As you no-doubt noticed from the ads that are in regular rotation here and at other baseball sites, State Farm is again offering an opportunity for you to win World Series tickets by playing the Go to Bat game.

The game itself is a home-run hitting contest. The higher your score, the better your chance to win the World Series tickets. You could dedicate your Angry Birds time to this game instead and add “chance to go to the big game” to the long list of benefits you already get from playing.

Here’s Ohio-native and Reds fan John Legend talking about this program. I’m not really sure how the list of presidents ties in to the rest of the stuff, but everyone likes to watch a video, right?

Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman’s hair is no more.

A few weeks ago, Brennaman and bench coach Chris Speier were talking about the Reds ability to win 10 in a row. Brennaman disagreed and off-handedly said he’d shave his head if the team did it. When the team accomplished that feat last week, Brennaman said he’d go through with it. After last night’s game, a barber shop chair was set up on home plate, and Marty’s own personal barber shaved off the poofy white locks.

More than $50,000 was raised for the Reds Community Fund as part of the event last night.

“I’m thrilled that they raised the kind of money they did in four days,” Brennaman said after his historic haircut. “I have no complaints. It’s going to be interesting now to see how quickly my hair grows back, but I’m not going to worry about it.”

Very few left the stadium to witness the haircut after the game. And I’m sure the players enjoyed it, as well. Bronson Arroyo certainly did.

“The guys were pumped because we knew he just said that off-handedly on the bus,” said Reds pitcher Arroyo. “It was kind of a joke at the time, and then it started to get a little more serious. You never get to achieve some of those goals when people throw out those outlandish things. This one’s coming true, so it’s cool.”

Brennaman apparently intends to have it grow back. What I wonder is if he’ll have it shaved the stubble down again should the Reds win 10 more.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pirates (60-45)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Reds (65-41)	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	-	3	7	0

Boxscore

In the first game of the showdown between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates, Mat Latos dominated from both sides of the plate.

Latos went 7 1/3 innings and shut out the Pirates. He allowed 4 hits, 3 walks, and struck out none. With the shutout assistance from the bullpen–Jonathan Broxton and Aroldis Chapman–Latos picked up his 10th win of the season. He now joins Johnny Cueto as the second starter on the team with wins in the double-digits. Homer Bailey is likely to be next to join them, as he has 9 wins. Bronson Arroyo is a ways away with only 7.

On the offensive side, the Reds took the lead in the 2nd thanks to an inside-the-park home run from Chris Heisey. Latos himself contributed to making things easier for himself by hitting a 2-run home run in the 5th inning. The ball was caught by a Pirates fan who promptly got rid of the ball. It was the first home run of the year for Latos, but the 3rd of his career.

Three runs was more than enough for the Reds’ 65th win. The win increased the Reds’ lead over the Pirates to 4 games and assured Cincinnati of being alone in first no matter what happens in the remaining two games.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Padres	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	1
Reds	0	6	0	2	0	0	0	1	-	9	13	0

Boxscore

At the beginning of July, the Reds visited San Diego for a four-game series with the Padres. They lost the first game and won the next three. Yesterday afternoon, the Reds finished another four-game series with the Padres in Cincinnati with the exact same result: lost the first and won the last three.

That’s a winning percentage I can get on board with, even though this time the one loss broke the 10-game winning streak.

Johnny Cueto started for the Reds in yesterday’s afternoon affair. He went 7.1 innings and allowed all 4 runs (earned) on 8 hits and a walk. Logan Ondrusek finished out the eighth inning without allowing a baserunner. Jose Arredondo pitched the ninth and allowed only a walk.

With 9 runs and 13 hits, there’s a lot to talk about on the offensive side. Jay Bruce, Scott Rolen, Zack Cozart, Miguel Cairo, and Ryan Hanigan each had multiple hits. But it was Todd Frazier who hit a 2-run home run in the second and brought in another run on a force out in the eighth who can take the credit for the most RBI.

Frazier’s home run started the scoring in the second, but it was a big inning all around. Cozart and Cairo followed it up with singles, setting up Hanigan to double in a run. Cueto and Xavier Paul made outs, but then Drew Stubbs drew a walk which let Jay Bruce single in another couple runs while leaving runners on the corners. A balk then brought in Stubbs. There were another couple walks, but that turned out to be the end of the scoring. You had to see an inning like that end, but as it turns out, that inning alone was all the runs the Reds would need.

The win brings the Reds’ record to 64-41. Tonight they host the toughest contender they’ve faced in a while: the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mat Latos (RHP, 9-3, 4.17 ERA) faces off against the Pirates’ new acquisition, Wandy Rodriguez (LHP, 0-0, 4.50 ERA). First pitch at 7:10 p.m.