Happy Cinco de Mayo for Cincinnati Reds

Reds shutout the Marlins in front of a screaming crowd of 11." title="Marlins fans disappointed" width="410" height="314" />

The Reds shutout the Marlins in front of a screaming crowd of 11.

No, Edinson Volquez is not from Mexico, but he did celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a win. Volquez pushed the Reds to their sixth shutout of the season tonight. If you’ve been paying attention to my previous posts, you would know that SIX ties the Reds total number of shutouts in 2008.

Volquez was brilliant as these numbers will show. He went eight innings, gave up three hits, and struck out seven in his second consecutive eight inning shutout. Though he walked four batters (I know, it could have been much worse.), he gave up zero runs and lowered his ERA by nearly one run (3.47).

Voltron also picked up his first hit of the season. Nick Masset threw a perfect ninth inning to close out the game. He’s looked great so far this year as well. Nice night all around for Volquez and the Redlegs.

The Reds’ offense gave their pitcher some breathing room too. No doubt Aaron Harang is jealous and bewildered.

Jerry Hairston actually went 2-4 and scored three runs. I honestly didn’t see that coming. Hairston also had a nice relay throw to the plate to nab John Baker and keep the shutout alive.

Joey Votto was on base five times tonight. 2-2 with three walks, an RBI, and two runs scored. Pitchers are starting to walk Joey Votto more often to get to Brandon Phillips.  Unfortunately for them, they should have done this before Brandon started hitting.

Brandon Phillips had a fantastic night at the dish. 3-5 and six RBI. Three of those runs-batted-in came off of a three run Johnson. He absolutely crushed a Hayden Penn fastball in the seventh inning.

Chris Dickerson remains unimpressive in the batter’s box. I have no problem giving credit where credit is due and he deserves some for a nice diving grab he made. I will also concede that Adam Dunn would have never made that catch.

Ramon Hernandez had a couple hits, contributing to the Reds’ 14 hit total. Hernandez’s highlight was behind the plate. He picked off Cody Ross at 1B with Brandon Phillips covering.

Phillips positioned himself nicely between Ross and the bag and blocked him from getting back. It was a beautiful pick. Hernandez also robbed Emilio Bonafacio on a tough dribbler in front of the plate.

Laynce Nix had a double when he came to bat replacing Jay Bruce in right. I don’t care what Dickerson has done, I want to see Nix in left field more often.

The Reds did exactly what they should have done last night. They stole bases (2-3), they played good defense, they hit the ball. That’s what I call HAVOC!

The Reds are 10-5 on the road. Who would’ve imagined that? Certainly not this guy.

On Deck…

The Reds fly back home tonight and will face Manny Para’s Brew Crew tomorrow night. Bronson Arroyo (4-1, 4.91) will try to cool off the Brewers after they recorded their 17th straight win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. I would say that’s unbelievable, but I’m a Reds fan. Nothing like that is unbelievable.