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The thing about baseball is that you don't have time to wash the taste from a bad loss out of your mouth. You give away a lead in the ninth? Too bad, you're playing 15 hours later. That's the way it goes.
There is a bit of irony that Mr. Hangover himself, Bronson Arroyo, is on the mound to try to help the Reds overcome their hangover. The Reds haven't won since Arroyo's last start, when he gave up 5 runs in 6 innings but still left the game with a 6-5 lead. The bullpen blew that one, though the offense managed to win it in extra innings. I'm certain that Dusty Baker is hoping for a better performance from Arroyo today so that he can stay out of the bullpen for as long as possible.
It would also help if the offense could score a few more runs. They have scored more than 4 runs in a game just 4 times this season, which is why they've only outscored the Mets and Astros on the season. At some point these guys have to start hitting, right? I know they aren't going to score a lot of runs, but they should be able to put more than 3 on the board more regularly than this at least.
It's been a long two weeks. The team hasn't had a day off since the day after Opening Day, and with the flu bug floating around the clubhouse, I'm sure that has made things even worse. A win today before an off day tomorrow will go a long way to improving the health of the club. Maholm's been tough for the Reds to beat in the past, but they need to find a way today.