Boxscore

Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Mike Leake finally had an outing that was, without qualification, good. And Todd “The Crane” Frazier did what Scott Rolen cannot, and launched two home runs–a solo shot and a two-run homer–to propel the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-3 victory over the New York Mets.

Leake’s final line was 6 innings, 1 earned run, 7 hits, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts. The bullpen trio of Jose Arredondo, Aroldis Chapman, and Sean Marshall entered the game after that to shut the Mets down while the offense battled back.

In many ways, that 4-run 8th inning is something that it feels like the Reds should put together at least once almost every game. It was very, very nice to see it tonight. I hope that Dusty Baker can stay out of the way enough to let it happen again tomorrow and get the Reds the sweep of the short series when Mat Latos starts against R. A. Dickey at 1:10pm EDT.

Cincinnati, OH—Don’t miss out—the 2012 Gillette Jay Bruce Baseball ProCamp in partnership with Heinz presented by Fifth Third Bank and CBTS is coming up soon!

The two-day event is July 16th-17th from 8:30AM-12:30PM at Sycamore High School in Cincinnati.

Bruce will be on site the entire camp to direct activities and provide instruction. He will be joined by a selection of the top prep and collegiate coaches from the Cincinnati area.

The camp is open to boys and girls ages 6 to 14 and focuses on the team concept and fundamentals of baseball. Groups will be small to ensure that each camper receives personalized instruction. Bruce will also give daily talks highlighting the finer points of the game of baseball and beyond.

Each camper receives an autographed camp team photo with Bruce, exclusive camp T-shirt, goodie bag with over $80 worth of merchandise and the opportunity to win additional prizes. Cost of the ProCamp is $174.

Additional camp partners include The Christ Hospital, Champion Windows, The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, FS Ohio, 700 WLW and The Cincinnati Enquirer.

For more information and registration, please visit www.JayBruceCamp.com or call 888-389-CAMP (2267).

Boxscore

Well, that sucked.

Johnny Cueto turned in his worst start of the 2012 season for the Cincinnati Reds, lasting only 4 innings and allowing 6 runs–5 earned–while giving up 8 hits and 2 walks and striking out 2. His ERA ballooned to 1.89.

The offense turned in what you would expect from a Dusty Baker-led team: 2 runs. Those were driven in by Ryan Hanigan and Drew Stubbs in the 7th.

The Reds fell back to 1 game above .500, where I feel they will continue to flounder so long as Baker is the manager. Joey Votto can only hit so many walk-off grand slams. I’d really prefer they fired him now before too much more of the season is wasted.

The Reds split the short, 2-game series with the Atlanta Braves and fell 2.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. Tomorrow, they travel to New York to take on the Mets at 7:10pm EDT. Mike Leake starts for the Reds, while the Mets counter with Johan Santana.

COLUMBUS, OH – FOX Sports Ohio is pleased to air the Pepsi MAX Field of Dreams Game on Saturday, May 19 at 4:30pm, or following Reds Live postgame show after the Reds-Yankees game.

The baseball game took place this past Saturday, May 12 at Huntington Park. It featured a dream team of MLB legends, including Johnny Bench, Frank Thomas, and Reggie Jackson, playing six innings against the winner of the Pepsi MAX Field of Dreams contest, Columbus resident Tim Wisecup and his ten friends.

Last fall, fans had the chance to visit mlb.com/pepsimax to vote for which of four finalists they wanted to host the Pepsi MAX Field of Dreams Team, and now Wisecup will have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play ball against the starting Dream Team comprised of:

• Catcher – Johnny Bench
• First Baseman – Frank Thomas
• Second Baseman – Edgar Martinez
• Third Baseman – Wade Boggs
• Shortstop – Ozzie Smith
• Outfielders – Reggie Jackson, Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield
• Pitcher – Pedro Martinez
• Relief Pitcher – Dennis Eckersley

Appearances were also made by Joe Charboneau, Lenny Barker, and Kent Mercker.

FOX Sports Ohio’s telecast on Saturday, May 19 will be a one-hour version of the game. It will air at 4:30pm, or following the Reds Live postgame show after the Reds-Yankees game. George Grande called play by play and David Maezhold and Natalie Taylor served as dugout reporters, interviewing MLB legends and Wisecup.

In addition to the May 19 broadcast, replays will air on the following dates:

• May 20 at 7pm
• May 26 at 3pm
• June 2 at 12pm

Joey Votto made history yesterday, and Cooperstown took notice. Though his three-homer performance against the Washington Nationals wasn’t a first (heck, Votto has done it before himself), it was the first time one of those three home runs was a walk-off grand slam.

The Hall of Fame has requested the bat that so punished all those balls:

“It’s an honor for the Hall of Fame to be interested in something of mine,” Votto said. “It’s a first for me, and I’m happy about it.”

Though it was Mother’s Day, it was a black bat that’s going to the Hall, according to the story on Reds.com. On the pre-game show tonight, Votto was saying that it was a bat he was sad to part ways with, it being particularly well made, even among all the well-made bats Louisville Slugger provides.

In fact, Votto did go hitless tonight without that bat, though he was lacking many opportunities. The Braves walked him twice.

Boxscore

The Reds continued their role as NLE spoiler tonight by knocking the Braves back into second place behind the Nationals by winning 3-1.

It was Homer Bailey on the mound to start things off against a formidable Braves’ offense. He worked 6.2 innings, allowing 1 run (earned) on 6 hits and 2 walks. Logan Ondrusek and Aroldis Chapman then came on to put in .2 inning apiece, with Ondrusek being the lucky one to be on the mound when the win came. Sean Marshall closed it out for the save.

Though everyone was still talking about Joey Votto’s three-homer game, walk-off grand slam, and bat going into the Hall of Fame, it was the right-handers who knocked in the runs for a change. Brandon Phillips and Chris Heisey had an RBI apiece. In fact, Heisey went 3-for-3. Not bad.

Tomorrow the Reds and Braves finish out the two-game series. With Johnny Cueto (4-0, 1.12 ERA) taking the mound against Tim Hudson (1-1, 4.50 ERA), the chances for a sweep seem better than they have all season.

Boxscore

I wanted to write a game wrap for this afternoon’s tonight’s rain-delayed game, but there are really only two things to say about it.

• Joey Votto is awesome. Totally awesome.
• His awesomeness kept Dusty Baker off the managerial hot seat for one more day.