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.

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.

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.

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.  

The Cincinnati Reds hit seven home runs and pounded the Chicago Cubs 9-0 on Wednesday afternoon.  Joey Votto led the way as he hit three home runs just by himself.

Jerry Hairston, Jr. and Votto both hit two run home runs.  Adam Dunn, Paul Bako, Brandon Phillips and Votto (two) all had solo home runs.

Edinson Volquez picked up the win which was his fifth of the season.  Volquez pitched seven innings and only allowed four hits.  He would have pitched longer into the game had his pitch count not gotten up near 120 pitches.

Great job by the Reds who took two out of three from the Cubs.  The Reds are now sitting at 14-21 on the season.  Reds Blog

The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night by the score 8-1.  Jerry Hairston Jr. who had just been called up led the Reds on the night be recording four hits.  With the win, the Reds improved to 9-12 on the season.

Hairston recorded three RBI in the game along with his four hits.  Jeff Keppinger, Bradon Phillips, Adam Dunn, Joey Votto, and Paul Bako both had one RBI each.  Phillips and Dunn’s RBI’s came off solo home runs.

Edinson Volquez pitched seven innings to pick up his third win of the season.  Volquez only allowed three hits and one run in his three innings.  Jeremy Affeldt and Todd Coffey pitched the final two innings and only allowed two hits and zero runs.

Reds Blog

The Cincinnati Reds avoided the sweep as they hammered the Chicago Cubs 9-2 on Thursday afternoon.  The Reds came up with some big hits against Ted Lilly and kept the Cubs bats cooled down which they didn’t do the first two games of the series.

Joey Votto had a huge day for the Reds as he bases loaded triple and then a two-run home run to finish with five RBI.  Ken Griffey Jr. hit a three run home run and finished with three RBI.  Ryan Freel also had one RBI.

Edinson Volquez earned the win as he pitched five innings and only allowed one earned run.  Volquez got in trouble early in the game as some close calls didn’t go his way, but he was able to wiggle his way out of the jams.  Good job by Volquez!

Jared Burton pitched two innings foloowing Volquez and allowed one run on three hits.  David Weathers and Todd Coffey pitched the final two innings and held the Cubs down.

Reds Blog