Reds Decide Season is Over Now, Nats 4-2

This author was in the middle of a long drive for the last two days, so was unable to watch the team lose for a second and third time to the Nationals, quite a pity. The new lineup, which features only players with batting averages under .270, seems to have a little trouble scoring the runs. But this series wasn't just characterized by no offense, it featured a nice variety of poor performances: there was the bad start by Bailey to open things up, then the bullpen meltdown Saturday, and finally, the inability to get hits off of Balester yesterday. Nice job team.

Today they get to return home, where they can be booed in person and blasted by the local on-air personalities. They should enjoy that. When Sabathia (I heard an announcer call him 'Slim' the other day which is a good nickname, like Curly) isn't pitching, the Reds have played well against the Brewers this year. And they typically follow really bad play with brief periods of good play. So, we'll just have to wait and see. Three with the Brewers then four with the Astronauts. A 7-game winning streak would make me, temporarily, forget the disappointment of a sweep at the hands of the Nationals.