Reds snap Major League best Marlins' winning streak at 7

We traveled to Cincinnati to see the Reds take on the Major League best Marlins on what we expected to be a bad weather ballgame. We were pleasantly surprised at what was a near perfect night on all accounts. The Reds are not better than the Marlins in any facet of the game, but on this night victory would belong to the Redlegs in front of a crowd of just over 15,000.

This game started out kind of rough for the Reds as Aaron Harang gave up two quick first inning home runs to Hanley Ramirez and Jeremy Hermida. I remarked that these two home runs that were hit were two of the quickest shots I've ever seen get out of a stadium. They were both lasers. Dan Uggla would add one later in the game that got out equally quickly. The ball was carrying very well last night; and when doesn't it in Cincy?

Hanley Ramirez is one impressive young player. I already touched on the fact that he dropped a bomb into the back of the Reds bullpen, but he's one of those guys that you watch and you just hear it differently off his bat. Almost every out he makes is hard, and he seems to be a young player who plays hard. He doesn't 'hot dog' anything. He quietly does things the right way and is an excellent player for Florida to build around.

To touch on Hermida shortly, and I've felt this way about him for years: he reminds me of a young Adam Dunn. Even his physical look. I don't think he'll ever have as much power as Dunner, but he is a good comparable to him.

The time has again come to vote for the AL and NL All-Star teams. Last year you'll remember we did everything we possibly could for Josh Hamilton to make the squad. This year, we've decided we'll pimp Justin Upton. That started last night with about 12 votes going his way. We would venture to guess we'll be able to realistically get him about 2000 votes if we manage our time correctly through the online voting system, which is easier to cheat than an 8th grade science exam.

Now here's something you don't see everyday. Here we have a grown ass man, asking Mr. Redlegs to sign his hat. We hope for the sake of the man that he's not all there. We had to take a picture just to document how brutal this really was. I mean, 5 or 10 years from now that Reds cap signed by Mr. Redlegs is resting on your fireplace. What do you say? What kind of talking piece is that?

Night falls on Great American Ball Park after a Reds victory, as the stadium empties out. I've had a lot of good nights both at this ballpark and outside of it in the surrounding city. This one was no different with the memories created living on forever within me.

[Box Score]