We Remember You Grant Balfour, Reds Win in 12, 2-1

While some people may not hold any ill will towards a player whose time with a team was limited by injury, something which would seem to be out of their control, this side does hold grudges. The author remembers Balfour's acquisition last season, the seemingly attractive relief option from Minnesota, only to see him pitch a total of zero innings with the big club. Nice season Grant. It all came back around in the 12th tonight where the Reds won it when Valentin walked the team off with a rope to right. Our pal Grant retired the same number of people tonight as he did last season for Cincinnati, which seems fair.

Apparently, the team is only interested in beating teams who are over .500, which is admirable. Though they did beat the Marlins in the first game, that's four in a row over what we'll call good teams, though, really Atlanta may not qualify. Tonight, Harango was as sharp as that chin-strap beard pictured above, going a solid ten innings in honoring my request not to see the charlatans for a while. But, as stated, this offense isn't going to reward you when you do things like give up home runs to Ryan Braun. Builds character. The offense will have to be a little better tomorrow without Harang on the mound, the performace against Capuano was not encouraging. Reds! Reds! Reds!