Boxscore

Mike Leake started the game for the Cincinnati Reds in their first attempt to return their record to .500 in longer than I can remember. It was his 3rd attempt for his 11th win, and things didn’t look promising when he walked the first batter.

However, he settled down. Leake allowed no runs in that first inning, and with the exception of 2 runs in the 3rd, the rest of his 6 innings were scoreless. He pitched 6 innings, allowed 2 runs, and left with his team having a 5-2 lead.

That lead was spread around the whole team, with Brandon Phillips driving in one run and scoring 2 more, and Miguel Cairo driving in one and scoring one. Drew Stubbs also went 3-3 and drove in a run. The other runs were driven in by Dave Sappelt and Edgar Renteria.

If this had been Dontrelle Willis starting, you know the bullpen would’ve coughed up that lead. But there were no blown saves tonight. It was the most complete, well put-together win I’ve seen the Reds have in a while. After Leake was pulled, Sam LeCure and Bill Bray held the lead for Francisco Cordero, who had a perfect 9th for the save.

The move improved the team’s record to .500 at 66-66. This is the first time since the beginning of July that they’ve been at .500. They are now 2.5 games behind the 2nd place St. Louis Cardinals.

Boxscore

What a difference 100 games makes.

At the beginning of the season, dreams of the Cincinnati Reds winning a second consecutive division title danced in fans’ heads. And now, with 31 games left in the 2011 season, we’re just hoping for a second consecutive winning season. Oh, and maybe finishing higher than the St. Louis Cardinals.

Friday’s starter was hard-luck no-decisioner Dontrelle Willis. It may not surprise you to learn that Willis again did not get the win. He had good results, albeit a bit lucky, with 6 hits, 5 walks, and 3 runs over 7 innings. On the season, he has a solid 4.14 ERA and a 0-3 record. With the way he’s pitched, he’s certainly deserved more than 0 wins.

Again, though, the Reds failed to score for Willis, saving their runs for after he’d left the game. Down 3-2 in the bottom of the 7th, Jay Bruce walked. After a Ramon Hernandez single and a Drew Stubbs strikeout, Todd Frazier hit a line drive to center field to drive in Bruce and tie the game

They had a great opportunity to score in the 8th, but failed as we’ve come to expect this 2011 team to. But then in the 9th–after Francisco Cordero had an easy top of the 9th–Drew Stubbs singled. Frazier had another single to keep the inning alive for Miguel Cairo, who hit his own line drive to center to drive in Stubbs for the walk-off hit.

The win improves Cincinnati to 65-66 and 3.5 games back of the second-place Cardinals

I saw this nostalgic look back at Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns on Redleg Nation today.

The duo was going to, if you believed Jim Bowden’s hype, form one of the greatest outfields of all time.

And it was easy to believe in him. Dunn was a tall, incredibly strong young man when he arrived in 2001, with no foreshadow of the flabby oaf he would one day become. Kearns would be his counterpart, a coveted five-tool player. (Six-tool, if you counted his ability to make up for Dunn’s ineptitude in left field.)

Of course, that didn’t happen. Instead we were left with losing years and futile hopes. And a lingering hatred of Ray King’s fat ass.

Oh, and one of my favorite fake news stories that RHM ever wrote: Dude, Where’s My Bat.

Today the Chicago Cubs did what they should have done about 4 years ago: they fired general manager Jim Hendry.

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts had this to say about the decision.

“We just didn’t win enough games,” Ricketts said. “Nothing should diminish Jim’s tenure here. We won three division titles while he was here. … Jim is truly a first-class individual and we’ll all miss seeing him here in the office.”

Hendry did oversee the Cubs winning first place 3 times, but in recent years, he’d lavished large contracts onto players who underperformed and became untradeable, including Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez.

The search for a new GM begins immediately.

Boxscore

Johnny Cueto pitched another great game Wednesday night, further cementing his status as the team’s ace pitcher. That extension he signed in the off-season is looking mighty fine right now!

Cueto pitched 8 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 5. His lone run actually came in the bottom of the 9th, after which he was promptly removed for Francisco Cordero, who got the shaky save he’s patented in his time with the Reds.

The Reds’ offense in the 2-1 win was provided by Joey Votto’s 20th home run and an RBI groundout from Ramon Hernandez. And that was enough. Cueto picked up his 9th win and his ERA now stands at 1.89. That’s right: 1.89. Not too shabby.

The Reds and the Nationals are now tied in the series and go for the series win Thursday.