Cincinnati Reds blogging

Wow. That was sad. There was absolutely no reason to pitch to a guy hitting .400 on the season with two men on and one out in the 7th. But Dave Miley and Joe Valentine thought it'd be prudent to go after Derrek Lee. And he made them pay.

At least there's an off day tomorrow so they can get over this. Giving up a 6-1 lead can never be easy.

Now they sit 10-11, 5 games out of first place. I'd say that's pretty reasonable, given the caliber of starting pitching they've faced. Mark Prior twice, Kerry Wood, Clemens, Oswalt twice, A.J. Burnett, Dontrelle Willis, Tom Glavine, Mark Mulder, Andy Pettite, Pedro... That's twelve tough games right there.

Add that to inconsistent starting pitching, a poor average with runners in scoring position, and a bullpen that's shaky at best (outside of Ryan Wagner) and 10-11 is well above expectations.

It gives me a false sense of hope for the summer.