The House that Bernie Built

Batting practice for the Brewers ended extremely late in today's game - around 3:30pm, about the time the fourth inning ended. Because of it, the Reds did not get a chance to take their BP swings, which led to them getting no hits through those first four innings.

This one was brutal, especially the five homerun fourth inning. Five homers in an inning ties an MLB record, by the way. The worst of it all is that it wasn't Carlos Lee and Prince Fielder that killed the Reds. We were nailed by such superstar .260 hitters like Damian "I'm pretending I'm better than I am" Miller and Bill "The Reds make me look like Babe Ruth" Hall. Did I mention the FIVE HOMERUNS IN ONE INNING?

Four of these longballs came off of Brandon "I'm a tee" Claussen, whose performance can only be described one way: it sucked. They could have put Bernie Brewer up to bat and he would have hit one out. I don't know about y'all, but I am losing patience with Mr. Inconsistency. He can seem like Roger Clemens on one pitch and Rick White on the next - you never know which one of him is going to show up. Claussen's pathetic performance raises his ERA to 6.75, almost as bad as Chris "Time to retire again" Hammond's 16.20.

Questions for tomorrow's game: Can Milton help the Reds rebound from today's titanic struggle? Can Dunnandkearns come out of the slump? Can Brandon Phillips continue his six game hit streak? Can the Reds take the series? Stay tuned for the next episode of "Homeruns, Strikeouts, and Walks."

UPDATE: It seems that Milton has been scratched and Harang will be starting tomorrow against Doug Davis, who was tagged for nine runs in 2.2 innings in his last start against the Asstros.

UPDATE 2: Marc Lancaster confirms that Milton is injured. He'll be heading back to Cincy to see Dr. Kremchek about "discomfort" in his knee. The news isn't all bad. Harang is coming off a rough outing and is due for a good one. Let's win this series!