Manny Parra pitched 4 good innings and 2 atrocious ones.  He gave up 6 earned runs total on 4 hits, 4 walks, and 6 strikeouts.  Carlos Villanueva pitched 2 innings of solid relief.  The Milwaukee offense was basically put to sleep by Bronson Arroyo, and they only scored 1 run off of him.  They finished with 9 hits, but stranded 9 runners.  Arroyo not only baffled opposing hitters, but hit a two-run double to put his team ahead.  First baseman Joey Votto hit a two-run single and Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer for the Reds.  Ryan Braun and Mike Cameron hit meaningless solo shots, and Corey Hart managed an RBI single, but the 3 runs were not nearly enough to make this one interesting.

Offensive MVP: Reds RF Jay Bruce (1-2/2R/1HR/2RBI/1BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Reds SP Bronson Arroyo (6IP/4H/1ER/2BB/6SO/0HR/Win-10th)

My Take:

I try very hard to tell myself the season is far from over.  I try hard to remind myself that baseball is in fact only a game and the Brewers cannot be influenced by anything I say or do, but the ways they lose again and again and again, the ways they sputter when it matters most, the way no one in their higher management seems to think anything is wrong, do nothing but annoy and embarrass me.  They can’t hit in the clutch, they can’t pitch if they can’t hit because it seems as though the starters put too much pressure on themselves.  The Brewers have a very gifted starting rotation, but a very poor offense.  It is home run happy, and as fun as it may be at times when Milwaukee grabs victories with dramatic round-trippers, they cannot, will not, and are not winning enough games with that mentality.  Being a small market club, the talent will walk away…I’ve seen it before.  Draft picks will be the only compensation, and draft picks take years to evolve into major league caliber players if they evolve at all…Ryan Braun is a rare exception.  If nothing happens this season, guys like Sheets and Sabathia will most certainly leave, forcing younger, less proven pitchers to hold down the rotation.  Fielder may be traded, and that wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to the Brewers, but still, it would be for prospects…little more.  Things would seem far less morose if they were putting up a good effort consistently, but they aren’t.  Things would seem better if they didn’t lose every single game because of poor clutch hitting or poor management of pitching and the bullpen, but they usually do.  I don’t know what to make of this team…I really don’t anymore.