Uno down, uno to go

Billy, Brandon and a Blast  The Reds jumped on Cubs starter and former Reds pitcher, Travis Wood for three runs in the first inning.  Billy Hamilton and Brandon Phillips each got hits. Jay Bruce deposited Travis Wood’s first pitch more than half-way up the sun deck (or is it the moon deck). It was Bruce’s third consecutive game hitting a homer, all against left-handed pitching.

Buen Béisbol  This wasn’t one of Johnny Cueto’s best, but it was still an effective start. Cueto went 6.1 innings and gave up six hits, including back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning. He walked one and struck out four. Cueto gave up two runs instead of five thanks to …

Parra-gon of Relief  The Cubs loaded the bases off of Cueto in the seventh inning, aided by Ramon Santiago booting Darwin Barney’s double-play ball. Manny Parra was summoned from the bullpen. Parra had thrown one pitch in the past eighteen games. But showing no sign of rust, he fanned Cubs’ leadoff hitter Chris Coghlan and induced Ryan Sweeney to ground softly to second base.

Big and Fast  “That’s is a 99-mile per hour sinker.” (Jeff Brantley) Jumbo Diaz retired all three batters he faced in the eighth inning, including two strikeouts.

Three Days  The Reds have won three in a row since the last time you said they should give up on 2014 and break up the team. They are tied with the Pirates, a half-game behind the Cardinals and 4.5 games behind Milwaukee. It’s the closest the Reds have been to first place since April 18. All four teams play tonight, the Cards and Pirates against each other.

Heisey Sighting!  Chris Heisey made the most of a rare opportunity to start by getting on base all four times. He scored the Reds fourth run.

More Baseball  The Reds and Cubs play again tonight at 7:10. It’s a battle of left-handed pitchers, each making their first start of the year: David Holmberg vs. Tsuyoshi Wada. With a win, the Reds would be six games over .500 for the first time this year.