Maybe just two times through the order next time, BA. (Photo by DavidMeyersPhotos on Flickr)

I think I’ve become kind of spoiled in the last month. Generally speaking, we’ve been on a month long win-streak, and it’s felt amazing. Of course, it wasn’t a literal month long win streak. We did lose occasionally, and there was, of course the all-star break (which just shortens the month). But before tonight, our last consecutive losses were on July 4th and 5th.

Bronson Arroyo was the Reds’ hurler this evening, and he was really doing pretty well, until the 6th inning. Actually, Bronson looked pretty dominant in the first four innings, but as he went through the lineup a second time, thing started to get a little more shaky – and then in the third go-around, things got rough. In the bottom of the 6th, Aramis Ramirez, Corey Hart, and Martin Maldonado all hit home runs off of Arroyo, turning a 1-0 nailbiter into a 5-0 blowout.

Cozart managed to put a solo home run on the board just after that, in the top of the 7th. (With all these home runs, you’d swear it was a home game.) And the Reds offense showed more than a hint of life in the 8th. Jay Bruce led off the inning with a single, (then Ryan Ludwick got out), Scott Rolen hit a ground rule double, and Todd Frazier walked to load the bases. Although the whole Reds fandom was side-eyeing Dusty for having Xavier Paul pinch-hit  (instead of Chris Heisey) against Lord Moustachio, John Axford, XP hit a single, driving in Bruce with the bases still loaded. Dioner Navarro made it a two run game with a sac fly and Cozart popped out to end the rally.

But, though Sam LeCure was alright in relief, Arredondo had a couple hiccups that allowed another run to score. In the 9th, the Reds couldn’t do anything at all.

It’s ok, Reds. I think it’s time to stop thinking about winning streaks – and start thinking about winning the series. And then the next series. And after that, winning enough games to get us to the playoffs. We lost the opening games of both our last two Padres series, and went on to win each series, so we certainly can win this one. This weekend gave us breathing room on the Pirates. It’s time to stop worrying about what the rest of the division is doing, and focus on winning.