Boxscore

Last year when Kyle Lohse (3-2) pitched for the Reds, he was frustrating to watch. In April, he pulled a Jekyll and Hide routine for the Cardinals (22-14), but apparently he drank the wrong serum once the calendar flipped to May.

Lohse was terrible against the Rockies (14-21), allowing 7 runs in 4 innings. This is his second bad start in a row, both this month. The Cardinals better be searching high and low for the potion to turn Lohse back into the April version or their lead in the standings will fall.

The only real bright spot for the Cardinals was Ryan Ludwick’s two home runs. They were solo shots, though, which is obviously an indictment of Ludwick. He shouldn’t hit those until the batters in front of him have gotten on base. Sheesh.

Jorge De La Rosa (1-1) got the win for the Rockies, who have been disappointing so far this year. They did manage to split the four-game series with the Cardinals, though.

St. Louis travel to Miller Park and send out Todd Wellemeyer to face Manny Parra at 8:05pm EDT.

Boxscore

Albert Pujols somehow turned a typical ground-out into the go-ahead run for the Cardinals (21-12). Pujols was on second base when Rick Ankiel hit a ground-ball to second. I don’t know if it’s Tony LaRussa or Pujols who’s prescient, but by the time the Rockies (12-20) second baseman fielded the ball, Pujols was at third. He scored in a very close play at home.

That gave the vulture win to Randy Flores (1-0), who had earlier blown a Cardinals lead, and Jason Isringhausen (S 11) got the save. Brian Fuentes (0-2) got the loss.

Thanks to the Cubs loss, the Cardinals now have a 2.5 game lead in first. This game further illustrates my confusion about the Cardinals. Overall, they don’t look like a good team to me, yet they keep winning. And was the win today an example of a team being incredibly lucky with everything bouncing their way? Or the mark of a team that has everything together and one that could win the pennant? This month should shed some light on that, as the Cardinals play more road games.

The Cardinals go for the win tonight, sending out Braden Looper to face Mark Redman at 8:35pm EDT.

Boxscore

In a move surprising no one who trusts my predictions, the Reds (12-17) dropped the final game of their series with the Cardinals (18-11).

Aaron Harang (1-4) quality started himself to a loss thanks to his usual lack of run support this year. I remember that afflicting Bronson Arroyo last year, and it looks like Arroyo passed it on to Harang. By that logic, Harang will suck next year.

Braden Looper (4-1) was slightly better than Harang and possessing the better offense, for the win. Jason Isringhausen (S 9) got his ninth save.

Both teams take May Day off before starting new series on Friday. The Reds sail to Atlanta, trying desperately to right their ship, not realizing it’s already sunk. The Cardinals stay home to face in-division rival the Cubs. The latter series should be fun to watch this weekend.

Boxscore

The Reds (12-16) lost the second game of their series with the Cardinals (17-11), no thanks to worthless rookie Johnny Cueto (1-3). Sheesh. Talk about failing to live up to the expectations heaped upon him after a couple good outings. Why, in my day, rookies weren’t so inconsistent.

Joel Pineiro (2-2) got the win. No save situation was available, although Adam Dunn tried with a meaningless home run in the 9th.

The two teams close out the series at 1:15pm EDT when Aaron Harang takes on Braden Looper.

Holy crap, did Arroyo really get his first win last night? It’s like we slipped into an alternate dimension or something.

Wait, this is supposed to be smack talk about the Cardinals. Allow me to start over:

Holy crap, are the Cardinals really trying to pass of Chris Duncan as an outfielder? What would the ghost of Jim Edmonds say?

Your Cincinnati Reds
Corey Patterson
Jeff Keppinger
Ken Griffey, Jr
Brandon Phillips
Adam Dunn
Edwin Encarnacion
Joey Votto
Paul Bako
Johnny Cueto

Their St. Louis Cardinals
Schumaker
Kenney
Pujols
Ankiel
Glaus
Duncan
Molina
Pineiro
Izturis