The wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field and the Cincinnati Reds took full advantage of it as they clubbed the Chicago Cubs 12-7 to avoid the three game sweep.  The bats were swinging well which was a suprise to be honest the way that the players swung the bats that prior two games agains the Cubs.

David Ross had two home runs while five others all had one home run each.  Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Brandon Phillips, Edwin Encarnacion, and Joey Votto all went deep.  The offense hit atleast one home run off of every Cubs pitcher that they faced in the game.  Eighteen hits scored 12 runs for the Reds as they had production up and down the lineup.

Bronson Arroyo only lasted five innings as he had some control issues but he pitched well enough to get the win and improve to 7-7.  Arroyo gave up seven hits and five runs including one home run in the game.  Bill Bray, Mike Lincoln, and Jared Burton, Francisco Cordero all pitched one inning each in relief.  Bray gave up two runs but the rest of the guys did a great job.

The Reds will now head up north to Milwaukee and begin a weekend series with the Brewers on Friday.

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Edinson Volquez had yet another quality start, giving up only two runs in seven innings pitched, and got his tenth win before the halfway point of the season.  Joey Votto had three hits including his twelfth homer of the year.  Jolbert Cabrera went four-for-four, avoided a tag at home plate with a brilliant slide, but severely dislocated a finger sliding headfirst into second and will be headed to the DL.

Daryl Thompson will be activated tomorrow to pitch the second game of the series.  We will have to wait and see if he will simply take Cabrera’s spot on the roster, or if other moves will be made.

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

Dusty Baker flip-flopped Joey Votto and Corey Patterson in the order, but it didn’t help much, as the only Reds run scored on a solo homer by Edwin Encarnacion.  Meanwhile, Bronson Arroyo gave up six Dodger runs in six and one-third innings.  Brandon Phillips had two hits and turned a spectacular double play.  James Loney and Juan Pierre drove in two runs each, and starter Derek Lowe picked up the win for the Dodgers.

Norris Hopper, activated from the DL before the game, pinch-hit for Patterson and played a couple of innings in center.  Hopper had a single and a base on balls, but was stranded in scoring position both times.  To make room for Hopper on the roster, Homer Bailey was optioned back to Louisville.

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

Johnny Cueto pitched a good ballgame for the Reds, but Chad Billingsley shut down the Reds offense as the Dodgers beat the Reds, 3-1.

Pinch-hitter Javier Valentin drove in the only Reds run with a groundout in the seventh.  Joey Votto collected two of the Reds’ six hits on the night.  Jeff Kent went three for four for the Dodgers.

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

Homer Bailey lived up to his name, surrendering three of them in two and one-third innings, as a Red Sox lineup without either Manny Ramirez or the injured David Ortiz cruised to a 9-0 victory behind Josh Beckett (7-4) and two Sox relievers.  Joey Votto was three-for-four for the Reds, and Jolbert Cabrera, getting a start at shortstop, was two-for-three, but since they were widely separated in the batting order, it still added up to zero runs.

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

Jay Bruce got the Reds off to a good start in interleague play with a leadoff home run in the first, and starter Aaron Harang, setup man Jared Burton, and closer Francisco Cordero limited the Bosox to one run on five hits.  Harang got only his third win of the season, but looked like his old self.  Sean Casey, playing first base for the Red Sox, also looked pleasantly familiar.  Adam Dunn blasted a solo homer, and Joey Votto hit a run-scoring double.  Manny Ramirez drove in the lone Sox run.

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

The Cincinnati Reds knocked out Pittsburgh Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny in the first inning as they scored six first inning runs and then went on to beat the Pirates by the score of 9-1.

David Ross went 2-4 with a two run home run and four rbi in the game.  Joey Votto had two rbi in the game as well as he continues to swing a good bat.  Jerry Hairston Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Edwin Encarnacion all had one rbi in the game to help out.

Bronson Arroyo improved to 4-4 on the season as he pitched six innings to pick up the win.  Arroyo was very good as he only gave up three hits and one run in his six innings of action.  Mike Lincoln, David Weathers, and Bill Bray all pitched a scoreless inning of relief behind Arroyo.  Great job by all four pitchers!

We should also mention that Corey Patterson was sent down to Triple A before the game.

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Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Edinson Volquez improved to 6-1 on the season as the Reds beat the Florida Marlins 5-3 on Tuesday night.  Volquez tossed six innings and gave up seven hits and one run in the game.

Jared Burton and David Weathers were the two pitchers out of the bullpen that gave up one run each for the Reds.  It would have been nice to see them pitch as well as Bill Bray and Francisco Cordero did.  Cordero picked up his seventh save of the season in the game.

Joey Votto connected for his eighth home run in the game which was a solo home run in the seventh inning.  Ryan Freel, Jeff Keppinger, Adam Dunn, and David Ross all had one rbi as well in the game.

The Reds will be without Keppinger for quite a while however has he left the game in the bottom of the fourth inning with a fracture left patella.

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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