Pittsburgh has more bridges than "The Fabulous Baker Boys." How's a Pirates fan supposed to know which one to jump off of? Reds win, 4-0.

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Brandon Phillips.  With Votto out, Scott Rolen going 0-4 with 2 Ks, and the regular outfield struggling, BP got to be The Franchise today.  He showed how good he can be in the leadoff role, going 2-3 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, and a stolen base.  Don't you think Dusty must feel like a dope for batting him in the cleanup role for so long?  Honorable mentions go to Chris Heisey for a double and an inside the park home run, Travis Wood for going seven innings and only allowing two hits, and Russ Springer, who made his Reds debut with a scoreless inning of relief, giving him an ERA lower than Arthur Rhodes's.

Key Plays

• Ross Ohlendorf was determined to prove he's tougher than every other pitcher in the league and that he ain't scared of no ol' haunted walks.  So he walked Brandon Phillips and Orlando Cabrera to lead off the game.  Then Miguel Cairo, who was filling in for an achy Votto, singled to left field.  Dusty has a weird propensity for treating replacement players like they're the exact same player as the one they're replacing and using them as if there was no difference.  I can't decide whether to be happy because in this case the outcome bears that out, or mad at Miguel Cairo for reinforcing this idiotic notion.  Anyway, Reds lead, 1-0.
• I guess I should be happy.  In the second inning, Chris Heisey led off with a double and moved to third on Ryan Hanigan's fly out.  Travis Wood grounded out to the shortstop, but Phillips and Cabrera both walked again to load the bases.  This time, Cairo grounded out and the Reds failed to capitalize on the opportunity.  You just know Joey would have hit a grand slam.
• The Reds loaded the bases again in the third, but the strange thing was that it was the much maligned outfielders that did it.  Jonny Gomes doubled with one out, Jay Bruce singled, and Chris Heisey was hit by a pitch.  Ryan Hanigan grounded out, but it was enough to score Gomes.  Reds lead, 2-0.
• The Reds smaw-bawwed their way to another run in the fourth.  Brandon Phillips singled, then stole second.  He took third on Orlando Cabrera's fly out, and then scored on Miguel Cairo's sacrifice fly.  Reds lead, 3-0.  And don't leave anyone on base!
• Joel Hanrahan is a pretty terrible pitcher, so it's infuriating that he came on in relief in the eighth inning and struck out Jonny Gomes and Jay Bruce, both looking.  Chris Heisey then showed them how you're supposed to deal pitchers like Hanrahan and hit a deep fly to center field, then ran around the bases before anyone could throw the ball back and tag him out.  Inside the park home run!  Reds win, 4-0.

via www.fangraphs.com

Other Notes

• The combined age of the Reds relievers tonight was 81.  They only used two.  The Pirates used three relievers that had a combined age of 83.
• Travis Wood has made seven career starts.  In five of them, he's given up two earned runs or less, including tonight, which was the second time he hasn't allowed any runs in a game.  Both of those scoreless efforts were against teams in Pennsylvania.
• The Reds left seven men on base, but they were all in the first three innings.