Last Game
Homer Bailey put in another excellent performance, but was denied his tenth win of the season by a blown save at the hands of Logan Ondrusek. Despite some questionable defense (the Reds had 4 errors in this game), they did come back to win the game and sweep the series at the last possible moment. Final score: 5-3.

Next Game
The Reds have an off-day today. They’re currently doing something relaxing in Denver, acclimating to the climate and waiting to beat up on the Rockies tomorrow.

The Bad New Bears Got Lucky
If you’ve watched very young little leaguers, you know that baseball is a very different game for them. Not only are their “tools” not really developed yet, they might not even realize that the ball is in their general vicinity because they’re looking at airplanes flying overhead or at ladybugs in the grass or something.

On the other hand, if you’ve watched the oldest little leaguers, you know that they can make some really competent plays. They know what to do and they have the practice to execute on that knowledge.

In between, there is a phase of the mind knowing something needs to happen urgently, but it may be a surprise to everyone, including the player, what the body actually does. For just a moment in the eighth inning yesterday, the Reds were that little league team.

In the eighth, with a man on third and 2 outs, Scott Moore doubled to right to put the Astros on the board. Then Ondrusek sent up a wild pitch. Then J. D. Martinez hit a double to left and Ryan Ludwick launched the ball someplace he didn’t intend it to go, then Todd Frazier did the same thing. In the blink of an eye, they went from leading 2-0 to losing 2-3.

I thought there was no way they could come back at that late stage, but I’d failed to consider the year that Fransisco Cordero is having. I don’t know what caused the Reds to channel a little league team full of 7-and-a-half-year olds for a minute there, but they got lucky. For the second night in a row, Cordero blew the save. Poor CoCo: that’s got to suck. But yay Reds!

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
The Reds’ current 7-game winning streak is their longest winning streak all season. They are a season-high 18 games over .500, and have gone 8-2 since Joey Votto left the roster for arthroscopic knee surgery.