And only 21 1/2 hours later, I finally get around to mentioning that Justin Germano was sent back to Louisville last night to make room for Joe Mays.

Germano was told he was being optioned back to Louisville so he can get some more work -- he hasn't pitched since last Tuesday -- and the Reds will bring in Joe Mays to take his roster spot tomorrow. Narron was quite clear that Mays will be working out of the bullpen.

That's Joe Mays, not Darrell May, who was not re-signed, no matter what some snarky news reports implied.

Impossible not to notice that this “long reliever” came up the same day that Brandon Claussen needed over 100 pitches for five innings of work.

If you made it out to Deadspin today, you probably saw this tidbit in which Will made “Isringhausen” into a verb:

3. Junior Mint. It is our belief that Ken Griffey Jr. will play until he's 60, owing to all the time spent on the sidelines due to injury. He's like the collectible action figure that you never take out of the box. On Monday at New Busch, Griffey Isringhausened the Cardinals, hitting a three-run homer in the ninth to give the Reds an 8-7 win. He also had a solo homer earlier in the game, tying a major league record by homering in his 43rd stadium.

Making Cardinals names into regular words is a great idea. See if you can work these words into your regular vocabulary:

Eckstein, n.
1. Any of various small, monochromatic mammals having long teeth for gnawing and a nervous, twitchy nature, such as a lab rat or Guinea pig.

2. A person regarded as twitchy or annoying.

Example: My blind date was cute enough, but things went sour when I realized he was an Eckstein.

Pujols, v.
1. To lie about one's age, often used with “pulled a.”

Example: When the cute waiter asked what birthday she was celebrating, she pulled a Pujols and said she was 29.

Edmonds, adj.
1. Full of playful allure, esp. expressing a coquettish nature through dress, make-up, and hair.

Example: Ryan knew he could get some play from the Edmonds chick.

With their first round pick in today's draft, the Reds picked Robert Stubbs, a college outfielder from Texas Austin University.

MLB.com's DraftCaster describes Stubbs as having gold glove defensive skills already. He also has “a power and speed combination that is tempered by his strikeout rate.”

That sounds very familiar. However, I'm not unhappy about this. The Reds over the years, for whatever reason, have had wonderful success at creating productive outfielders. There's no reason they should use their best draft picks in an attempt to find pitching at the expense of playing to that strength.

ST. LOUIS, MO -- St. Louis resident Brian Morans recognized his favorite team today by opening a bar in honor of the Cardinals.

Morans, now notorious after he was caught on film with a sign bearing his own name misspelled, has parlayed his notoriety into a money-making eating establishment.

“I thought if a guy like Albert Pujols could do it, it can't be that hard,” said Morans.

Moran's Bar and Grill will feature some special Cardinals-themed dishes for the series against Cincinnati. “Timo's Toasted Ravioli of Unrealized Expectations” and “Jeff Suppan's Beer to Cry Into” are likely to be crowd favorites.

When asked why the entree names were so pessimistic, Morans shrugged. “Even I can see where this series is headed.”

The Reds re-signed Darrell May today, just three days after releasing the left-hander.

May had performed well for the AAA Louisville Bats in the two months he worked there, and it appears that his release was a mistake.

“[Releasing May] was a clerical error,” explained General Manager Wayne Krivsky to reporters this morning. “My notes showed that [Dan] O'Brien had signed him, so of course he had to go. When I realized he was one of my guys, we got him back right away.”

The Waterboy
The Reds' sudden return to form correlates with Ken Griffey, Jr. hand-delivering the line-up card before each game. To provide extra luck going into the series with the Cardinals, the team is asking Griffey to take on even more mundane tasks.

“Just little things,” said Manager Jerry Narron, “like handing out water and bubble gum.”

Griffey's teammates have even more tasks in mind.

“I'm hoping he can get my bat back from [Ryan] Freel,” said a mopey Adam Dunn. Dunn is 3 for his last 13 over four games with zero homers. Freel hit two home runs last night.

Another Man's Suffering
Tonight the Reds face the Cardinals, who are just coming off a losing series to the Cubs. The Cardinals have an ailing Jim Edmonds (who cannot run) filling in at first base while Albert Pujols is out of the game entirely.

“You hate to see a team with such a proud tradition hurting like that, and it's a shame that such a promising young talent…” Narron started before breaking into laughter. “Damn, I almost got through that with a straight face.”