Over Memorial Day weekend, we took a family trip up to Milwaukee for our first visit to Miller Park. You can see a panoramic shot from our upper deck seats above. We didn’t explore the park much. Thanks to a weekend lugging around our 10 year-old and his cousin, we were a bit exhausted.

The park was nice, but it left me feeling the same way as I did at the Houston Astros’ Minute Maid Park: oddly disconcerted. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but something feels off. I’m guessing it’s that the stadiums are built with retractable roofs, and thus are fully enclosed. It doesn’t feel right to play baseball indoors.

I do look forward to going back sometime, though. Next time, maybe we’ll be resting at the hotel instead of during the baseball game.

You can call him Bob Steveson for short.

With the 27th pick in the first round of the 2011 amateur player draft, the Cincinnati Reds picked a high school starter, right hander Robert Stephenson from Alhambra High School in California.

Stephenson has a live arm with a fastball that’s allegedly touched 97 miles per hour. He’s also displayed good control, which is unusual for a young kid with such a powerful fastball. In 64 innings, he struck out 132 and walked just 23. High school numbers are ridiculous, but that kind of control is a very good sign.

One thing Reds fans may not be used to is a pick so late in the first round. I guess that’s what happens when you have a good team the year before. Enquirer reporter John Fay touched on that.

“We’re very excited,” scouting director Chris Buckley said. “He’s very outstanding high school projection pitcher. He’s got a live arm. We saw him as high as 98 this year. He’ll fill out and get strung. Curveball, slider, change-up. Very polished high school pitcher who still has good projection.”

The Reds, picking 27th overall, decided they could wait for Stephenson to develop. They are pretty well stocked in the upper minors.

That last bit is a benefit of having competent talent evaluators for several years. I hope they’ve picked a good one. I imagine that in 3-4 years, the Reds might need some pitching.

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds seem to have at least one game like yesterday’s every year. They had a 7-2 lead heading into the 8th, and the bullpen had a spectacular implosion that resulted in a painful loss. Many teams have done this to the Reds, including the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals. And now add the Los Angeles Dodgers to that list.

Everything was going great for the majority of the game. Johnny Cueto started and followed up his complete game effort last start with 7 strong innings of 2-run baseball. The offense provided more than enough runs by scoring 7, including a 3-run home run from Joey Votto.

But the bullpen failed the second it was given the ball in the 8th. Nick Masset was the first hapless fellow, getting only 1 of the 4 batters he faced out. Bill Bray was next. He came in to face one batter with the bases loaded, whom he promptly walked. Then Logan Ondrusek completed the 8th inning’s orgy of sucking by allowing a grand slam to tie the game.

The game eventually headed into extra innings, but the Reds were already done. The 8th inning killed them again. Carlos Fisher ended up getting the loss by allowing 4 runs in the 11th, but you could make a good case that any of those pitchers from the 8th was deserving.

The series with the Dodgers is even now, and despite the painful loss, the Reds still have a chance of taking the series today, assuming they can bounce back.

Boxscore

Clearly, more off days are needed.

The Cincinnati Reds managed to get themselves an honest-to-goodness winning streak going after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in their series opener tonight. Sure, the Reds have won just 2 in a row–the bare minimum for a streak–but every streak gets to 2 at some point.

Bronson Arroyo started for Cincinnati and finally found some goodness. Instead of his early, third-inning exit, he actually made it through 6 innings. Arroyo allowed 1 run, while scattering 5 hits.

The Reds’ offense wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders as they left 8 on base, but they managed to get one hit with runners on. And that was enough. With the bases loaded in the 5th inning, Scott Rolen found a hit in his tired bat and drove in the only runs the Reds needed.

The bullpen of Logan Ondrusek, Nick Masset, and Francisco Cordero made the lead stand, and the Reds improved their record to 30-28.

Jay Bruce takes player of the month honors in May and is the first Red to do so since Adam Dunn did it in 2006. With as hot as he’s been, can the June award be far behind? — Amanda

Cincinnati Reds right fielder Jay Bruce has been voted the Budweiser Presents National League Player of the Month for May. Budweiser, the official beer sponsor of Major League Baseball and sponsor for 24 of 30 MLB clubs, is also the presenting sponsor of the National League and American League Player of the Month Awards.

In 28 games this past month, the left-handed hitting slugger had a Major League-best 12 home runs and 33 RBI, while leading the National League in runs scored (23), slugging percentage (.739) and extra-base hits (19). Bruce’s 38 hits were tied for third among National Leaguers and his .342 (38-for-111) batting average was tied for fourth.

The Texas native’s home run and RBI totals were the highest in a calendar month by a Reds batter since Adam Dunn’s 12 long balls in July 2008 and Greg Vaughn’s 33 RBI in September 1999. On May 10th, the 24-year-old powered the Reds to a 10-4 win over the visiting Houston Astros, going 3-for-4 with a double and a home run. On May 24th, Bruce’s ninth-inning double off of Philadelphia reliever Ryan Madson broke a 3-3 tie and led the Reds to a 6-3 victory at Citizens Bank Park.

He earned his second career N.L. Player of the Week Award after clubbing four home runs and leading the Majors with 13 RBI and 25 totals bases during the week of May 23-29. The 12th overall selection in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft notched his fifth three-RBI performance of the month on May 30th, going 3-for-4 with a triple and a home run as the Reds defeated the Brewers, 7-3, at Great American Ball Park. Bruce’s 46 RBI are tied for first in the Majors this season and his 17 home runs lead the National League. His 32 home runs since August 2010 are the most in the N.L during that span. This marks his first-career monthly award.

Other players receiving votes included shortstop Jose Reyes of the New York Mets, who led the National League with a .364 batting average and 11 stolen bases while collecting 40 hits; Astros outfielder
Hunter Pence, who batted .342 with 40 hits, four home runs and 22 RBI on the month; and Washington’s Mike Morse, who had six home runs and 15 RBI in only 64 plate appearances.

The Budweiser Presents National League Player of the Month, Jay Bruce, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, in recognition of his accomplishment.