Congratulations to Ryan Freel for taking the Reds' record for steals in a single game, with five in the game tonight. And, on a personal note, I'd like to say a special thanks to Freel for helping out the fantasy team: steals was a close category for me this week.

Also, a shout-out to Jacob Cruz for the two-run pinch-hit home run in the seventh. He must have been feeling the love I sent his way on Monday. Albeit on a slight delay.

Sweet dreams, everyone. Tomorrow's game starts at a decent hour for a change.

Go Reds!

We had a good game tonight. If we hadn't allowed the run in the fifth, we would have had our first mercy killing since…ever. But that almost would have been a shame, since we got to pad our stats a little with that sixth.

When we arrived at the field, our opponents were waiting. We never knew their team name, but they were all wearing tie-dye, so I've dubbed them the Tie-Dye Guys.

Even though the TDGs were in full-effect, the Stars were not. Matt and Mark were absent, Joe and Jerry weren't around, Little Robert couldn't be there, and Bobbi was nowhere to be seen. As we warmed up, we were looking at a line-up of three athletes and three partners: pretty scary. Bobbi rolled up at the very last minute to spare me pitching and we borrowed three outfielders (Mike, Dar, and Doug) from the Cardinals, who were preparing to play the TDGs right after us. The game was underway.

No one is on the bench to keep score when we're in the field, but even just the plays in our half of the inning would be too numerous to wrap here. I'll just hit some highlights:

• We definitely remember turning two double plays, and there might have been a third. Not a single one of Jon's throws went over Abe's head (though he did hit a foul ball that disappeared into the soybean field, never to be seen again).
• Our infield had an excellent fielding night. Jon, Matt, and Abe each caught at least one in the air, which is a pretty big deal for us. Even Robert threw someone out at second. Our outfield got very little action, but I did field the first hit of the game to hold the runner at first.
• Two of my hits left the infield with authority. w00t!

With that win, we expect to be completely and totally overmatched in the bracket we draw in the state tournament. Next week we play again at the fancy field in Indianapolis. As long as we're already going to be out of our league in the tourney, we might as well just keep it rolling.

Go Stars!