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With the Reds scoring 11 runs yesterday, you might be inclined to think, "Hey, maybe the offense is waking up!" Then again, since the start of 2009, the offense has scored over 10 runs 9 other times. In the games immediately following those 9 games, they've managed to score more than 4 runs just 3 times. Add in the fact that they've averaged just 3.45 R/G in Aaron Harang's starts since the beginning of '09 and you can probably guess how many runs they'll score tonight using one hand, even if you don't have all of your fingers on that hand.
They have the Chris Dickerson lineup going out there today, which is probably their best lineup, but it doesn't change the fact that Dickerson is 3rd on the team in OBP at .321. These guys need to start getting on base at a much better clip if they are going to have any prolonged success. The good news is that it looks like Jay Bruce (.276/.353/.586 in his last 8 games) and Brandon Phillips (.269/.387/.500 over his last 7 games) are starting to show some signs of life. They'll need to keep that up for a while longer to make their seasonal numbers look respectable, but as they say, it's still early.
As for Harang - just don't suck, okay, big guy.