Sigh. I'm going to start calling the 2011 Reds the Cincinnati Sisyphuses (Sisyphi?), because it seems as if every time they roll the proverbial boulder up the hill of victory, some wanker like Chris Carpenter comes along and hurls a win against us, causing the boulder to come crashing back down into the valley of defeat. Granted, he got some help from the black hole of clutchness that was the Reds last night, as the team left a collective 10 men on base, but this trend is nothing new. I have a query in with resident stats man Slyde asking what the longest stretch of games is without a 2 game win streak (he astutely pointed out that the 2003 Tigers probably topped whatever we have going), but it sure seems to be entering the territory of the absurd. I'd also be curious to know how many times this year the Reds have left 10+ men on base. I'd venture a guess that it'd be a severely frustrating and depressingly large number.

Hopefully Homer Bailey can notch his first win since coming back from the DL, and can give the Reds a much-needed series win. It seems like years ago that we swept St. Louis, and seeing as that's not possible this series, taking 2 of 3 would be fantastic.