In case you hadn't noticed, Mat Latos is beginning to look a bit more like the Mat Latos we all wanted when the team made the Mat Latos trade. Since his bad outing against the Cardinals back on April 18th, he's posted an ERA of 2.76 while striking out a batter per inning. He's still walking more hitters than you'd like, and he's only pitched seven innings once, but you have to like the way things are trending.
Opposing him is Brandon Beachy of Kokomo, Indiana. He leads the league with a scintillating 1.33 ERA and is coming off an impressive complete game shut out of the Miami baseball club. He is no doubt a good pitcher, but so is Mat Latos. As a fan of the Cincinnati Reds (they are my favorite team, you know), I will be rooting for Mat Latos to pitch better than Brandon Beachy tonight.
Lineups and bullpen log after the jong:
| REDS | BRAVES |
| Cozart SS | CF Bourn |
| Stubbs CF | LF Prado |
| Votto 1B | 1B Freeman |
| Phillips 2B | 2B Uggla |
| Bruce RF | C McCann |
| Heisey LF | RF Heyward |
| Cairo 3B | 3B Francisco |
| Hanigan C | SS Pastornicky |
| Latos P | P Beachy |
Mike Leake saved the bullpen last night by throwing eight masterful innings, but that didn't stop Dusty from using two of his relievers who could have used the day off. Sam LeCure hasn't pitched since the 13th nine days ago, and Simon hasn't pitched in a week. Marshall could use the day off, and I wouldn't mind giving Chapman another day off as well, so we'll see how Dusty handles his lefties tonight.