Game 23: Reds 9 Pirates 5

Here's what I took out of today's game: Paul Maholm may be able to lose a three run lead faster than any person in history.

I turned the game on in time to see Doumit's RBI double to make it 4-1 and thought, "Awesome, we're getting to Harang and Maholm must still be cruising like he was last start." Then he gave up a single and Doumit allowed a passed ball that should've become a caught stealing when Freddy couldn't hold on to his throw. That quickly became irrelevant when Maholm walked the next two batters.

"This is bad," I thought to myself.

"You ain't seen nothin'," Paul Maholm responded to me in thought-speak. And by that I mean he gave up a triple into the notch, an RBI single by Aaron Harang, and an RBI double to Brandon Phillips. Total time elapsed from when I turned the TV on: approximately 22 seconds.

Other than that, I suppose all I can say is that Dave Littlefield is a freaking genius for sending Ryan Doumit to AAA to rediscover his swing. Because we definitely couldn't have used a left-handed power bat to this point in the season at all or anything.