The Reds buckled the swashes of the Pirates today in Sarasota, 7-2.

That was a ridiculous thing to say, and I apologize. Let's start over:

The Reds swashed the buckles of the Pirates today in Sarasota, 7-2.

Brandon Claussen put in four innings to start. He allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits with four freakin' strike-outs. You go boy.

Ryan Wagner came in to pitch the fifth and retired the three batters he faced on just nine pitches with no strike-outs. I guess he hasn't worked past that whole “pitch-to-contact” idea just yet. Hard to complain though. You, also, go boy.

David Weathers, Kent Mercker, Rick White, and Chris Hammond also each contributed a scoreless inning. All you boys go.

Adam Dunn contributed one of his signature solo shots in the fourth inning; it was his second home run of the spring.

Felipe Lopez, Heartthrob Denorfia, and Quinton McCracken each stole a base. Everybody's favorite base stealing machine, Ryan Freel, went 1-for-3 on the day with a run scored, but his two strike out limited his base pilfering opportunities.

Little Eddie Encarnación went 2-for-3. He scored two runs, but failed to knock any in. And not even one home run. Poor kid. Dewayne Wise, recently very hot, did nothing worth mentioning. So why am I mentioning it?

The win brings the Reds's Grapefruit League record to 9-7. Tomorrow the Reds visit the Blue Jays in Dunedin at 1:05 p.m. We should be approaching Georgia's northern border about then.

The Redlegs defeated the Red Sox 9-7 on Tuesday in Fort Myers.

Aaron Harang got the win by allowing zero runs on a single hit through two innings. Harang was apparently not bothered by the shoulder inflammation that robbed him of his last start, but he did take a lovely line-drive to the side this time on the mound.

Michael Gosling got rocked, giving up four runs in a third of an inning. Jason Standridge gave up a run on three hits through one, and Todd Coffey gave up two runs on three hits through one. Michael Burns, Jake Robbins, Brian Shackleford, and Matt Belisle each held the Sox scoreless during their tenure. Belisle got the save.

It was a big day for the long ball as Scott Hatteberg, Edwin Encarnación, Andy Abad, and Brian Buchanan each contributed one. Encarnación's was his sixth of the spring.

After said game, the Reds spring record was 8-7. Had I gotten this game wrap up in a reasonable time period, it would have been relevant to tell you that they hosted the Pirates today at 1:05 p.m.