Reds 6, Brewers 1

The Reds have a winning record. It's even less often that I'm able to say THAT.

But let tonight's win be a blueprint for the rest of the season -- solid starting pitching, timely hitting, and another strong effort from the bullpen. You wanna know how good the Reds relief core has been to start the year? If you remove Mike Lincoln and his gaudy 24.30 ERA from the equation, the numbers for the Cincy bullpen through seven games look like this:

18 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 7 BB, 14 K, 1.50 ERA

Meantime, Bronson Arroyo did what he usually does -- kept the Reds in the game and repeatedly grabbed his crotch after every delivery (especially after trying out his best flamingo impersonation -- see right). Just like most off-speed pitchers, his fastball sets up everything else and he had great command of his two-seamer tonight. Maybe Edinson Volquez should watch the tape from this one and realize you don't have to throw 95 mph or strike everyone out to be successful in the big leagues.

And oh by the way, Joey Votto is really, really good at baseball. I think it's safe to say he's seeing the ball reasonably well right now. Does anyone else laugh out loud when they're reminded of the fact that he split time at the beginning of last season with Scott Hatteberg? That's a good one. In case you're scoring at home, by the way, his OPS thru the first seven games is a ridiculous 1.130.

Then, at the other end of the Reds rainbow, there's Homer Bailey. He was ejected from his start tonight in Louisville for beaning a batter in the back after allowing two home runs in the third inning. I'm still a believer that he's gonna help the Reds this season -- and sooner than people think -- but his impressive spring performance is starting to become somewhat of an afterthought.

Note of the night: David Weathers became just the 20th pitcher in MLB history to record 900 career appearances. Very cool. And that's the only time the words David Weathers and "very cool" will ever be uttered in the same sentence.

Micah Owings makes his Reds debut tomorrow as they go for the sweep in Milwaukee before heading to Houston.