Last Game
Well, that was disappointing. Everybody knows what Brandon Phillips had to say about the St. Louis Cardinals before yesterday’s game. Yadier Molina took particular exception to it and starting jawing at Phillips, inciting a benches clearing brawl before the Reds had batted in the bottom of the first. In the post-game interview, he said he didn’t like it that Phillips said, “Hi,” to him. I imagine they’re no longer Facebook friends, either.

After all the excitement, the Reds did kind of collapse. I can’t blame them too much. It wasn’t until this year that they weren’t too scared of large crowds to play well. Controlling emotions enough to play well is the next step, and last night should give them some experience towards that.

The Reds managed only 6 hits, but had 3 errors. It was a sloppy, sloppy game. They ended up losing 8-4.

Next Game
Bronson Arroyo goes to the mound to attempt to prevent the sweep and to get the Reds back into sole possession of first place. The Cardinals will send out Adam Wainwright. Game-time is 12:35pm EDT.

The Fight
The fight last night sure was exciting. Of course, now we all have to wait while MLB reviews the tapes to see who gets suspended. During the game, only the managers were ejected.

Johnny Cueto, the starting pitcher last night, seems to be taking the biggest grief from the Cardinals, but I don’t think it’s warranted. After the first calm was reached, Chris Carpenter and Scott Rolen got into it, reigniting things. Cueto, who’d been standing nearby, suddenly found 50 bodies crushing him against the bricks and netting behind home plate. He responded by attempting to kick the crush away. In the melee, he, according to Tony LaRussa, gave Jason LaRue a slight concussion. “I was up against the net. When 15 people are around you, you get scared. I had my back to the wall with my feet up.”

We’ll see in a few days if MLB agrees with his take. You can watch the video here.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Jim Edmonds had the 2,000th appearance of his career last night. He walked, but still managed to make an out by being thrown out at 2nd.