Dammit, I’m sick of the Reds’ All-Star reps being limited to those required by the rules. This ain’t NCAA and ain’t no one asking for Title IX.

Especially when Cincinnati has a legit All-Star in our midst. Joey Votto leads all NL first basemen in:

• batting average (.307)
• home runs (10)
• RBI (32)
• OPS (.950)

Plus, for an extra bonus, he’s tied for the lead in:

• runs scored (29)
• stolen bases (6)

So thus begins the campaign to elect Joey Votto onto the starting line-up for the All-Star Game in July. There’s still over a month of voting left, but we’re going to have to start now if we want to dethrone “Prince Albert.”

You can vote online 25 times per email address.

Don’t worry if you forget to uncheck the “Send me a bunch of MLB spam” box one of the 25 times you vote; they’re going to send you the crap either way.

After you vote, grab the badge on the right and use it with pride, and tell your friends.

Boxscore

After the heart-breaking collapse in Atlanta, I was wondering how prepared the Cincinnati Reds would be for the Cleveland Indians interleague series. Apparently, I underestimated their fortitude.

The Reds won the first 2 games of the series and were going for the sweep on Sunday. The 2 wins put them back in first place, too, as they continue to go back and forth with the St. Louis Cardinals. I would love seeing that battle for the rest of the season.

Unfortunately, the Reds were unable to complete the sweep, and fell back into second place. It wasn’t for lack of trying, though.

With a tired bullpen and the need for a starter to go deep into the game, Homer Bailey came down with a tight shoulder in the 3rd inning. But the relievers pulled together and allowed just 1 run over 5 2/3 innings.

So often this season that has given the offense enough time to come back. They did tie it once–on Scott Rolen’s second home run of the game–but they never got hits to fall when threatening. Rolen was the sole source of runs this game.

But the series was won, and the Ohio Cup stays in Cincinnati. More importantly, the Reds have shown they can put terrible, terrible losses behind them and focus on the next game. That’s quite a bit different from previous teams, and it something to make me a little optimistic.

Boxscore

Wasn’t that an amazing game yesterday that the Cincinnati Reds had against the Milwaukee Brewers? It had everything. Good pitching, Joey Votto being awesome, and a late comeback.

It didn’t look at first that the Reds would sweep the Brewers. Homer Bailey threw 30+ pitches and allowed a couple runs in the first inning, but he rebounded. Over the course of the rest of his 7-inning outing, he returned to the pitch-efficient, effective ways of his previous start. In total, he went 7 innings, allowing 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 4.

The bullpen came in then, to make things even harder for the offense. It’s been hard to get the relievers work lately, what with 3 complete games in the last week. It’s a good problem to have, and I expect that if all the starters start averaging 7 innings a start that we’ll see a reduction in the bullpen staff. There’s no need for 7 relievers when only 2 innings are needed most nights.

Despite Mike Lincoln charging in with the white flag of surrender, his damage to the game was limited. And Joey Votto and Scott Rolen were having none of it. Votto hit a 460ft solo shot in the 8th–one that landed in the faux riverboat beyond center field. Then in the 9th, Paul Janish singled to get things started off Trevor Hoffman. Scott Rolen followed with a pinch-hit homer to tie it. This was no rally-killing home run, though, because Chris Heisey followed with a double. After a walk to Brandon Phillips, Votto stepped to the plate and I knew the game was over. He quickly drove in Heisey and another last-at-bat win was added to the Reds 2010 total. (It’s 10 now, I think.)

Sure, there are problems with the Reds, and it’s hard to ignore that niggling voice in the back of your head that says, “They’ve done this before. May isn’t the same as September.” But I urge you to squash that little voice and enjoy this moment. It hasn’t been often that we’ve gotten to see competent, enjoyable play out of the Reds, and it would be a shame to miss it.