There's no good way to type the disgusted sound I'm making. “Ugh” isn't quite right, nor is “Blech.” “Bah” gets across the disillusionment, but not the disappointment. Maybe “Gah.” Yes, that's it.

Gah. I'm going to bed.

The Reds ended their four-game winning streak tonight when the offense failed to make an appearance. Apparently a man named “Wandy” is more intimidating than I would have thought. The spectacle resulted in a 2-5 loss to the Astros that knocked the Reds back into sharing fourth place with the Cubs. The Cubs' win a few minutes later knocked the Reds all the way back to fifth.

Though the Reds managed to score first in the fifth inning when Adam Dunn doubled in Sean Casey, the Astros came back in the bottom of the inning. Ramón Ortiz allowed small hits to get in the Astros first run, a medium sac fly to get in the go-ahead run, and a super-gulp three-run homer by Morgan Ensberg to give the Astros of their score for the rest of the game.

In the top of the ninth, Brad Lidge got into an uncharacteristic jam when he loaded the bases with Valentín coming up with one out. Surprisingly, though, Javy did not hit the grand slam, but instead grounded out to second and plated the Reds last run of the night.

Well, that's just depressing. I think I'll post my Freel South Park character after all, since we could all use a chuckle.

Tomorrow, Brandon “Pickle Man” Claussen takes on Andy Pettitte. Here's hoping “Andy” is less intimidating than “Wandy” and the bats show up.

Go Reds.

Inspired by Joel, whom I've nearly forgiven for getting a Freel character up literally minutes before mine appeared.

Chicago's 14-3 win over Florida brings them back into the tie for fourth with the Reds. However, since the Cubs don't play until the evening tomorrow, should the Reds sweep the series with a win in the afternoon, they'll have fourth all to themselves for no less than five or six hours. It would also set them up well for the more difficult legs of this long-ass road trip.

Quite a win today with Luke Hudson holding the Pirates to one run through six innings. I don't know who that guy was posing as Hudson earlier this season, but I'm glad he's gone.

It's 3:31 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (not Eastern Daylight Time). The Reds have beaten the Pirates for the third time in a row, this time by a 7-2 margin.

Meanwhile, the Cubs are currently up 6-3 against the Florida Marlins in the bottom of the seventh inning.

So, for at least the next 35 minutes or so, the Reds have fourth place all to themselves. Ooh, that's nice. I could get used to that.

Go Reds! (and Go Marlins!)