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Dave Bush struggled in his start for the Brewers, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) in his 5 innings of work as the Diamondbacks stormed past them.

Milwaukee took an early lead in the first inning, but gave it up at the first chance they had. Seriously, that’s no way to catch the Cubs and Cardinals, guys.

I know I had a couple pithy things to say about this game, but I’ve forgotten it since this morning. I often do forget about the Brewers. It’s probably due to the fact that I still think of them as an American League team.

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Aaron “Lemon” Harang lived up to his nickname for only one inning during his start against the Pirates when he allowed 2 runs in the 6th. The other 6 innings were good, though, and the Reds stayed close.

Then Ken Griffey, Jr. pinch hit in the bottom of the 9th with the tying run on. To me, it felt like he was saying, “Guys, this is the Pirates,” as he swung and launched the walk-off home run into the seats.

Of course, it might have just been the Pirates helping the Reds showcase Griffey to any American League team in need of a designated hitter. After all, Griffey’s defense didn’t hurt the Reds last night. All they needed was his bat.

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Kyle Lohse threw 7 innings yesterday allowing only one run, unearned, helping the Cardinals to their 48th team win and his 10th.

Is there any doubt in the minds of Reds fans that Dave Duncan is a god among mere mortals? I haven’t followed other teams enough to know what happens to their cast-offs, but the ones from the Reds turn to gold. Josh Hancock, Ryan Franklin, and Kyle Lohse are the ones that come immediately to mind. Watch out next year, NL Central, when the Cardinals rule the world with Todd Coffey and Bronson Arroyo!

St. Louis scored some runs, too. The pitching coach’s son is apparently back with the team, and he hit his 5th home run. Albert Pujols also drove in a couple runs, playing the entire game at first.

And in momentous news, Mark Mulder made his first appearance since Mexican Independence Day last year. Mulder was okay, allowing 2 hits and no runs in his one inning of work. If he’s healthy and effective, he could be quite a shot in the arm for the club. If nothing else, he’s well-rested.

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Jason LaRue blocked the plate, held onto the ball, and survived a collision with David DeJesus yesterday to keep the Royals off the board in the first inning. The next inning, he celebrated further by launching a 2-run homer to give the Cardinals the lead.

Albert Pujols also hit a home run, and just missed a second. Pujols served as the DH after being activated for the Royals series. His presence was missed, and his return helped St. Louis dispatch their in-state rivals.

It also moves them 2.5 games out of first, behind the slumping Cubs.

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Yes, that was an optimistic headline. No, it’s not something that has a snowball’s chance in hell of happening, but it’s fun to dream sometimes. Also, it’s fun to play with small sample sizes.

The Reds won their second game in a row of yesterday. That’s 2-0 since the halfway point. You know what that means? They’re going to finish the year with a 117-45 record. There’s no way that doesn’t net them first place!

Bronson Arroyo actually pitched well, and the offense scored tons of runs. That’s usually how you win ball games, and the Reds did, no thanks to a couple errors.

The game also marked a dubious honor: it was the Reds first winning road trip this year (just barely at 5-4). Even worse, it was only the second winning road trip since all the way back to June 2006. Man, this team has sucked. But things are different now! This totally isn’t like how they started of the first half of the season well only to fall of a cliff. No, not at all.