’s. Infielder Henry Rodriguez was called up from Louisville to take his place.

Yesterday, the Cincinnati Reds didn’t play baseball. At least, I assume they didn’t. With them being on their first west coast trip of the season, the games start so late that I could easily miss them.

The Reds have been struggling lately, which is never how you want to see them when they’re heading out west. My, there’ve been some seasons lost out west. That won’t happen this year; this team is too good. But after losing 2 of 3 in their first road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, one has to hope the day off will help erase the jet lag that often accompanies the games in time zones other than central or eastern.

The Reds will have a short, two-game series against the Oakland A’s this evening. Bronson Arroyo will start and try to right the Reds’ ship. The A’s have been a good team this year, although they’ve been losing a lot lately. Hopefully, the Reds bats will be rested enough to score so many runs so that no bullpen mishaps can doom them. Or, hell, let’s go crazy with hope and think the bullpen is well-rested enough to put its crappy outings behind it for a week or two.

We won’t know until 10:05 pm tonight. Until then, see how well you know Corky Miller with the Cincinnati Enquirer’s quiz.