Reds 6 Pirates 5

Didn't see much of this one due to my brother's high school graduation and related festivities. The five minutes I did see included the back of Adam Dunn's back as he rounded the bases, the Joker's double (oh how I miss the Joker, of all the boneheaded idiotic things this team has done, how did we leave Joe Randa UNPROTECTED in the Expansion Draft?), Cruz's's double, Grabow's insertion into the game, and Valentin's single, putting us down 5-3. I was then commanded to turn off the game because I was bad luck, and hey it was time for some graduation cake anyways. Looks like we rallied in the top of the 9th with a Castillo single, Sanchez double, and Ryan Freel error, but Mike Gonzalez couldn't hold the tie. So after finally allowing his first run since April 13th last night, he comes out and gives up another one tonight and loses the game for us. Maybe he's not the answer to close either, I don't know. What I do know is that when you outhit the Reds, you expect to win. 1-for-12 with RISP is not acceptable anywhere. Our offensive outburst yesterday should probably be ignored because it came against someone named Elizardo. This team is really struggling offensively, especially since the roadtrip began. That means when the pitching isn't perfect, we lose (unless we're playing the Cardinals, then we lose even with the pitching is just about perfect). This team is in a bad way right now, and facing a daunting schedule after Cincy. Two wins in the next two days would be a good place to start.

20 Games in 20 Days: 3-5