For all of those that said the Reds would be dead in the water without Joey Votto think again. Cincinnati’s 17-3 record after the All-Star break is not only the best in franchise history, but gives the ball club the best record in the bigs.

Today’s afternoon showdown at Great American Ballpark, featured Johnny Cueto and Russ Ohlendorf on the mound. The Reds bats, which have been scorching of late got on Ohlendorf early and often driving in six runs in the first two innings, driving Ohlendorf out of the game in 1.2 innings. The middle of the lineup today for Cincinnati played crucial role in winning the ballgame and is why the team has been so successful. Everyone was getting hits when they needed to and the entire team was getting hits with runners in scoring position.

However, the player of the game and perhaps the biggest surprise of the second half is the play of Todd Frazier. After Joey Votto went down there were many analysts and pundits were ready to call this team dead in the water, but this resilient team never gave up. Frazier’s hot bat and good defensive play helped drive this team to the best record on the MLB and in my opinion has made them the team to beat in the NL. Yes, the Giants and Dodgers have made significant moves at the trade deadline that have made their teams’ better, however I still believe that the NL will have to be won going through Cincinnati. This run has shown just how dangerous this team can be when things are clicking for them and in many regards when there not. There have been many games in the last twenty where part of the Reds game has been failing whether it be the hitting, starting pitching or otherwise, but their depth and grittiness has got them through to grind out victories. This charge has been lead by Johnny Cueto, Jay Bruce, and Brandon Phillips and has shown just how damage they can do not only when Votto is back in the lineup but when the NL Playoffs begin.

The Reds win today moves Cueto to (14-5) leaving no doubt to who the ace in this staff is, Ohlendorf (3-2) gets the loss.  Friday’s matchup starts a critical series with the also streaking Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ballpark. Mat Latos (9-3) will face off against recently acquired Wandy Rodriguez (7-9), first pitch being hurled at 7:10.

Tonight’s game at Great American Ballpark featured the Arizona Diamondbacks facing off against Bronson Arroyo and the Reds. Cincinnati was looking to create a bigger lead in the NL Central after their three game sweep of St. Louis, on a day they would lose former MVP Joey Votto for at least four weeks to a knee injury.

Arroyo was looking to pitch better as his starts this season have been marginal and inconsistent through the first half of 2012. He came into tonight’s battle with a (4-5) record and 4.03 ERA. His last two starts were actually his best work of 2012 and his last piece of pitching against the San Diego Padres was a complete game, three hit gem. Tonight, however was a different story.

Arroyo was all over the place tonight lasting only three innings giving up five runs, four of which came in a big first inning for the D-Backs. However, one good note in tonight’s loss was the strength of Cincinnati’s middle relief that went the rest of the game without giving up a run, keeping the Reds in the game. Simon, Bray, Arredondo, and Ondrusek all pitched well to try and help the Reds win tonight.

The problem however in tonight’s game was the lack of offense, especially from their biggest run producers. Jay Bruce, who has to be the person that the Reds and Dusty Baker will count on in Votto’s absence, was 0-4 tonight with a strikeout and really could not get a feel against the Diamondbacks pitching. Todd Frazier who will replace Joey Votto in his absence, went 1-4 with a run in tonight’s loss.

The Reds loss tonight pushes Bronson Arroyo to (4-6) and improves the Diamondbacks All-Star Wade Miley to (10-5). Game two of this series on Tuesday pits Cincinnati’s ace Johnny Cueto, (10-5) 2.39 ERA, versus Trevor Bauer (1-1) at Great American Ballpark.

Monday night’s game at Great American Ballpark featured two ball clubs that are in flux. The Reds after their six game win streak earlier in the month, have been playing sub par baseball and the Brewers besides Ryan Braun hitting towering home runs have looked awful and their record shows being six games under .500.

The story for the Reds continues to be there inconsistency in the bullpen and especially poor pitching from the super-hyped young flame baller Aroldis Chapman. Chapman has been continually getting blasted in his last few appearances after a very hot start in 2012. Sunday’s game ended with Josh Willingham hitting a two run moon shot off Chapman to give the hapless Twins a 4-3 victory.

Tonight’s game featured Yovani Gallardo and Mat Latos on the mound. Latos in his last start against the Cleveland Indians got shelled in a loss which snapped one of the team’s longer win streaks of the season. However, his pitching in tonight’s game was spectacular. Mat Latos had the best performance of the season striking out thirteen batters in a complete game, four hitter. From start to finish on Monday night Latos was in full control of the strike zone, using all of his pitches with great control which helped the Reds earn a 3-1 victory over the struggling Brew Crew. Hopefully this will turn the corner for Latos, who does earn sixth win of the season, however he has had a few inconsistency problems with an inflated ERA that was 5.20 entering the game.  Latos also went 2-3 at the plate.

Another note from today’s game was the clutch hitting of Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce. When Cincinnati needed it the most tonight, Phillips and Bruce came up with two clutch hits to give Mat Latos the run support he needed to give him his sixth win of the season. Drew Stubbs was activated from the DL today and played a terrific game. He was 2-3 at the plate and scored two runs in tonight’s win over Milwaukee. The Reds who have problems at the plate in the last two series will be glad to have Drew Stubbs solid bat back in the lineup. Tonight’s 3-1 victory in Cincinnati helps bring Mat Latos to a record of (6-2) and drops Gallardo to (6-6).

The Reds take on the Brewers in game two of this series tomorrow night at Great American Ballpark, first pitch being hurled at 7:10. This matchup pits Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo (3-5) versus Milwaukee’s Marco Estrada (0-3). Both starters are both looking to turn things around with Estrada being winless, Arroyo blasted in his previous start, and most importantly both men have ERA’s over four. Arroyo really needs to get back to form after having an awful start last time out, only going four innings and giving up five runs in an 8-1 loss to Cleveland.

Heading into Wednesday evening’s matchup between the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians, the Tribe looked to continue their recent two game win streak versus their cross state rivals. The last of which ended in dramatic fashion with a walk off two-run homer from Asdrubal Cabrera in the 10^th off Aroldis Chapman. Although Joey Votto continued his hitting streak in 24 of 25 games, tonight was no different for the Tribe who outplayed the Reds in a 8-1 victory.

The story of the series to this point has been the inconsistency of both of the Reds strong suits coming in, that being consistent hitting with runners in scoring position and shut down bullpen pitching. In the first matchup of the series we had Latos pitch terrible, the bats balance him out with big run production but the bullpen blowup late. Game two was a different story with Mike Leake who had been struggling of late, pitch a gem, no offense to speak of (that being with Reds scoring on an infield single and wild pitch), and inconsistency out of the pen. Tuesday night’s scenario had Sean Marshall pitching two terrific innings with three huge K’s and Aroldis Chapman coming in to close and blowing another save. Also ending his thirty four appearance streak of striking out at least one batter. We didn’t see any run production to speak of from Votto, Bruce (0-4 Tuesday night), Phillips or Ludwick which was not a good sign. However, that is why before this game I believed the Reds would get it together and put the Tribe’s brooms back in the closet.

Tonight’s matchup had Bronson Arroyo facing Justin Masterson, both pitchers coming into the contest without winning records or terrific ERA’s to speak of. However, Arroyo had a quality appearance in his last start against the Mets who have looked incredibly strong this year. He went six and sat down five against what is a stronger lineup in the NL. Masterson also came into this matchup with a great start versus the Pirates shutting them out in a seven inning, four hit, nine strikeout gem.

Tonight we saw more of the same great pitching from Justin Masterson and real awful performance from Arroyo. The game started relatively well for Bronson Arroyo, but he was missing his spots all night which made him fight deep in counts. This lead Arroyo’s pitch count to run high into the high seventies during the fourth and that’s where the Reds began to run into trouble. Arroyo let up two homeruns to Damon and Cabrera which gave the Tribe a 5-0 lead, one they would not lose finishing the game with an 8-1 victory.

Another key note in tonight’s game for the Reds was another disappearance of the bats.  Joey Votto and Jay Bruce went a combined 1-7 and the Reds only could muster three hits in a complete game, nine strikeout performance by Justin Masterson. This was the first complete game for Masterson this season.

After the last weeks sweep of the Tribe, Cleveland completely returned the favor in full force to the Reds in a variety of ways. Tonight’s loss for Cincinnati drops Bronson Arroyo to (3-5) and brings the streaking Justin Masterson to (4-6). The Reds return to action Friday back at Great American ballpark versus the hapless Minnesota Twins. This matchup pits Homer Bailey (5-4) against Nick Blackburn (3-4). Bailey has won four of his six last starts.

The NL Central leading Cincinnati Reds have been playing inspired baseball of late, on the strong bats of former MVP Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. Votto has at least one hit in 22 of 23 ballgames and is batting .500 in that span. However, the strong bats don’t tell the entire story for the Reds, strong pitching and an incredibly durable bullpen has given Dusty Baker’s squad the support they need. Aroldis Chapman and Sean Marshall have been consistently great closing down games and Jose Arredondo in his last thirty appearances has a 1.2 ERA. These three guys and the rest of that staff have given the Reds the best bullpen ERA and lowest opponent batting average in the bigs.

Coming off a sweep of the NL East’s New York Mets, who themselves before this series had swept a strong AL East squad in the Rays, now were looking for a win in the series opener against the Cleveland Indians. In last weeks series against the tribe the Reds outscored Cleveland 24-9 in a dramatic sweep of that three game series. The big story being former Indian Brandon Phillips batting .615 in the series with two homeruns and seven RBIs. The continued strength of Cincinnati’s lineup has driven them to the top of the NL Central where I believe they will stay for the long haul. For the most part the Indians have looked pretty good this season with a good supply of young talent, however the AL Central one of weaker divisions In the MLB this year.

However, the Cleveland Indians flipped the script on the streaking Reds on Monday night snapping their 6 game win streak in a 10-9 victory. The matchup had Derek Lowe and Mat Latos on the mound, who have a contentious relationship after the incident in the last series. Both pitchers didn’t have their best stuff going tonight, with Lowe and Latos going less than six innings and both giving up seven runs.

The Reds continued to swing the bats effectively in Monday’s loss to the Indians. The middle of the order (Phillips, Bruce, Votto and Ludwick) were great again tonight going 10-17 collectively, all driving in runs. Scott Rolen made his first start tonight after spending time on the DL and being absent from the lineup since early May. Rolen looked good fielding the hot corner effectively and going 2-4 with two RBIs. However, the incredibly strong bats could not outweigh the sloppy pitching tonight. With how strong Cincinnati’s bullpen has been this season Dusty Baker must be disappointed with LeCure and Hoover giving up three runs in a ballgame they should have won. Sam LeCure gets the loss moving him to (2-2) and Joe Smith who replaced a shaky Derek Lowe in the sixth gets the win for the tribe moving him to (5-1). Chris Perez earns his 22^nd save of the season. Game two of the series pits Cincinnati’s Mike Leake (2-5) against the Tribe’s Josh Tomlin (3-4), both pitchers with an ERA above 5.0.