No Suprises Here, Reds Victorious 7-6

On-base machine Encarnacion decided to diversify from walking every at bat and take Gallardo out of the yard with teammates occupying all of the bases. Eddie's slam capped a 6-run 3rd putting the Reds up for good and providing Volquez with a much-deserved victory. Five innings with 100 pitches thrown and 6 runs allowed, if that doesn't entitled you to a 'w' I don't know what does. Now that he has that first win out of the way he can get back to pitching effectively.

Ray Jay Bruce also decided it was time to remember that he's wicked sweet. He put the team on the board in the first with a rocket to right. But the real stars tonight were the charlatans from the bullpen. Four innings of scoreless relief was simply outstanding. Burton and Rhodes worked relatively uneventful innings before giving way to Weathers. Sensing that interest was waning and viewers would be tempted to turn over to one of the weightloss or dancing shows, he loaded up the bases with two-out in the 8th before tricking Hardy to rip one to center, right at Tavaras. That second and a half from the time the ball left the bat until the time Wilmy settled underneath provided a glimmer of hope for Brewer fans before punching them in the heart. Coco then closed things out. He looks as if he may have grown weary of the talks of his being overpaid for such a specialized role. That makes two saves in two opportunities.

Nice to see Big Frucking Nasty again, though where was the backbreaking home run allowed following his quick first inning of relief. I still recall the numerous times I thought 'that was a nice inning, lets save the rest of the arms and leave Coffey out there for the 8th/9th' which inevitably immediately proceeded a walk and a monster shot out of the park and an exit from the game to beat the hell out of the locker room. Reds take the series tomorrow. Reds! Reds! Reds!