Our beloved Reds: Vastly improved starting rotation. Bullpen putting way fewer games out of reach. Most potent offense in the world. Complete powerhouse on the road.

Also our beloved Reds: A hair's breadth from 2005 Eric Milton. Coffey redeeming a rough outing he's been due for for a while. Offense out-homered by KC. Stumbling at home.

At least it's never boring.

If you don't frequent Red Reporter, you might not have noticed the writer of Royals Revue dropping a little smack talk in the diaries. Don't worry: I went over there and told them where to find the real smack.

So to you, Mr. Revue and to KC fans everywhere: welcome! We look forward to watching Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo take your fellas to school the next couple nights. If nothing else, I think you'll find that Mr. Red and the cheerleaders out-spirit your in-stadium entertainment any day of the week!

Matt Belisle is back after a lengthy exile to minor league rehab pergatory. Mike Burns was sent down to accommodate him.

Meanwhile, Edwin Encarnación is finally beginning his rehab assignment with Louisville. At the time of this writing, he had started at third base and was 1-for-2 with a run scored against Richmond.

On a slight tangent, Louisville is a half game back on Indianapolis in the International League standings. Is it any wonder with the likes of Dewayne Wise, Chris Denorfia, and Little Ray Ray taking the field.

Tonight the Reds take on the Royals. At first glance, you like the Reds' chances, but on the other hand it's impossible to forget their recent beatings at the hands of the Cubs. Milton's already given up a home run and is up to 32 pitches here in the second inning.

George Grande just said that Chris Welch is away because his father passed away this week. They gave the information on the visitation tomorrow morning, so if any of you are interested in paying your respects, you can probably find that out with a little research. Condolences to all the Welch's from Red Hot Mama.

How about them Cardinals, huh? They're currently on a seven-game losing streak, which has allowed the Reds to find themselves just one-and-a-half games back despite a rough-ish patch lately. Of course, even the Cardinals' recent doldrums can't compare to the skid by Pittsburgh. The Pirates' losing streak is 11.

Barry Larkin bobblehead night is tomorrow. It's apparently the second bobblehead in the series of three “Power of Tradition” figurines honoring three generations of short stops. If this information appears on Reds.com, I can't find it. I did find it on zipscene.com, if you'd like to get a little more information.

Milton's out of the top of the inning. Now Kearns is on first and Phillips is working the count. Go Reds!

Knock, knock, knock, knock. The Reds recover nicely from a rather lousy home stand to go 4-3 on a road trip where the opposition included their cross-state rivals, the Cleveland Indians - against whom they had not won a road series since 1997.

Knock, knock, knock. Tonight they begin a three-game series at home against the Royals, arguably the worst team in all of major league baseball. Eric Milton, who hasn't lost to the Royals since 1999 and is on a ten-game personal winning streak against KC, opens the series tonight against Mike Wood, who is 3-8 with a 5.24 ERA in 17 road starts and will be making his first appearance ever against the Reds. Wednesday it's Harang vs. Scott Elarton (3-8 this year), and Thursday it's Arroyo against Bobby Keppel, a rookie still looking for his first major league win.

Knock, knock, knock. After that the Indians come to town, and after that it's back on the road for series against first the Brewers and then the cellar-dwelling Atlanta Braves (hey, I've waited 16 years to call them that!). And after that, it's time for the All-Star Break. Yes, already. See how time flies when you're having fun?

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! The Cardinals are on a seven-game losing streak and just a game and a half ahead of the Reds in the division standings.

So what's all that noise and banging? It's opportunity knocking. When the new regime took over this ballclub, we were told that if the team could manage to stay in it this long, then management would go ahead and bite the bullet and bring in some help to keep them in it.

The players have done their part. Now it's management's turn.

Knock, knock, bang, bang. Hey, Wayne? Bob? You guys wanna answer that, please?