Arroyo Gets Haircut, Lessens Great Power, Nats 8-5

The Reds got a rare chance to show the national television audience what their makeup. I think that everyone was probably very impressed. Arroyo didn't have his best stuff, whatever that is. He doesn't ever throw very hard, so it must be location that makes the difference but whatever it is, that has been then far more often than it has not, was not there tonight. That sentence makes much sense. He ended up posting 5+ with 7 earned. At least he has the excuse that he was facing the very potent Washington lineup.Though, the picture to the right represents is level of interest.

Taking a brief break from talking about Strasburg and any number of other Strasburg-related topics, the Reds made the ESPN acknowledge them when Phillips tripled with two outs in the third. Cabrera, making up for his first inning at bat when he hit the deck like mortars were falling from the sky on a hook from Steverino which fell into the strike zone, knocked him in. Phillips, who dances as good as he walks, showcased that talent in the dugout. That lead didn't last long. Arroyo walked Dunn to lead off the 4th, he later scored on a sac fly by Bernadinha. In the 5th the Nats took the lead on a two-out bomb from Cristian Guzman. The swing he put on the high inside fastball looked like something he does more often than twice this season. The 6th inning proved to be Bronson's undoing, giving up a two-run single to Ian Desmond and then Bray did the rest of the damage, allowing another two-run single to Nyjer Morgan. Bray, of late, looks as if he'd prefer a demotion to Louisville. He's still making the big league money and he can go back to dominating lesser talent. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. The Reds put up a little bit of a fight later on, with Cairo making me hyphenate yet another recap, on a two-run single in the bottom of the 6th.

But the Reds' goal coming in was to win the series and three out of four will work just fine. Volquez is on the hill, so that's a virtual guarantee. His hormones are in the proper alignment. Now if the asshole Cardinals would just start losing again everything would be back to normal. The Reds Rocket predicts that the Cardinal losses begin tomorrow then continue during the trip to Chicago. And you all know what Reds Rocket predictions are worth, quite a bit.