Reds 1, Cubs 0

What a (weird) game.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Hats off to Kyle Lohse. What a beast. I knew he was capable of doing something like this, but had all but abandoned hope in the guy. Not for being average or decent, I thought he could do that. But I about gave up on him being a master, and he was simply masterful today. Even when he got into some jams, he got out of it. He actually pitched better when men were on base. The 6th inning was the best, with runners on the corners with 0 outs. Lohse fooled Jacque Jones all around the zone and got him hacking. Derrek Lee didn't even swing the bat, looking at 3 beautiful strikes, and then Barrett flied out to end the threat. All in all, he went 8 innings of shutout baseball, walking 1, giving up 4 hits, and striking out TWELVE batters. Whoo baby! This is the Kyle Lohse I enjoyed watching with the Twins back in 2003. When I was watching, I was getting nervous because the Cincy bats were not swinging well and I was going to be very annoyed if the Cubs pushed across a couple runs and Lohse would get the loss. He deserved the win and thankfully got it. Stanton got a groundball, and Weathers got the save, walking 1 and almost allowing Barrett to rip a double, but thankfully it hooked foul. Weathers likes to be reckless with his chances. It would be nice to see a 1-2-3.

Hitting: What can you say? Same problems every time. I was nervous to see Ted Lilly on the mound, because he has a good chance of being the 2007 Reds Killer. He is certainly the leading candidate thus far. He pitched a pretty dang good game himself, going 6 innings, allowing 2 hits and a walk for a run scored, and K'ing 10. Freel had a bad leadoff day, going 0/4. Phillips walk and stolen base were enough as Jeff Conine got the only RBI today. Hamilton was 0/4, tear tear. Griffey got the other hit. Just two hits. Thankfully it was enough, but it was sad to see. Lilly is good, no doubt. But Cincinnati looks all out of shape up there, they just look flat-out bad, and I am particularly sad about Brandon Phillips as of late, though he did manage that walk that was huge. He just doesn't look good up there, but neither do most people this year. Plate discipline is lacking in the worst way.

Fielding & such: Jackie Robinson Day, which Griffey started and wore #42. It turned into this whole thing where entire teams were wearing the number or only the black players were wearing it. It was supposed to be cool, and I guess it was. I think Griffey's idea was better, though. No errors on the day, which is a bonus. Already mentioned Phillips' stolen base, which was pivotal today. Jeff Conine got his own stolen base, which is beyond ridiculous. Who is this guy? This guy who I hated on for so long is being incredible and thankfully he is because nobody on this team is right now. Good for him.