Take that, Lefty

The Reds won their first game since last Thursday. They actually did it against a lefty. Does it still count that the lefty was Ted Lilly? As far as the standings are concerned, thankfully, it does.

Edinson Volquez struggled. His numbers don't glaringly show it. He gave up 1 run in 5 innings. He struck out 7. However, he walked 4 and 64 of his 122 pitches were out of the strikezone. The only run he gave up was on a bases-loaded walk to Ted Lilly, yes, the pitcher. It's hard for me to blame him, though. The strikezone was tiny and inconsistent. No matter what the ump is doing, 112 pitches in 5 innings is too many and 5 innings are too few. He needs to get more efficient with his stuff. I love that he wants to strikeout every guy that steps to the plate. However, it would be nice to see him pitch to contact and get some easy outs.

596. Ken Griffey, Jr. is good.

It was nice to see that Dusty gave Joey Votto the start against the lefty. Maybe they're going to finally put him out there and leave him out there. Platooning him with Scott Hatteberg isn't helping anyone. Votto responded well today. He had a double and a homer in 4 ABs while matching his career high with 5 RBIs.

Edwin Encarnacion had another error, way to keep on pace for 50 Edwin.

Todd Coffey had another shaky outing. It's time for a trip to Louisville. Matt Belisle is pitching well and should be available soon. Josh Fogg should move to the pen to take Coffey's spot. Belisle can take Fogg's spot in the rotation. I'd also like to see Javier Valentin sent down in favor of David Ross. The thought of carrying three catchers make me shudder. Valentin has not been handling the pitching staff well. Paul Bako just keeps hitting (go figure) and he's been playing some great defense and calling great games.