Just the second series of the season and we’re already hosting the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s always a fun series to comment on, even if it’s not always a fun one to watch.

The way live blogging goes around here is that I’ll add comments to this post throughout the game. Occasionally others pipe in, and you’re welcome to as well, but I won’t let the lack of someone responding stop me from talking. I don’t let it stop me when walking down the street, and I don’t see why I should let it stop me now.

What will it be like to see the Cardinals sans LaRussa, Pujols, and Carpenter? Or is Carpenter still around, complaining about everything that crosses his path from the far end of the bench? I am confident that he’s complaining about something, somewhere. I can just feel it.

Here’s your line-ups:
Those Darn Cards

1. Furcal, SS
2. Beltran, RF
3. Holliday, LF
4. Berkman, 1B
5. Freese, 3B
6. Molina, C
7. Jay, CF
8. Descalso, 2B
9. Westbrook, P

Pitcher hitting ninth? What would LaRussa say??

and now, your Cincinnati Reds

1. Phillips, 2B
2. Cozart, SS
3. Votto, 1B
4. Rolen, 3B
5. Bruce, RF
6. Heisey, LF
7. Stubbs, CF
8. Hanigan, C
9. Bailey, P

Boxscore

The Cincinnati took the rubber game of their first series of the year this afternoon by beating the Miami Marlins 5-6.

Bronson Arroyo took the mound for the Reds and was downright good through six innings. Unfortunately, he pitched 6.1. At the end of his tenure, Arroyo allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 10 hits and zero walks. Logan Ondrusek came in to finish up the seventh and he allowed no run, no hits, no nothin’. Aroldis Chapman brought in on home with the final two innings, surrendering zero runs on on hit and no walks. He also struck out 3.

On the offensive side, the Reds struck early against a familiar face in Carlos Zambrano by scoring three in the first inning. That sounds like a lot, but they really should have scored more than that, having loaded the bases with either zero or one outs (I can’t remember exactly–I just remember being frustrated that they didn’t pad the score more at that point).

It was enough, though, until that mess of a seventh inning when the Marlins found themselves in possession of a 5-4 lead. But then the hero of the day, Jay Bruce, came out in the ninth and smacked his second solo-shot of the day to tie it up at 5s. A few batters later, Scott Rolen knocked in the winning run with an infield hit to put a mark in the win column.

Brandon Phillips also had a pretty good offensive game (2-for-4 with a run scored) as did Zack Cozart (1-for-4 with a walk, a run scored, and an RBI). Joey Votto did not have such a hot game (0-for-3 with a walk) but he picked a good one to sit out of, seeing as Bruce was all ready to do his thing.

The win brings the Reds’ record to 2-1 (and Bruce is still on pace for 162 homers this season). Tomorrow the Reds host the Cardinals at 7:10 p.m. EDT. Homer Bailey will take on Jake Westbrook.

Here are some pictures taken from Saturday’s Opening Night game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Florida Miami Marlins. Although the Reds lost 8-3, the club put on an excellent event, one that I think surpasses Opening Day. At least, I had a lot more fun.

Pictures from the Red Carpet meet and greet event prior to the game will be coming tomorrow.

Opening Night is tonight, but there’s still a little bit of time left to relive some of that Opening Day magic. Here are some pictures from the game.

After a year-long hiatus, the Red Hot Broadcast returns with a recording from the eighth inning of the Reds’ Opening Day win over the Marlins. We discuss our first ever Opening Day experience, including the parade, the new features at Great American Ball Park, and the capacity crowd, as well as a little bit about Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download