Remember winning? Reds turn the clock back to last week, beat Arizona 7-4

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Mike Leake.  Young Leake shook off his recent run-in with John Macy Law to throw seven solid if unspectacular innings.  He allowed three runs, striking out six while allowing two walks and one solo homerun.  Honorable mentions to Ramon Hernandez and Joey Votto.

Key Plays

• The good guys got off to a good start.  Although Stephen Drew hit an RBI single to give the Diamondbacks an early 1-0 lead, the Reds took advantage of control problems by Daniel Hudson in the bottom half of the inning. Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto led off with singles, but Jonny Gomes, not remembering what to do with runners in scoring position, elected to walk as per his 2011 default setting.  A Jay Bruce walk, a single by Miguel Cairo, a Ramon Hernandez HBP, and finally a free pass to Paul Janish took care of the scoring.  Reds lead, 4-1.
• In the second, Daniel Hudson "helped his own cause" with a sharp bunt to Brandon Phillips to score Juan Miranda from third.  Reds still lead, 4-2.
• Kelly Johnson showed his power stroke with a solo shot in the fifth.  For some reason, the "Kelly" song that Woody sang in Cheers came to mind.  Meanwhile, the Reds hadn't done much since the first, but Joey Votto ended the droubt in the bottom half of the inning with his third homerun of the season.  Reds lead, 5-3.
• The Reds added two more runs in the sixth, knocking Dan Hudson out of the game.  Ramon Hernandez doubled off the LF wall, scoring Cairo from first.  Paul Janish then singled off new pitcher Sam "the Demel you know" to score Hernandez.  Reds lead, 7-3.
• Mike Leake was cruising.  He got some help from his defense in the seventh when Jonny Gomes, while carrying a piano on his back, chased down a flyball to left-center.   
• Francisco Cordero entered the ninth with a four-run lead.  Disappointed with the lack of a save situation, Coco decided to create one by allowing a solo HR by Stephen Drew.  He then allowed a single to Gerardo Parra and a walk to Miguel Montero.  But then Russell Branyan, defying his TTO reputation, weakly grounded out to end the game.  Reds (finally) win, 7-4.

via www.fangraphs.com

• Mike Leake is now 3-0 with an ERA in the high 4s.  In 23.2 innings he has an even 2:1 K:BB ratio.
• According to the AP, two fans sitting 10 rows behind the home dugout wore Bengals helmets.
• The Reds entered today's play at 9-9, in a four-way tie for the NL Central Lead.  With a win, the wire-to-wire dreams are still alive.
• Drew Stubbs got the day off, with Chris Heisey spelling him at CF and in the leadoff slot.  Stubbs was 1-for-9 with six strikeouts against Daniel Hudson and 2-for-13 over his past four games.  
• Scott Rolen also sat as it was a day game following a night game.  Dusty Baker: "I really have to give him the time off because I can see him being slow the last couple of days."
• Bring on St. Louis!