I said before this road trip that I'd be happy with .500 (yeah, I didn't realize it was a seven game trip), but the Reds managed to make it a winning one. That's pretty impressive, because the opponents were a couple of very solid teams. The Indians record might not reflect it, but they've got a solid group of players, and they're a dangerous team.
Quick thoughts:
- The Cardinals lost again yesterday, their sixth in a row, putting the Reds just two games back in the Central. And I should take this opportunity to thanks the White Sox for tearing through the Cardinals and Astros last week, with five wins and one loss (last night to the Astros). Yeah, the sweep hurt last weekend, but at least they made it up to us.
- How about Elizardo Ramirez? Can we go ahead and make him the "official player" of Red Reporter? I love this guy.
- And it was so good to see the middle of the lineup producing, with home runs by Griff and Dunn. There are days when I see Brandon Phillips and David Ross at the bottom of the lineup and think that they really ought to be higher with the way they've played lately, but yesterday reminded me of what Griffey and Dunn are capable of doing. It would be huge if they could get back on track.
- Is Chris Hammond really our best set up guy? That's not good.
- I was actually glad to see Juan Castro out there. Well, not really, but Felipe did need a day off.
- The Reds should get Sowers again on Friday, and hopefully they'll do even better than yesterday since they'll be familiar with him next go round.
- This has been a rough stretch, but the Reds have come through it just two games out of first, with some help from the Cardinals. You can't really ask for more than that with who the Reds have been playing. Things are good!