Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake came out today and provided his side of the story of his arrest earlier this month. And it truly was as boneheaded as the rumors would lead you to believe.

Leake pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor today.

Leake said that on April 2, he went in to purchase six shirts and they did not fit. He went back to Macy’s on April 18 and exchanged them on his own, instead of talking to a clerk. He said he set the six shirts down, got the correct sizes and walked out. Leake then was stopped by store security.

“I realize how boneheaded of a move it was,” Leake said. “It was very wrong and I sincerely apologize. It was a serious lapse of judgment, and for that I will be willing to do anything that I will have to do.”

Given that Leake is just 23, I can see him having that kind of lapse in thinking. How many times has he exchanged things?

Still, it’s good to see the thing over. Leake will have to put in 30 hours of community service and be on good behavior for a bit. I’m hoping he can avoid doing any gas station drive-offs in that time. The price of gas is getting high.

No, he’s not a Pokemon, but Cincinnati Reds fireballer Aroldis Chapman seems to add to his move set the more battles he’s victorious in.

Remember back to Saturday when the Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals? Chapman got the win in that affair, shutting down the Cardinals in the 7th inning.

Yesterday, Chapman did it again, this time against the Milwaukee Brewers. He was brought in in the bottom of the 8th in a tie game with runners on first and second. He promptly hit the first batter he faced to load them, but after that, the Brewers didn’t have a chance. He struck out Carlos Gomez and then got Ryan Braun to ground weakly to third for the final out.

But he wasn’t done. The game was still tied heading into the bottom of the 9th, so rather than use his closer, Dusty Baker sent Chapman back out. Again, the Brewers didn’t have a chance. He made Prince Fielder look silly, striking him out, got a fly-out from Casey McGehee, and then picked off the one runner he did allow to reach. Oh, and all of this with his fastball consistently north of 100 miles per hour. John Fay described it as Chapman’s best game so far.

Chapman threw 19 pitches, 17 strikes.

“That was the best he’s looked,” Baker said. “He was throwing quality strikes and getting quality hitters out. … They got guys over there who can hit in the clutch.”

Obviously the guy would be more valuable in the starting rotation, but he sure is a nice option to have right now. And until then, he might just be making Baker a better, smarter manager.

Let’s hope he he’s not reached level 100 yet. I’d hate to see him maxed out so early.

How, after all these years, did I not realize that “Trey” was a reference to “three”? #Duh

Dr. Saturday, a BCS blog on Yahoo.com, talked a little about “The Kid’s Kid” last week, specifically regarding his (so far, largely unsuccessful) efforts to land at a prestigious football college:

The football scouts have been somewhat less impressed: Griffey’s only Division I offer to date is from Florida International, though a few heavier hitters seem to have shown some serious interest, and he hopes a transfer to a more high-profile program.

There’s a video with Trey that you might like to click over and check out.

No word yet on David Weathers’ son who so impressed the world as a surprisingly skilled 6-year old. He must be almost to middle school by now, so you’ll want to keep your eyes open for that one.

Remember a couple years ago when that video of the storm blowing through Busch Stadium was all over the place?

Now you can enjoy even more windy footage from St. Louis, the heir-apparent to the Windy City. This is surveillance footage from the airport when the storm that delayed the first game of the recent Red-Cards series blew through:

Yes, letting that game proceed on schedule was a good idea.

Boxscore

Ah, at last: a Reds game without a rain delay. Sometimes that dome really pays off.

Tonight Bronson Arroyo took the mound for the Reds and put in a really good showing, giving up just 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits and two bases on balls through 6 and a third innings. Logan Ondrusek, Bill Bray, Nick Massett and Jordan Smith filled in the rest of the innings and gave up another three runs among them, but that’s OK when your offense has put together a six-run third.

From the offense, Dusty Baker changed the line-up to shake it up, to excellent results. Brandon Phillips knocked in three of the team’s six from the clean-up spot. Jay Bruce and Ryan Hannigan each contributed two more RBI from the two hole and seven hole respectively. Jonny Gomes and Arroyo filled out the rest of the RBI story.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a game wrap on Red Hot Mama without a mention of Joey “minor obsession” Votto: he went 1-for-5 to pull his average down to .383 but extend his on-base streak to something unholy like 40 games or something.

Tomorrow the Reds continue the series with the Brewers tomorrow in Milwaukee at 8:10 p.m. Mike Leake will take on Marco Estrada.

CINCINNATI, OHIO– There are still spots remaining for Cincinnati Reds Right Fielder Jay Bruce’s second annual baseball camp! The Second Annual CBTS Jay Bruce Baseball Camp presented by Chiquita and Fifth Third Bank in partnership with the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum is Monday, July 25th and Tuesday, July 26th at Prasco Park from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Fan favorite Jay Bruce will be on site for the entire two days of camp to direct activities and provide instruction. Jay will be joined by several top prep and collegiate coaches from the greater Cincinnati area. The camp is open to boys and girls ages 6 to 14.

Campers experience various stations, specializing in fundamental skills and the team concept of baseball. Individual groups are small to assure each camper gets maximum personalized instruction.

Campers receive an autographed team photo with Jay Bruce, camp T-shirt and the opportunity to win additional contests and prizes. Cost of the camp is $174.

Additional camp partners include Chiquita, Fifth Third Bank, Kroger, Marge and Charles Schott Foundation, Old Spice, Powerade, FS Ohio, 700 WLW and Zionsville Times Sentinel.

Information and registration are available at www.JayBruceCamp.com or by calling 888-389-CAMP.

The Cincinnati Reds had played several games without third basemen Scott Rolen, and today they decided they couldn’t play with a short roster any longer. Rolen has been placed on the 15-day disabled list.

The move is retroactive to Thursday, and leaves the Reds very short on the hot corner. Rolen’s backup, Juan Francisco, was sent to the disabled list last week with a strained calf. And there are no real backups left on the major league roster because Edwin Renteria stubbornly refuses to play any position besides second and short.

The Reds’ roster move to replace Rolen was to call up Chris Valaika, but I don’t think he’s well-suited for third. And his bat is definitely a big drop from Rolen’s.

Despite the season being less than a month old, the Reds have had a parade of players to the disabled list. Rolen is the 7th such player, which is “good” for 4th in the majors. Despite all the injuries, the team has spent all but one day with a share of first place.

As much of a goofy, goody-two-shoes, Jim-Edmonds-lover as he is, George Grande has always been a favorite broadcaster of mine, so I was psyched to have gotten this message in my email inbox:

Grande will be calling play-by-play alongside analyst Chris Welsh for the Cincinnati Reds-Milwaukee Brewers series next Monday, April 25 through Wednesday, April 27th.

Monday’s game in Milwaukee begins at 8pm. Tune in to Reds Live pregame show at 7:30pm and visit www.foxsportsohio.com for additional coverage.

Hopefully my class will get out early on Monday so that I can get as much of my George Grande fix as possible, but if not, I’ll be spending some extra time with the Georginator 6000 XL.

Boxscore

A day after the St. Louis Cardinals cheated themselves to an early advantage, the Cincinnati Reds finally got their bearings back and put away the Redbirds.

Things started very well, with Reds’ starter Travis Wood pitching a scoreless first inning. Let me repeat that. A Reds starter pitched a scoreless first inning. While it might seem a mundane thing, it’s something that hadn’t happened for 6 or seven games. Wood did allow runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th, but he did turn in a quality start.

Chris Carpenter started for the Cardinals and was wild in the first, but managed to escape unscathed. The Reds continued to have solid at-bats against him, working up his pitch count. He left after 6 innings having thrown 103 pitches and allowed a couple of runs.

Those 2 runs for the Reds came when they were down 2-0 in the 6th. Joey Votto came to the plate with a runner on and deposited a 3-0 pitch over the outfield wall. That’s what an MVP does right there.

The Reds promptly gave up the lead in the bottom of the 6th, but their attitude seemed less defeated than before. RHM turned to me during the rain delay and said, “They’re going to win this one.”

And they did, thanks to the Cardinals’ crappy defense and Ryan Franklin. In the 8th, Miguel Batista was pitching. Drew Stubbs reached on an error, Brandon Phillips struck out, Joey Votto was intentionally walked, and Jonny Gomes was hit by a pitch. Trever Miller was brought in to face Jay Bruce, but Bruce worked a walk that brought in the tying run. Then the Cardinals turned to their former closer, Franklin, who promptly gave up a two-run single to Miguel Cairo.

That was enough for the Reds. Francisco Cordero came in for the Reds in the 9th and pitched a perfect inning for his 3rd save.

The Reds and Cardinals will play tomorrow night to see who wins the series. We’ll see if the Cardinals can go another game without cheating.