Game 1 Recap and Game 2 Preview

A Leake in the Rotation

Yikes! What an awful night from Mike Leake. He must be moonlighting at Maggiano's in Kenwood because he was serving up meatballs all night last night. Even through the first 2 innings, it looked like Leake was throwing a lot of strikes right over the heart of the plate but the 'Stros weren't biting. By the 3rd inning, the Astros started swinging away and they weren't getting any cheapies off of Leake, they were hitting the ball hard. I don't know what Mike Leake needs to figure out, but I'd rather him figure it out soon, or figure it out in Louisville.

• Speaking of hitting the ball hard, Scott Rolen has been absolutely crushing the ball lately. Last night he hit two balls hard into the left-center field gap and unfortunately both were caught. Like I said the other night: reports of Rolen's death have been greatly exaggerated.
• Baby steps for Jay Bruce against Wandy Rodriguez. He did look overmatched on one or 2 at-bats, but he also managed to get a hit and score the Reds first run of the night. Then, just to show us that he's not normally as bad as he is against Wandy, he crushed a dinger to deep right center field (oddly enough, right into the seats I was sitting in on Wednesday night)
• Todd Frazier is like Chris Heisey 2.0. Pinch Hitter Extraordinaire! I really like what I'm seeing from him, and I think if he keeps this up, he will be our go-to pinch hitter and supersub. The good thing is, he can play the outfield as well.
• That Joey Votto at-bat where he hit the RBI double was a thing of beauty. 13 pitches. Vintage Joseph Daniel Votto.

As for today's 4pm game, I will be there as long as the rains hold up. Lucas Harrell toes the rubber for the Astronomicals, and Johnny Cueto for the Redlegs. Only 3 current Reds have ABs against Harrell (Bruce, Phillips, Votto) and Bruce is the only one with a hit. Johnny Cueto has had a lot of success against the Astros, with really only Carlos Lee hitting him hard. Hopefully Lee is still out today after that rolled ankle. Hope to see some of you down at the ballpark today (along with lots of sunshine!)

• I do accept people buying me beers, so don't be shy. You may or may not find me at the Holy Grail prior to the game.
• My good friend and local comedian Mike Berlon has a CD (Half price! Only $5!!! Totally worth it) out now that you should check out at mikeberloncomedy.com and you can follow him on Twitter @mikeberlon
• Until next time folks, I'll leave you with a little CCR on this rainy day. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JoeyVottosBat and tweet at me or comment here on the blog with any ideas/suggestions. Go Reds!