Edinson Volquez

Watching Volquez pitch is like pulling teeth it is so slow and agonizing. It seems that he isn't all the way back yet. Chris Welsh keeps commenting on his problems with his release point, but I don't really know if that is his only problem or not.

The problem with watching Volquez pitch is, he is so slow coming to the plate he seems to really take his time between pitches and it really slows down the pace of the game. At least today against the Cubs he went six plus innings and was able to only surrender one run. It amazes me that in the last two starts he has only given up two earned runs over eleven innings and he has so many walks.

His last starts have been a lot worse than his first start back from the disabled list. His first start back was great, and I was hoping he would be back to his all-star form in 2008, but so far he hasn't. At least Volquez at 75% is still pretty good.

Reds Win Series Against Braves

What a great home series that was against the Atlanta Braves. This is probably one of the few times the Reds have beaten the Braves in a three game series in maybe even a decade. They even had a chance to sweep them but lost the first game in extra innings. The Reds looked pretty good playing against them.

The pitching is what really won these games. They did have some timely hitting but the pitching is what kept them in the game. I still can't believe the Reds are leading the league in many battling categories. It is pretty amazing how this team turned around from last year, and they didn't even have Volquez for half the year.

I think the Cincinnati team has won every series since the all-star break except the series against the Nationals in which each team won two games. Hopefully they will continue to win deep into the post season, but it is still a really tight race for both the Central division and wild card.

Rain Delay Disaster

What a wild game it was last night, I really wish the umpires had just called the game over instead of waiting almost three hours for the rain to stop. It would have been a complete game since the Nationals batted in the top of the fifth.

As it ends up the Reds still won (thankfully), but man the bullpen really blew a huge lead and it was a one run lead for the last three innings. The Reds had an eight to one lead going into the sixth inning and Owings and Bray did a bad job. Combined they gave up six runs and only pitched one inning.

Luckily Masset, Rhodes, and Cordero combined for three score less innings and the closer pitched a good one, two, three inning. I was pretty tired after watching that game.

I was glad to see Bruce get that double, it was a solid swing and hit. Hopefully he is coming around, and I hope that Rolen comes back today to bat against Strasburg. I'm not sure if Miguel Cairo is a good match-up against Strasburg.

The Reds need to keep winning since the Cardinals are on an unbelievable win streak right now.

Arthur Rhodes Escapes Bases Loaded

I was really impressed with Arthur Rhodes last night. He came in with the bases loaded and no body out and escaped without giving up a run. That was fantastic and saved the game for the Reds.

I can't believe how often Dusty Baker leaves a starter in the game when he is really out of gas and needs to be taken out. This happens way too often and I know I have brought this up before, but it seems to me that Dusty needs to go to his bullpen late in the game.

At least the Reds stopped their four game losing streak and hold on to first place. It seems that the series in Philly was a disaster, but at least the all-star break is over and the Reds can get back to winning and being in first place.

The Cards are really putting the pressure on the Reds. It's been a great first half for both teams lets hope the can keep it as exciting in the second half.

Swept by the Phillies

Wow, I am utterly astounded by how terrible the Cincinnati Reds played in Philadelphia. They lost all four games and could have easily won two or three of those games.

They started off this eleven game road trip so beautifully with three wins out of four games in Chicago and two wins out of three games against the Mets. But they really dropped the ball in Philly.

It seemed like the Reds just weren't into those last four games, like they didn't really care they just wanted to hurry up and get to the all-star break. It really is a shame too, because even though they still hold the lead in the central division they could have had a much bigger lead if they had continued to play the Phillies tough.

I hope the Cincy Reds come back from the all-star break ready to play.

Baker Relying Too Much on Starters

Seems like Dusty Baker is relying too much on his starters and needs to take them out when they get in trouble. At today's game Sam LeCure was pitching and got into trouble with two runners on base and nobody out. It was in the sixth inning, and the game was currently tied at one apiece.

Now what does Baker do? He leaves LeCure in and Seattle scores four runs. Three of them on a two-out homer. For me it looked like in the beginning of this inning that LeCure wasn't fooling any of the batters anymore and Baker should have gotten the bullpen warmed up after the first two batters hit the ball hard.

I know the bullpen has been struggling this year, but the manager needs to go to it especially when the starter is getting hit. I'm just really disappointed. It looks like the Reds are starting to fade. They had a poor home stand and this road trip is getting off to a terrible start.

Reds Need To Win Against Giants

So far the home stand has gone off to a rough start. After going 3-3 on the recent road trip, the Reds need to continue to win at home if they want to stay in first place.

I watched most of tonight's game and even though Sam LeCure was having command problems he wasn't really being hit that hard and I like how he kept battling. Unlike Jonny Cueto the other night how didn't seem like he really cares if he wins or loses he just chucks the baseball up there. I hope the Reds keep LeCure in the rotation and don't bring back Homer Baily.

This was probably a kind of test for LeCure to see if he is going to stay in the rotation or not, although I think he would do well in the bullpen so that might be an option especially since the Red's bullpen has been shaky lately.

Another thing I didn't like about this game was Joey Votto. It seemed like he hasn't been hitting that well the last couple games. I hope his neck isn't bothering him again. He missed seven straight games a couple weeks ago because of his neck.