Last night the Reds visited defeat on the Cardinals with the stuff of their nightmares: a good start by Johnny Cueto and a bombastic walk-off home run by Brandon Phillips. The only way, really, to follow-up is for Stan Musial to renounce his Cardinals citizenship, occupy the empty 40-man roster spot for one day and re-enter the Hall of Fame as a Cincinnati Red. Chris Carpenter, chastened, throws a half-hearted bean-ball pitch at Phillips which he wallops for a grand slam. A Johnny Cueto pinch-hit grandslam later and Albert Pujols is announcing his retirement, citing clear signs of the Rapture. Only it was just some guy in a sandwich sign saying: "A wrap? Sure!"
Bronson is pitching on 9 days rest. Maybe this has allowed him to heal up. I'm not sure exactly why he's pitching second out of the gate (or against Chris Carpenter), but it's plenty of rest assuming he's healthy. Over his career, he hasn't pitched noticeably better with 6+ days of rest, compared to 4 or 5, but his ERA is a few ticks lower (4.03). Arroyo's been a durable pitcher who's also good at letting bygones burn. He hasn't seen such poor performance in a first-half before - or as sustained a period of reduced velocity - so this will be chance to see how resilient he is.
Raise your calculator if you thought Zack Cozart would have 8 hits in his first five games. Career-starting hot streaks are fragile, but there's not reason not to enjoy it while it lasts.