Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (77-82)	1	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	5	11	1
Pirates (71-88)	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	4	1

Boxscore

As has been well documented, Dontrelle Willis has been searching for a win for a long time.

And in his last start for the Cincinnati Reds in the 2011 season, he finally got it, with very little thanks to closer Francisco Cordero.

Willis turned in his customary 6 innings, 3 runs start, and this time it was enough.

The Reds scoring started in the 1st, when Jay Bruce drove in Brandon Phillips. In the 2nd, Devin Mesoraco drove in Juan Francisco. And then Paul Janish sacrificed a fly to plate Mesoraco.

Willis struggled in the bottom of the 2nd, allowing the Pittsburgh Pirates to tie it 3-3, but he soon took matters into his own hands. In the 6th, Mesoraco singled. Janish doubled. And Willis added his own double to bring both runners in, making it 5-3.

Cordero was brought in to close out the game in the 9th. Like so many previous times, the bullpen allowed some runs. Cordero allowed a run-scoring double to Neil Walker, and with a runner on second base, it looked like Willis’ win was in jeopardy. But Cordero was able to strike out the final two batters to end the game.

The win makes Willis’ record 1-6 on the season, over 13 starts.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brewers (89-63)	1	0	0	1	0	1	3	4	0	10	10	1
Reds (74-78)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	1

Boxscore

Saturday night’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers was unfortunately a bit of a snoozer. The Reds lost 10-1, with the only offense being a solo shot from Yonder Alonso.

The game was fun, though, despite that, with some great tweeting going on via all the Reds Tweetup guests. You can view the tweets here.

Before the event was also the unveiling of the new Johnny Bench statue. Bench spoke to the crowd before the game.

After that, Edinson Volquez took to the mound. He started well, but was probably left in too long and fell apart in the 7th. (No thanks to his bullpen, who allowed all inherited runners to score.)

The Reds’ batters had no luck either, aside from Alonso. The heart of the lineup was quiet, with Joey Votto and Jay Bruce combining for zero hits.

Yovani Gallardo was on his game for the Brewers, and the game was effectively over when Volquez and the bullpen imploded.

Volquez got the loss and Gallardo took the victory. It was a far cry from last September’s Tweetup, when the Reds clinched the division. And from the last Johnny Bench night, when Bench homered to lead the Reds to a win. Sadly, there were no fireworks from Reds catchers tonight.

Still, it was a fun event, and I’m looking forward to next year’s.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	6	1
Reds	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	-	2	6	1

Boxscore

The Reds beat the Cubs tonight, thereby doing their part to keep their elimination number at 1 and put us one step closer to making it possible for the team to fulfill my prediction that they would be eliminated tomorrow. Check the events on the right-side of the page. Now all that we need is for the Rockies to help out by beating the Brewers. It’s sort of hard to imagine that happening, except 1) they’re on a bit of a roll right now and 2) as of this writing, they’re leading the Brewers in the bottom of the sixth.

The win tonight was Mike Leake’s, and likely his last start of the season, seeing as there’s no much point in burning him out now. He went eight innings, giving up one run (earned) on six hits and two walks. It’s nice that he got to get the win over the Cubs this time around, especially considering his last start, where he was one damn out away from a complete game shutout and then gave up the lead on a super-sized home run to Bryan LaHair.

But even more importantly (to me, anyway) is that it was a decent game that I didn’t mind watching. Seems like we haven’t had enough of those lately.

This has barely been a real game wrap, so I don’t mind tacking on another reminder that the CTS and I will be in Cincinnati on Saturday as “celebrity” tweeters in the Reds tweet-up. Hope you can join in. There’s some good pre-game stuff going on that day too, if hanging with twits isn’t enough for you.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Bats	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	12	2
Indians	3	2	0	0	0	0	3	9	0	8	11	0

Boxscore

Over the Labor Day weekend on Saturday, we made it out to the final home game for Pittsburgh Pirates AAA affiliate the Indianapolis Indians. And the Cincinnati Reds AAA affiliate the Louisville Bats were in town.

It was an exciting game, with the teams combining for 10 runs in just the first two innings–two innings that take well more than an hour to play. It was looking like a long game, but both teams settled down after that, until the Indians took the lead for good in the 7th.

We sat in the Captain’s Cove, an excellent bar with comfy chairs in left field. I can’t recommend this place highly enough.

Former Cardinal Ryan Ludwick was manning left field for the Indians and had a solid game, going 3-4 with 2 RBI.

Travis Wood pitched for the Bats.

Now that Devin Mesoraco has been called up, the Reds new catcher of the future is in AAA: Yasmani Grandal.

Matt Hague, winner of the Indians 2011 MVP, at the plate.

The Indians players exchanging high-fives after the win.

After every home win, the Indians ring the Victory Bell. This was the last time this season.

The final scoreboard of 2011 at Victory Field.

And with that, the 2011 home season for the Indians was over. It passed by way too quickly. At least there’s almost a month left of major league ball to enjoy.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	R	H	E
Nats	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	17	2
Reds	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	14	0

Boxscore

It took them 14 innings, but the Cincinnati Reds persevered over the Washington Nationals today to propel themselves to a winning season for the first time since, oh, I don’t know. 1990?

Johnny Cueto contributed half of those innings, allowing two runs (earned) on nine hits and a walk. He also struck out 11, which is fairly awesome. He wasn’t the one to get the win, though, as you probably could have figured out from that 14 inning comment in the first paragraph. Aroldis Chapman, Nick Masset (those extra innings were his fault), Logan Ondrusek, Jose Arredondon, and Bill Bray also did their part. Bray eventually got the win.

Fred Lewis, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, and Yonder Alonso had the RBIs for the game, and they were all great, but Alonso’s was a pinch-hit homer that tied up the game in the bottom of the ninth. Very satisfying.

But Votto’s home run in the 14th may have been even more gratifying, seeing as the Nationals has intentionally walked him in his previous two at-bats. The folks on Twitter were calling tat “Votto-matic,” but I’ll go a step further and declare it “Votto-erotic.”

Tomorrow, the Reds take on the Phillies at 7:10.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Nationals (62-69)	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	8	2
Reds (66-66)	1	0	3	1	0	1	0	0	-	6	9	1

Boxscore

Mike Leake started the game for the Cincinnati Reds in their first attempt to return their record to .500 in longer than I can remember. It was his 3rd attempt for his 11th win, and things didn’t look promising when he walked the first batter.

However, he settled down. Leake allowed no runs in that first inning, and with the exception of 2 runs in the 3rd, the rest of his 6 innings were scoreless. He pitched 6 innings, allowed 2 runs, and left with his team having a 5-2 lead.

That lead was spread around the whole team, with Brandon Phillips driving in one run and scoring 2 more, and Miguel Cairo driving in one and scoring one. Drew Stubbs also went 3-3 and drove in a run. The other runs were driven in by Dave Sappelt and Edgar Renteria.

If this had been Dontrelle Willis starting, you know the bullpen would’ve coughed up that lead. But there were no blown saves tonight. It was the most complete, well put-together win I’ve seen the Reds have in a while. After Leake was pulled, Sam LeCure and Bill Bray held the lead for Francisco Cordero, who had a perfect 9th for the save.

The move improved the team’s record to .500 at 66-66. This is the first time since the beginning of July that they’ve been at .500. They are now 2.5 games behind the 2nd place St. Louis Cardinals.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Nationals (62-68)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	1
Reds (65-66)	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	4	12	1

Boxscore

What a difference 100 games makes.

At the beginning of the season, dreams of the Cincinnati Reds winning a second consecutive division title danced in fans’ heads. And now, with 31 games left in the 2011 season, we’re just hoping for a second consecutive winning season. Oh, and maybe finishing higher than the St. Louis Cardinals.

Friday’s starter was hard-luck no-decisioner Dontrelle Willis. It may not surprise you to learn that Willis again did not get the win. He had good results, albeit a bit lucky, with 6 hits, 5 walks, and 3 runs over 7 innings. On the season, he has a solid 4.14 ERA and a 0-3 record. With the way he’s pitched, he’s certainly deserved more than 0 wins.

Again, though, the Reds failed to score for Willis, saving their runs for after he’d left the game. Down 3-2 in the bottom of the 7th, Jay Bruce walked. After a Ramon Hernandez single and a Drew Stubbs strikeout, Todd Frazier hit a line drive to center field to drive in Bruce and tie the game

They had a great opportunity to score in the 8th, but failed as we’ve come to expect this 2011 team to. But then in the 9th–after Francisco Cordero had an easy top of the 9th–Drew Stubbs singled. Frazier had another single to keep the inning alive for Miguel Cairo, who hit his own line drive to center to drive in Stubbs for the walk-off hit.

The win improves Cincinnati to 65-66 and 3.5 games back of the second-place Cardinals

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (60-63)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	9	2
Nationals (58-63)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	7	0

Boxscore

Johnny Cueto pitched another great game Wednesday night, further cementing his status as the team’s ace pitcher. That extension he signed in the off-season is looking mighty fine right now!

Cueto pitched 8 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 5. His lone run actually came in the bottom of the 9th, after which he was promptly removed for Francisco Cordero, who got the shaky save he’s patented in his time with the Reds.

The Reds’ offense in the 2-1 win was provided by Joey Votto’s 20th home run and an RBI groundout from Ramon Hernandez. And that was enough. Cueto picked up his 9th win and his ERA now stands at 1.89. That’s right: 1.89. Not too shabby.

The Reds and the Nationals are now tied in the series and go for the series win Thursday.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Bats	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	9	0
Indians	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	0

Boxscore

As RHM mentioned, we headed to Victory Field to catch as much of the game between the Louisville Bats and Indianapolis Indians as a school-night would allow. Thankfully, we saw a little bit of offense in the hour and 30 we were there.

Chad Reineke started for the Bats and had decent results. In 5 innings, he allowed 2 runs and struck out 5. Of course, he also allowed 7 hits, which indicates either goof luck in not allowing more runs or bad luck in the defense behind him. And since most of the Reds’ best infield prospects are with the major league club or injured, I’m leaning towards the latter.

The offense was provided by lots of Bats batters, but none was more impressive than power-hitter Juan Francisco.

Francisco had what appeared to be either an accidental swing, or at least a half-hearted one, and sent a ball over the right field berm area. It was a power shot, and it looked like he barely swung. It’s the best display of his power I’ve seen. He’s almost always looked over-matched in the majors.

The rosters are set to expand for the Cincinnati Reds at the beginning of next month, but it’s hard to see who might be called up. Francisco, sure. But the only other position player who seems likely is catcher Devin Mesoraco. He went 1 for 4 on the night, but that one hit did lead to the eventual run scoring. Considering, he’s got a .291 average, a 37% on-base percentage, and is slugging .484, he might not have much left to prove in AAA, anyway.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Rockies (55-64)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	1
Reds (57-61)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	2	6	0

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds split the 4-game series with the Colorado Rockies Thursday, thanks to another amazing start from Johnny Cueto.

Remember back in the playoffs last year when Baker picked Edinson Volquez to start the series against the Philadelphia Phillies? And then when he chose Volquez again to start the 2011 season? Yeah, he was wrong about Volquez being an ace. It was the other guy with dreadlocks.

Cueto has been amazing this year. This latest start is no exception. Over 7 innings, he allowed 3 hits, walked 2, struck out 9, and allowed no runs. That got his ERA back under 2.00 at 1.94. He leads the league in ERA and has clearly been about the best starter in the majors this year. And his record is only 8-5. The poor guy has had more blown saves than I care to look up.

But not this time. This time, the bullpen was there for him. Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless 8th, and Francisco Cordero picked up his 22nd save. Although he did allow one run. I think he was just doing his part to improve the Reds’ horrible record in games decided by one run.

The offense was the only thing that wasn’t strong for Cueto. It scored 2 runs in the first, thanks to an RBI from Jay Bruce and an error by the Rockies. In the end, it sure was nice to see the Reds not lose a series to a below-average team for a change.