Last Game
Joey Votto started his first game in a week and was he ever awesome. He went 4 for 5 with a home run and 3 runs scored as he helped the Reds defeat the Cardinals 9-8 in the second game of the series. The win put the Reds back by themselves in first place, 1 game up on the Cardinals.

Next Game
Rookie Sam LeCure will make his second start for the Reds, while the Cardinals will turn to Chris Carpenter to get back into first place. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:15pm EDT.

Shuffling the Bullpen Chairs
Before the game yesterday, the Reds attempted to improve the bullpen with pre-existing parts. Mike Lincoln was placed on the DL for made up reasons, and Carlos Fisher was sent down to the minors. Both had pitched terribly lately. Enerio Del Rosario and Logan Ondrusek were called back up to the big leagues.

It worked yesterday, with Rosario pitching a scoreless inning after Johnny Cueto collapsed in the 6th. The rest of the bullpen was effective, too.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
With Scott Rolen’s 2 home runs last night, he is at 13 and has now hit more home runs this year than any year since 2006, when he hit 22 for the Cardinals. Also, he is 4 away from 300.

Last Game
The Cincinnati Reds started a 4-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday, and also finally caught up to the St. Louis Cardinals in number of games played. Thanks to their 7-5 win over the Pirates, the Reds are now tied for first place. Aaron Harang was good enough to get the win, although his single and then later scoring from 1st base in the 4th may have been more important than his mediocre start. It’s always fun to see the pitcher hit, and it’s even more fun to see the pitcher run. Hey, at least Harang’s faster than Bengie Molina.

Next Game
The Reds play the second game of the series against the Pirates tonight at 7:10pm EDT. Mike Leake will take on Paul Maholm.

Bailey to the Disabled List
Yesterday, the Reds placed Homer Bailey on the 15 day disabled list and called up reliever Enerio Del Rosario.

Bailey wasn’t exactly happy about the move, although being blindsided with it probably didn’t help.

“No one asked my opinion,” Bailey said. “I can understand missing one start. But I’m not a doctor.”

Considering Bailey is 24 years old, I can understand the Reds’ caution. As Redleg Nation points out, the number of pitchers–successful or not–still pitching at age 25 who first appeared in the majors at 21 is slim. Give the kid a chance to heal without doing further damage and maybe the Reds will have a chance of beating the odds.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds have won a 5-game winning streak at home, which is a season high.

Last Game
Johnny Cueto followed up his 1-hit complete game shutout performance in his last start with a 7 innings of 1-run baseball against the Milwaukee Brewers last night. Granted, not as good as the last outing, but I’ll take 7 innings of 1-run ball every start of the year. The offense came to life once Brewers start Yovani Gallardo left the game to give Cueto his 3rd win. The Reds won 6-3 to keep their slim 1/2 game hold onto first place.

Next Game
The Reds finish their short 2-game series against the Brewers today. With the win last night, they’re hoping for the sweep today. Home Bailey starts for the Reds, while the Brewers send out Manny Parra. Game-time is 12:35pm EDT.

Adding Another Cuban to the Humidor
The Reds signed another Cuban player yesterday to go along with Aroldis Chapman.

Felix Perez is one of those 5-tool outfielders that made Jim Bowden lose all sense of propriety. Originally signed by the New York Yankees last year for $3.5 million, the contract was voided when it was discovered his stated age–20–was a lie. MLB banned him for a year, and the Reds reaped all the benefits.

Perez, who aged 5 years since his last contract, signed for $550,000. He will be sent to Arizona for evaluation, and then will likely head to the Dayton or Lynchburg minor league clubs.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds lead the majors in the never-heard of before stat of runners going 1st to 3rd on a single. They’ve done it 32 times this season.

Last Game
The Reds finished their sweep of the Astros, winning the final game 4-2. Bronson Arroyo got the win, Roy Oswalt got the loss, and the Reds are back at .500. No word on how long Dusty Baker will wait before reportedly asking again for an extension.

Next Game
Johnny Cueto takes on Brad Penny, the latest in a long line of miracles performed by Dave “Pitcher-Whisperer” Duncan, when the Reds play the St. Louis Cardinals tonight at 8:15pm EDT.

Dickerson Sprained Right Wrist Playing Baseball
Chris Dickerson has had a bum right wrist for a little while, and he injured it even more during a swing yesterday. I’d expect him to be sent to the DL and someone from Louisville called up. John Fay says outfielder Chris Heisey is a likely option, “He started slowly, but he’s hitting .295 over his last 10 games.”

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Mike Leake is a candidate for National League Rookie of the Month, which is apparently an award, after going 2-0 with a 3.25 ERA in 4 starts.

Last Game
Mike Leake, the Reds best starter so far this year, took to the mound in the deciding game of the Dodgers series yesterday, and had his worst start in his young career. So of course, he picked up his first–and the Reds rotation’s first–win. The offense and bullpen were stellar, too, with a home run by Jay Bruce to power the Reds to a 8-5 win.

Next Game
The Reds start a series against the San Diego Padres, with Kevin Correia taking the mound against Johnny Cueto at 7:10pm EDT.

Shuffling Relievers on the Titanic
With the Reds’ struggling, the idea of a major shake-up being used as a motivation tool isn’t outside the realms of probability. The team hasn’t done that, although there was a minor roster move yesterday. The Reds sent down rookie reliever Logan Ondrusek and called up Carlos Fisher.

Ondrusek was a long-shot to make the club in Spring Training, but pitched very well. Unfortunately, that hasn’t transferred over to the bigs, where he accrued an ERA of 11.25. Another reason not to base too much on Spring Training results. Ondrusek will head to the Louisville Bats where he’ll work on rediscovering how to throw strikes. I understand that’s important in baseball.

Fisher debuted with the Reds last year and was average. He’s been almost perfect in 8 innings with the Bats this year, but again, small sample sizes.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Drew Stubbs played his first game of 2010 where he wasn’t batting lead-off. He responded to the smaller amount of pressure by going 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.