I chose a good game to miss in favor of drinking Blue Moons with my coworkers last night and the Reds gave it up to the Pirates of all teams to the tune of 7-3.

Chris Michalak wasn't very good, allowing six runs (earned) on nine hits and two walks. Am I the only one who thinks that perhaps Michalak should have been on a somewhat shorter leash? I mean, the guy gave up six freakin' runs. And it's not as if the bullpen was all tired from being used in the previous game, what with Ryan Franklin being left out to dry in that disheartening loss against the Cardinals.

Bill Bray gave up the other run (earned) on three hits and a walk in two innings. That's not so awesome either. I guess it was going around.

Scott Schoeneweis, Todd Coffey, and Rheal Cormier didn't suck at all, though. They each pitched a scoreless inning on one hit.

But you know who sucked even less? Ian Snell. He lasted seven innings and gave up only one run. I remember back in spring training when Brandon Claussen looked like he was going to be our number three and he talked about the starters going into the seventh inning this year. Man, that seems like a long time ago.

This game wrap has taken a turn for the extremely bitter, especially for a game I didn't even see. Let's look for a bright side, eh? Ooh, Edwin Encarnación had a solo home run and so did the Latin Love Machine. Rich Aurilia continues to start at shortstop, thereby delivering us from Royce McClayton. Narron seems to have gotten the message about not sitting EdE. Things could be worse.

Wait, they lost to the Pirates. No they couldn't.

The loss brings the Reds' record to 62-60. They try to dispel the disillusionment of literally dozens of fans tonight when they continue the series with the Pirates. Eric Milton takes on Paul “I never noticed that there isn't a vowel between the last two consonants in my last name” Maholm.

In Ricciardi blogged down by Wells rumor in today's Toronto Star, Richard Griffin describes how former Jays special assistant to the GM, Keith Law has rankled his former boss with his new job: a blog on ESPN.com.

In last night's blog posting on ESPN.com, Law, a former Jays special assistant to GM J.P. Ricciardi, officially became persona non grata with his former front office mates, stirring the pot surrounding the uncertain future of Vernon Wells in Toronto.

“Vernon Wells has told Blue Jays' management that he has no intention of signing a contract extension to stay in Toronto,” Law wrote online. “He and his family would like to move closer to his home in Texas, and he has become increasingly disenchanted in Toronto as he has faced public criticism from general manager J.P. Ricciardi.”

I find this story interesting because it demonstrates the growing importance of bloggers in sports. People have certainly been hypothesizing about whether the Jays will be able to extend Wells, but those idle conversations haven't merited a response from Wells and the general manager:

“The conversation never happened,” Wells said, curtly, following last night's game. “It's a complete fabrication.”

“He's become a writer,” Ricciardi said of the Harvard-educated Law. “It doesn't take long. Keith Law is officially an idiot.”

An idiot, huh? Might as well come out and say it's true yourself, Mr. Ricciardi, sir. This is a proud moment for bloggers. Maybe, if I work real hard and have just a little luck, Wayne Krivsky will be calling me an idiot.

Maybe, just maybe, he already does.