The first month of baseball is almost gone and the Reds stand just a half game out of first place. Tonight they face the defending NL champions and notorious Reds killer Roy Oswalt. And it is neither of the Reds' stand-out pitchers taking the mound tonight. It is The Pickle. He of the 1-2 record. He of the 6.75 ERA. He of the unrealized promise to last into the seventh inning.

I have a little bit of dread going into this game.

But I had dread going into the game against the Cards and Carpenter, and look how that worked out. I had dread going into the game with the Marlins and Willis, and look how that worked out. I had dread going into the third game against the Nationals, when I thought it would just be perfect irony for Williams and the Lizard to win and Arroyo to get rocked, but look how that worked out too.

I have a little bit of dread going into this game. Cross your fingers that it works out as well as the others.

Go Reds!

JinAZ has done his Better Know a Red feature on Felipe Lopez today. I had already written a Human League for Mr. Lopez, but I've updated it with a new section of impressions about his game since last year.

At the beginning of 2005, I thought he was a bit of a punk, but I couldn't feel more differently about him now. Check it out; I'm sure you'll like me better for it.

When I first wrote Lopez’s human league entry last year, I was on the fence about him. He was a cup of potential with a dash of insolence. Since then, he’s added a tablespoon of unselfishness, a pinch of sense of humor, and three shakes of self-assuredness to balance out the recipe and make quite the delicious dish. Quite the dishy dish at that.

Lopez was the Reds’ single representative in the All-Star game in 2005 and contributed a hit to the National League’s losing effort. It was reported that Lopez was very excited to be there with the elite in his field, collecting free stuff and autographs. His behavior hinted at a child-like sense of wonderment that I don’t think Lopez was mature enough to let show before. Had be been at an All-Star game in 2004, I suspect he would have thought himself too cool to be seen participating in the autographs trades.

Lopez was also the recipient of the Silver Slugger for shortstops in 2005, despite the fact that he wasn’t even the starter at short for the first month of the season, as Cincinnati worked its magic on his offensive abilities. The team doesn’t ever talk about moving Lopez to second base these days, he’s never the topic of trade rumors, and he’s no longer the young, unproven guy. In 2005, Lopez went from being the oft-questioned heir to the Reds’ shortstop throne to the one and only player on the 2006 roster whom you could call a sure thing.

But the thing that Lopez has done this year that has done the most to convert me to a fan is the way he’s embraced his position as a number 2 hitter. After Ryan Freel gets himself on base, Lopez shows superior self-discipline in his at-bat to give Freel the opportunities to do his magic. He takes some strikes and maybe his numbers suffer for it, but he does it for the team. And I don’t know what more you could possibly ask for from a player.

When I first wrote Lopez's human league entry last year, I was on the fence about him. He was a cup of potential with a dash of insolence. Since then, he's added a tablespoon of unselfishness, a pinch of sense of humor, and three shakes of self-assuredness to balance out the recipe and make quite the delicious dish. Quite the dishy dish at that.

Lopez was the Reds' single representative in the All-Star game in 2005 and contributed a hit to the National League's losing effort. It was reported that Lopez was very excited to be there with the elite in his field, collecting free stuff and autographs. His behavior hinted at a child-like sense of wonderment that I don't think Lopez was mature enough to let show before. Had be been at an All-Star game in 2004, I suspect he would have thought himself too cool to be seen participating in the autographs trades.

Lopez was also the recipient of the Silver Slugger for shortstops in 2005, despite the fact that he wasn't even the starter at short for the first month of the season, as Cincinnati worked its magic on his offensive abilities. The team doesn't ever talk about moving Lopez to second base these days, he's never the topic of trade rumors, and he's no longer the young, unproven guy. In 2005, Lopez went from being the oft-questioned heir to the Reds' shortstop throne to the one and only player on the 2006 roster whom you could call a sure thing.

But the thing that Lopez has done this year that has done the most to convert me to a fan is the way he's embraced his position as a number 2 hitter. After Ryan Freel gets himself on base, Lopez shows superior self-discipline in his at-bat to give Freel the opportunities to do his magic. He takes some strikes and maybe his numbers suffer for it, but he does it for the team. And I don't know what more you could possibly ask for from a player.

The Reds took the game and swept the series against the nationals on Wednesday by a score of 5-0.

Bronson Arroyo took the mound and was absolutely on, giving up only on hit and two walks through eight innings of work. He had eight strike outs.

Kent Mercker came on in the ninth to retire two batters but also walk two to set up David Weathers to strike out Jose Guillen, the final batter of the game.

Former Red Ramón Ortiz took the mound for the Nationals and looked awfully familiar. He was pretty strong for the first few innings, keeping the Reds off the board until the third. He gave up the first home run of the series to David Ross in the third inning to make the score 1-0. That would have been all the Reds would need.

In the fourth, Felipe Lopez and Adam Dunn each singled to set up Austin Kearns to ground into a fielder's choice. However, Ortiz committed a throwing error (also awfully familiar), and when the dust had settled Lopez had scored, Dunn was on third, and Kearns was safely on second.

After a walk by Scott Hatteberg, Edwin Encarnación singled to center to bring in Dunn and Kearns. Yet another error, this one a fielding error by centerfielder Ryan Church found Hatteberg and Encarnación on third and second. Two strike-outs, a walk, and a fly-out later, the threat was over but the damage was done. Score: 4-0.

The Reds tacked on one more in the seventh inning when Ortiz hit Ryan Freel with a pitch. I don't know where it hit him, but on the Gameday, the poor little drawing of the batter took it right in the eye. Two batters later, Dunn moved Freel to third, and then Kearns knocked him in on a fielder's choice ball. That was all the Reds would get, but way more than they'd need. Score: 5-0.

The win brings the Reds' record to 15-7 and their winning streak to four. Tonight they hose the Houston Astros in the first game of a three-game series at 7:10 p.m. The Reds currently trail the Astros by half a game in NLC standings. Brandon Claussen takes the mound for the Reds hoping to redeem himself after a rough previous outing. He faces noted bane-of-Reds'-existence Roy Oswalt for the Astros.