Caged at Petco. Padres 4, Reds 2.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Not the offense.

Mat Latos gets the nod, as the big right-hander returned to his former stomping grounds with a performance that, once again, was good by any standard out there other than the "Can the Reds' Accumulate Proliferous Runs, " or "CRAPR" metric. Unfortunately, the Reds were not better than the CRAPR this evening despite Latos giving them 6 innings of 2 ER baseball, and that sent them to their 5th consecutive loss.

I'm tired.

Key Plays

• Jay Bruce got the Red ball rolling in the Top of the 2nd tonight opposite his former teammate Edinson Volquez. Bruce led off with a single and moved to 2B on a groundout from Todd Frazier, and he ended up on 3B after an infield single from Zack Cozart. Devin Mesoraco then hit a high chopper to 3B Chase Headley, who had no chance to get Bruce, who scored, or Devin, who reached on an infield single; Cozart, however, anticipated at least a throw to 1B, and when he rounded 2B he was greeted with a through from Headley that caught him off the bag for the third out. Dang. Reds led, 1-0.
• The Padres struck right back in the Bottom of the 2nd, however, as former Red Yonder Alonso led off with a single, moved to 3B on a triple by Will Venable, and scored on a groundout by Logan Forsythe. Game tied, 1-1.
• The Reds small-balled their way to a second run - a second run! - in the Top of the 6th when the power of Bourbon and Rally Threadz commanded them to do so. Joey Votto walked with one man out, as did Brandon Phillips, and Big Game Jay Bruce followed with a soft liner to CF that drove in Votto. Unfortunately, the power of Bourbon overcame the power of Rally Threadz, and we forgot to command the Padres to not retaliate. Jesus Guzman, who had entered to replace Carlos Quentin's untradeable knee, hit an infield single that Cozart stopped but couldn't come up with, and Will Venable smooched another double off the wall to drive him in. Game tied, 2-2.
• As has been well documented more often than we'd like to admit this season, the offense went into a shell that was fire-sealed with impenetrable welding, both waterproof and airproof to the point of suffocating every ounce of life sealed inside. As the Reds mustered just a single hit over the final 7 innings of baseball, the Padres managed to sniff the air of inevitability that they, once again, would have the upperhand. Things materialized to the Reds' detriment in the Bottom of the 8th, when Venable singled with one out off Manny Parra. Sam LeCure replaced him, but allowed a single to Jedd Gyorko, and after a strikeout gave up a 2-run double to Nick Hundley. The Reds could not answer, and that was that. Reds lose, 4-2.

FanGraphs Section that...y'know, nevermind. It's late and this one's not worth naming.

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2013-07-30&team=Padres&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2013-07-30&team=Padres&dh=0&season=2013">FanGraphs</a></span>

Other Notes

• Nope. No Other Notes stats tonight. I don't feel like digging through the disappointment.
• If the Reds don't figure something out, that poor baby will never be free from the clutches of that vile basket. FREE BABY!
• The trade deadline is tomorrow. Will the Reds send out an SOS?