I remember seeing this the other day when it came out, but forgot about it before I had a chance to write anything. Shiny object, no object.

Apparently, Dusty had turned his phone off so he didn’t get the news that Krivsky had been fired until he woke up and called Krivsky. I would think that would be awkward. And in case you wanted to know what it sounded like, the Goat Riders had a hidden microphone.

Holy crap, did Arroyo really get his first win last night? It’s like we slipped into an alternate dimension or something.

Wait, this is supposed to be smack talk about the Cardinals. Allow me to start over:

Holy crap, are the Cardinals really trying to pass of Chris Duncan as an outfielder? What would the ghost of Jim Edmonds say?

Your Cincinnati Reds
Corey Patterson
Jeff Keppinger
Ken Griffey, Jr
Brandon Phillips
Adam Dunn
Edwin Encarnacion
Joey Votto
Paul Bako
Johnny Cueto

Their St. Louis Cardinals
Schumaker
Kenney
Pujols
Ankiel
Glaus
Duncan
Molina
Pineiro
Izturis

Life and work have been a bit busy for game wraps the last few days, so why don’t we take a look at the standings since the weekend?

The Cubbies continue reside in first place, although they have definitely cooled off from the awesome hot streak that swept them into first. I mean, they lost a series to the Nationals. That’s gotta hurt. And all that without the hoppy Alfonso Soriano. He’ll be coming off the DL soon, so it should be interesting to see if he helps or hurts the team. If he continues to insist on his ridiculous idea of leading off, it’ll hurt.

The Cardinals are holding onto second place, despite losing to the Reds last night. (Even a blind squirrel like Bronson Arroyo can find a nut once in a while.) They did take a series from Houston over the weekend to continue their surprising start. Odds are good they’re winning ways will continue against the Reds, despite the opening game’s result. The Cardinals just win, and the Reds, and Dusty Baker, don’t.

In third place are the Brewers. They’re struggling along right now, losing their weekend series to the Marlins. However, Mike Cameron’s back from his drug suspension, so things should be looking up. Plus, they play the Cubs starting today, which provides ample opportunity to change their fortune.

The Astros and the Reds are tied for fourth place. The Astros got their thanks to a 6-game winning streak last week, including a sweep of the Reds, although they faltered against the Cardinals and the Diamondbacks. The Reds have a modest 3-game winning streak that’s lifted them from last place. Way to ride that general manager firing!

Bringing up the rear, of course, are the Pirates. They made big news by releasing former Cardinal Matt Morris at the end of last week. The team continues to lose a lot and abuse the good pitchers they do have. There really aren’t any better options than Morris in the minors for Pittsburgh, so I don’t know that the move will actually improve things. It’s looking like a 100-loss year is possible.

Boxscore

Jeff Keppinger and Joey Votto each had three hits and scored twice, and the Reds survived a four-run Giants rally in the bottom of the ninth to beat San Francisco, 10-9, on Saturday.

Paul Bako hit a solo homer for the Reds, his second HR of the season, and Brandon Phillips had 3 RBIs.

Matt Belisle (1-1) got the win on the mound for the Reds, and Francisco Cordero got his third save despite a shaky outing in which he allowed a two-run triple to the Giants’ Eugenio Velez.

The game was a see-saw affair in which the Reds ultimately needed every bit of their 15-hit attack. The Reds’ three-run uprising in the seventh, in which Ryan Freel contributed an RBI double, proved decisive.

Former Red Rich Aurilia had a solo homer for the Giants, his second of the season. Fred Lewis homered into McCovey’s Cove in the fifth, becoming the first Giant to reach the water since Mister Mitchell Report Barry Bonds did it last August 11.

Coupled with the Pirates’ 8-4 loss to the Phillies on Saturday, the win moved the Reds out of the NLC basement. They are 6-1/2 games behind the division-leading Cubs, who blanked Leatherpants Vampire’s Washington Nationals by a 7-0 margin.

Elsewhere in the division, the Cardinals beat the Astros, 4-3, on Skip Shumaker’s ninth-inning RBI single. Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, Prince Fielder’s mammoth 428-foot solo homer provided the deciding run in the eighth inning as the Brewers beat the Marlins, 4-3. It was the second time in four days that Fielder hit a game-winning dinger in the eighth inning – he also victimized the Phillies on Wednesday.

The Reds go for the series win today, with right-hander Edinson Volquez (3-0, 1.21) slated to face Giants southpaw Barry Zito (0-5, 5.61).

Boxscore

A day after getting their 10,000th win, the Cubs (15-7) embarked on the quest for 10,000 losses, and the Rockies (10-12) were happy to help.

I was shocked to see that the Cubs have a winning record despite not having won much of significance over the years. Still, it’s a shame that the Phillies are so lonesome, and I know the Cubs will join them in a few years.

The Cubs continue to defy all sense of propriety with their rotation as Jason Marquis pitched well again. Kevin Hart (2-1) got the loss, but it was really the lack of offense that killed the Cubs. Aaron Cook (3-1) got the win with Brian Fuentes (S 1) getting the save.

The Cubs’ search for their next loss happens tonight at Nationals Park when Ryan Dempster battles Odalis Perez at 7:35pm EDT.