Red Reposter - Bringing water to L.A.

Bronson won the old-fashioned way last night
In scanning the boxscore, I noticed that Bronson Arroyo let his defense control the destiny of every Dodger hitter save for one strikout of the opposing pitcher.  He's the first Red to pitch at least seven innings while not allowing a HR or walk, but only striking out one, since ... Danny Graves (!) in 2003. 

Francisco Cordero earned his 303rd save last night
And moved into a tie with Doug Jones for 20th all time. He's 13 for 15 this year and looking as sharp as he ever has in a Reds uniform, effectively retiring the "So-so" nickname. Next on the list with 304 saves is Jeff Montgomery, a Reds draftee. It wasn't Robinson-for-Pappas, but the 1988 swap of Montgomery for Van Snider is one of the worst trades in modern Reds history.

Draft signing update, courtesy of Sheldon
The Reds announced Monday the signing of third-round pick Tony Cingrani, a left-handed reliever out of Rice University. Cingrani had 12 saves in 32 relief appearances this season while posting a 1.74 ERA. Cingrani was the highest pick out of 14 signings from the 2011 First-Year Player Draft the Reds announced Monday, including fourth-round right-handed pitcher Kyle McMyne out of Villanova.

C-ing Red takes a look at Kershaw and Billingsley
The Reds hit Hiroki Kuroda alright, but Clayton Kershaw presents a more difficult challenge.  'mache takes a look under the hood:  Kershaw has raised his K/9 rate to 10.0 this season, while dropping his BB/9 to 2.85. Kershaw is predominantly a two pitch guy – over 90% of his pitches are four-seamers (average velocity 93.1 mph) or sliders, but he also sprinkles in a big 12-6 curveball, and a changeup that comes in about 10 mph slower than the fastball. Impressively, this season, out of 310 sliders, Kershaw has thrown over 2/3 of them for strikes, and batters have whiffed on 20% of them.  For you out-of-town fans, the Reds will be on MLBN tonight.

Rolen sat yesterday with a sore foot
He fouled a ball off the foot on Sunday night.  The good news:  "I'm not dead and it's not broken."  Todd Frazier strokes his chin, thinking "not yet, anyways."  My guess is Miguel Cairo makes another start tonight.

Dames on Games - Who I end up sitting next to at Reds games
Does this really exist? The "Ironic" fan. Hipsters have even descended upon the most American of pastimes. The Ironic Fan either overcheers or ignores the game, and spends at least an inning and a half trying to start the "wave," despite the fact it’s a Tuesday night and the stands are only capable of a ripple. The Ironic Fan doesn’t wear team gear, unless they were able to find a pre-1990 child’s shirt.  The writer forgot to add that the hipster fan constantly checks his or her iPhone and takes public transportation to the park.  Or more ideally, arrives in a bicycle he or she built. 

June 14, 1870 - the winning stops
The 1869 Red Stockings are widely acknowledged as the first professional baseball team (their disconnection to the current Cincy franchise is besides the point). They won 81 or 130 consecutive games in 1869-1870, depending on who you ask.  The Brooklyn Atlantics ended the streak 141 years ago today in a wild 11-inning game.  10,000 Brooklynites attended, but only 3,000 unironically enjoyed the contest.

THT - The worst Cubs team ever?
Cubs fans of long standing have come to expect two kinds of teams: Disappointing and just plain bad. For a team considered a fringe divisional contender before the start of the season, this year's squad has been both.  Meanwhile, the Cubs stole one last night from Milwaukee on Darwin Barney's hook slide.  With Barney at third with one out in the ninth in a scoreless game, Aramis Ramirez grounded to Brewers shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt , who promptly threw home. Barney eluded a tag by catcher Jonathan Lucroy with a nifty hook slide.  As a result, the Reds pulled to within 3.5 games of the Brewers (and idle St. Louis). 

Cardinals sign (another) Rasmus
Colby Rasmus' younger brother Casey, was a 36th-round pick in last week's draft.  Your move, LaRussa.

Paul McCartney will play at GABP on August 4
Sir Paul will perform the first ever standalone concert at GABP. Seeing his name always reminds me of an old Dennis Miller joke: "Today Paul McCartney was knighted for his work with The Beatles. He was then promptly beheaded for the creation of Wings."