Boxscore

The Reds were shutout by Braden Looper, who threw the first complete game of his career. Thanks to Dusty Baker’s “swing at everything” philosophy, Looper was able to complete the game by throwing only 98 pitches.

The Reds looked terrible last night, the exact opposite of the Pujols-less Cardinals. Yet on paper, the talent-level seems the same, if not possibly in the Reds’ favor. What on earth could the difference be?

Seriously, how much longer will the Reds hang with Baker? I know he has a large contract, but it was a terrible signing at the time and grows worse as time goes by. Perhaps I’m overreacting, but it seems to me that Cincinnati always looks terrible against well-managed, competently run teams. Like both games so far against St. Louis.

Of course, Baker wasn’t playing. That was Johnny Cueto, who struggled like an inexperienced rookie often does and allowed two homers and 6 runs in 5 innings.

Looper lead the Cardinals to their 40th win of the year, keeping them 2.5 games behind the Cubs, who also won their game yesterday.

The Cardinals go for the sweep today sending Joel Pineiro out for his first back-from-rehab start, while the Reds counter with Bronson Arroyo at 7:10pm EDT.

Boxscore

Reds rookie starter Homer Bailey lived up to his name, allowing two homers in 3 2/3 innings yesterday. Not a good outing for the kid as he continues to show he needs more practice at the big league level.

Bailey probably should have been getting this from the beginning of the season, but the Reds had delusions of adequacy for far too long. The only future the Reds have is in their young talent, and there’s not really any reason to let them waste away in the minors at this point.

As for the Cardinals, their delusions of adequacy have proven quite true. Somehow. Albert Pujols went down for at least a few days with a calf strain, but I have a feeling that his absence, even combined with that of Adam Wainwright, Jason Isringhausen, and a cast of thousands, will not derail St. Louis in their quest to sweep the Reds.

It’s Braden Looper versus Johnny Cueto tonight at 7:10pm EDT.

I’m not sure whether the newly renamed Bellyitcher is going to drop by, but either way, we can say smackish things about the Cardinals.

Of course, the Cardinals failure to get the memo on their own suckitude is hardly the story of today. Not only is the home crowd welcoming back their 600 home run hero (which means he can be traded to Seattle now, right?), but it’s also Joe Nuxhall night. The Hall of Fame broadcaster and youngest player in the modern era passed away during the off-season. To celebrate his contribution to the Reds and the Cincinnati culture in general, the city has actually changed the address of the stadium to 100 Joe Nuxhall Way.

Pretty cool.

In other news, this guy is the fellas the Cardinals are running out on the mound.

Tee hee.

Boxscore

The Cardinals continue to hang with the Cubs, despite the temporary losses of Adam Wainwright and Todd Wellemeyer.

Kyle Lohse pitched well enough to win and Ryan Franklin got his 8th save as St. Louis squeaked by the Astros.

For Houston, Wandy Rodriguez pitched pretty well, but the unimproved Astros defense did him in. Rodriguez had a shutout in terms of earned runs. But those 5 unearned runs did the team in.

Both teams have an off day today.

We haven’t had time to podcast since our 100th. And with RHM being out of town on business this week, it wasn’t looking good, but I cranked up the old recording studio and took a shot at recording a solo effort.

It’s short (that’s what she said) because I discovered quickly that I suck by myself. Amanda makes it sound easy, that’s for sure.

At any rate, enjoy a few short minutes of me rambling about the state of the NLC. Hopefully, we’ll get the podcast back on track again next week.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download