Reds Sell The Rights to That Win to Mr. Nikapopulous, Cubs 4-1

Reds decided to drop the last one in the home stand before hitting the road for four in San Francisco followed by three in L.A. In pretty confident they hammer the Dodgers all three games but if you'll recall, they struggled a little big against the Giants in San Francisco last year - giving up 10 or more runs in all three games. They did win one of them, which was fun. So, hopefully that's not the case this year because the Giants' offense is brutally bad. Like 5 Corey Patterson's, Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff. I think Kevin Mitchell's still available for pinch hitting, if necessary. Fortunately for the Giants, they have an okay rotation. Okay compared to the Reds rotation. Pretty good compared to everyone else. Madison Bumgarner takes the hill tomorrow. He already has 7 losses (even with an ERA under 4.00). The Red plan to make it 8.

Yesterday the Reds didn't close things out against the Cubs very strong. They had the bases loaded in the first against Dempter, who is muy terrible, but didn't score any runs. Cairo was the main offender, popping up to second with one out. They eventually took the lead in the 3rd but did very little after that. Something else was, in fact, required of them. After Janish booted a grounder to short, Arroyo gave up a long bomb to Carlos Pena who only seems to be able to hit against the Reds. Aramis Ramirez (remember when he used to be a legitimate big league player? It seems so long ago) followed Pena's bomb up with one of his own. The Cubs added another run with some help from an Arredondo walk. Apparently, you can't pick off to first when there is no one standing on the bag. When I say apparently, I mean clearly and unquestionably. Must be the language barrier. At least that was back-up radio guy Jim Kelch's opinion. I think he probably knows just about everything about everything. It's just delivered in an excruciatingly, but sweet, tone. Just tell me what happened! I hear the crown cheering/booing.

Anyway, Arroyo gets the loss, Reds conclude the homestand 5-4, which isn't bad but they lost a couple along the way. Notably the Dodgers meltdown last Saturday. They can make them up on the road, or at home versus the Yankees. Easy wins coming up.