Kevin Youkilis and Coco Crisp hit back-to-back homers in the top of the tenth to beat Mike Lincoln and the Reds, 6-4.  Edwin Encarnacion had sent the game into extra innings with a two-out, two-strike, bottom-of-the ninth homer off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon.  Earlier solo homers by Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips, and a pinch-hit RBI single by Javier Valentin, accounted for the rest of the Reds runs.  Tim Wakefield and Edinson Volquez, the starting pitchers, duelled for seven innings before turning the game over to the bullpens.

Before the game, Danny Herrera was sent back to Louisville when Gary Majewski was reinstated from the bereavement list.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an improvement over OPS.

Bronson Arroyo pitched six shutout innings and hit a solo homer, David Ross got Edwin Encarnacion home with a perfectly-executed suicide squeeze, and Brandon Phillips hit a bases-loaded triple to provide the final margin and get reliever Jared Burton his third win of the season.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

Johnny Cueto walked eight and gave up six earned runs in five innings, while the Reds offense managed only three hits off Braden Looper, who pitched not only his first career shutout, but his first career complete game.  The defense wasn’t any better, as Cueto threw one away in the infield, and Jay Bruce dropped one in the outfield.  Ryan Ludwick, Rick Ankiel and even cowboy Jason LaRue homered for the Cardinals, who cruised to a 10-0 victory.

 Jolbert Cabrera, who was brought up from Louisville when Jerry Hairston Jr. went on the 15-day DL, made his first start for the Reds, playing second base in place of the slumping Brandon Phillips.

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Ken Griffey Jr. got home run #600 out of the way in the first inning, and the Reds never trailed after that.  Edinson Volquez had yet another quality start and got his ninth win against only two defeats.  Reds catcher Paul Bako broke out of an extended slump by hitting two homers off left-handers.  Brandon Phillips also homered for the Reds.

Jerry Hairston Jr. broke his thumb sliding headfirst into second, and is likely headed for the disabled list.  Jeff Keppinger and Norris Hopper were both scheduled to begin rehab assignments tonight.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

Jay Bruce drove in three runs, and Brandon Phillips and Jerry Hairston Jr. drove in two apiece as the Reds scored early and often off Andrew Miller and a succession of Marlin relievers, and coasted to an 11-3 win.  Ex-Reds Jorge Cantu (two homers and a double) and Cody Ross (also with two hits) provided most of the Marlins offense.  Reds rookie right-hander Johnny Cueto evened his record at 5-5 with a quality start.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

Edinson Volquez got his eighth win of the season, giving up only two hits while striking out eight through seven innings.  Joey Votto broke up a Brett Myers no-hit bid in the seventh, and drove in both Reds runs with a pair of run-scoring doubles.  Brandon Phillips stole two bases, one of them standing up after being picked off first, and scored both Reds runs.  Phillips and Votto also made a pair of nice defensive plays.  Francisco Cordero pitched the final inning and a third to record his twelfth save of the year.

Ken Griffey Jr. was out of the lineup for the third consecutive game with a sore knee.  Corey Patterson, who was called up before the game when Ryan Freel was placed on the 15-day DL, was in the lineup instead.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.

Bronson Arroyo threw batting practice to the Phillies for four and one-third innings, giving up five earned runs on ten hits, suffering his fifth loss of the season.  Kyle Kendrick  wasn’t much better for the Phils, giving up four Reds runs on five hits in five and one-third, but neither bullpen gave up a run the rest of the way, with Brad Lidge closing it out for his 14th save.

Jay Bruce and Edwin Encarnacion hit solo homers for the Reds, and Adam Dunn had a clutch two-out, two-run double to draw the Reds within one, but that was all they would get.  Encarnacion got the Reds out of a bases-loaded jam with a tag-em-out, throw-em-out double play.  Ryan Freel, Brandon Phillips, and David Ross hooked up to nail Chase Utley, who had run through a stop sign, at the plate.  (Freel was in center because Ken Griffey Jr. sat out the game due to soreness.)  It was Utley’s only misstep of the night, however.  He had three hits, including his 21st home run of the year, and made diving catches of two Reds line drives.

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Johnny Cueto got his fourth win of the year, dominating Braves hitters through six innings but running into a little trouble in the seventh, when he gave up back-to-back solo homers by Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann.  By that time, however, the Reds had built up a 3-0 lead on solo shots by Adam Dunn and Jay Bruce, and an RBI double by Brandon Phillips.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Reds scored three more runs, one of them on a suicide squeeze by Jerry Hairston Jr., and coasted to a 6-2 win.

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Jay Bruce hit his first major-league home run, a solo shot off Manny Acosta in the bottom of the tenth, to give the Reds a thrilling come-from-behind extra-inning victory over the Atlanta Braves, who are now 0 and 20 in their last twenty one-run decisions.  They were almost 1 and 19.  It took a daring play by pinch-runner Ryan Freel, who dashed home from third on a tapper back to the mound in the bottom of the ninth, to send the game to extra innings.  Pitcher Rafael Soriano fielded the ball and looked at Freel, who stopped but then broke for the plate when Soriano turned to throw to first.  Freel slid headfirst across home plate ahead of the first baseman’s throw.

Earlier in the game, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 599th career home run.  Brandon Phillips also homered for the Reds.  Mark Teixeira and Greg Norton hit home runs for the Braves.  Starting pitchers Jair Jurrjens and Josh Fogg both struggled, each giving up six earned runs in less than five innings.

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Jay Bruce led off the eleventh inning with a single to left, his fourth hit of the game, and consecutive ground balls by Ken Griffey Jr. and Brandon Phillips, both of which appeared to be within the reach of Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones, plated Bruce with the winning run as the Reds beat the Braves 3-2.  Griffey’s grounder was ruled a hit, but Jones was charged with an error on the game-ending play.  It was a miserable night all the way around for Jones, who came into the game batting a league-leading .420 but went 0 for 5 including grounding into two double plays.

What began as a pitcher’s duel between Edinson Volquez and Tom Glavine had developed into a battle of the bullpens by the seventh inning.  Volquez struck out seven and walked three, giving up two runs in six-plus innings.  Jared Burton pitched two stellar innings before turning the game over to Francisco Cordero and, eventually, lefty Kent Mercker, who got credit for the win, his first of the year.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an alternative to OPS.