Red Reposter - Wednesday, in the park, I link (it was the Fourth of July)

Apparently not one to "Welsh" on a bet
the Crafty Left-hander wore a Bill Murray-inspired paisley get-up on the air last night which played really well with the segment of the Fox Sports Ohio viewing audience that likes to drop acid before games.

John Fay got Cueto on record after last night's disappointing loss
"That’s life," Cueto said. Though he didn't go full Volquez, he did seem a little peeved with the lack of run support. Cueto pitched well, despite a few Cuetotally uncharacteristic lapses. And Dusty left him in a batter or two long with a fresh bullpen. Maybe the offense was just offering an elaborate tribute to tonight's Dodger starter, Aaron Harang.

Appropriately filed in their BP Unfiltered section
Brandon Phillips' on-base skills get a looking-over from Baseball Prospectus in the context of yearly league rates. He really has improve this aspect of his game, tough his BB% has dipped below 6.0% this year, which would be his lowest since 2007.

On the lighter side of Brandon Phillips, he ate some Bizarre Foods [VIDEO]

Billy Hamilton stole his 100th Base
Old news for us by now, but worth reading for the Grant Brisbee treatment. Some Bill "Braskey" Hamilton stories are shared down in the thread too, from some of your favorite Red Reporter vets. I enjoy watching the video of Hamilton stealing on a pitch-out whenever I'm having a slow day.

Checking the grist levels on the rumor mill
There's not much build-up yet. A half-remembered, third-hand rumor about Zack Greinke and some Buster Olney speculation about Carlos Quentin being a good fit. I trust Walt to work the phones hard as July 31 approaches, but it's anyone's guess whether his prudence of the last two seasons or aggressiveness of the most recent off-season will win the day. The Reds are tied for third in the NL in runs-allowed-per-game, but are 7th in runs scored. With an ineffectual bench and paltry top-of-the-order, they need a bat - though it would also be nice to have a solid depth starter to put in Louisville.

Former utlityman man of the future Drew Sutton got revenge on his former club
With a walk-off HR to lift the Pirates over the Astros. He also got proxy revenge on another former club by helping the 'rates into a tie for first with the Reds. Since spending parts of two seasons with the Reds ('09-'10), he's been with Cleveland, Boston, Atlanta, Tampa and Pittburgh. In other circumstances, this would be a nice human baseball interest story. But as it is, I rebuke you, Drew Sutton.

"Clayton Kershaw Has Opinions"
You'll probably need your European-designed forensic headphones to hear this one. Clayton Kershaw, I assume in jest, tells James Loney something in the dugout. Juice sucks? I dunno, orange is pretty solid. I hope this isn't the approach the Reds take with Drew Stubbs and his 0-fer streak.

Johnny Cueto and Sean Marshall make this list
of best players over the last calendar year to be snubbed from the All Star Game. Of course, that's not really how the ASG works, although I'm not really sure how (or if) it works.