Cincinnati Reds

Ouch.

The tires are flat just a few days after the Reds bandwagon was getting full.

After holding a commanding 9-1 lead, the Reds end up losing 10-9 in stomach punching fashion to the Atlanta Braves.

The Reds jumped out to a eight run lead in the second inning and everything seemed juuuust fine. Rookie Mike Leake had his seventh quality start in eight appearances, going six innings giving up five hits and three runs (one earned).

The Cincinnati Reds have a very good baseball team. That isn't opinion, it is fact.

Coming into Atlanta on Wednesday they had won nine of their last 10 games, were seven games above .500 and in first place of the National League's Central Division.

The starting pitching had been superb, the hitting was outstanding and their defense was second to none.

With the Reds in first place of the NL Central near the end of May, hope is back in Cincy. The only problem is that the Reds may be playing the best baseball they've played in years, but they are not the most complete team in the division. These 5 roster moves, in my opinion, are needed to make the Redlegs a better team. By trading away, trading for, or moving certain players into different spots, it would make the team better defensively, offensively, and chemistry wise. Otherwise known as....a complete team.

Entering the 2010 baseball season, the Cincinnati Reds and their fans had lofty expectation for the starting staff. Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto, Aaron Harang, and Mike Leake have gone way above and beyond those expectations since, on April 24, manager Dusty Baker went "Bull Durham" on the entire team.

There are three things that any given ball club can do in order to give it a fighting chance at making the playoffs: score more runs than you allow, have a defense that is not inept, and beat the teams in your division.

Scoring more runs than you allow obviously gives you a game-winning formula night in and night out. It is a simple and obvious concept, but it is hard to execute.

WhatIfSports.com utilizes its award-winning baseball simulation engine to present the most comprehensive and unbiased ranking possible of all 30 teams in baseball each Monday during the regular season.

"Civil rights include the ensuring of peoples' physical integrity and safety; protection from discrimination on grounds such as physical or mental disability, gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, national origin, age, and individual rights such as the freedoms of thought and conscience, speech and expression, religion, the press, and movement."

That's a definition of civil rights from Wikipedia.

On Saturday night Cincinnati hosted it's second consecutive "Civil Rights Game."

In the words of my esteemed colleague, Jim Anchower , "Hola amigos. How's (stuff) shaking out? I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but misery's been flying at me from all directions, and it's been a (dang) full-time job to just duck out of the way of all of it."

Well not really—four days.

But it's been a long time since I've stood on my anti-Dusty Baker soapbox (at least 10 days). 

The month of May has been good to the Cincinnati Reds. They have gone 7-4 through a Cardinals, Cubs, Mets and Pirates slate.

The hitting is coming around, currently ranked fifth in the N.L. with 158 runs scored. But the major turn-around as been courtesy of the starting pitching.

After a magical one-hit complete game shut-out by Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey followed suit. He gave up a whopping five hits over a complete game shut-out. The legendary Dayton Daily News beat writer Hal McCoy sums it up best:

Johnny Cueto pitched a gem of a game last night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, a 9-0, one-hit shutout of the Pirates.

It was the third consecutive game in which a Reds starter had a one-hitter through six innings. Mike Leake did it on Sunday against the Chicago Cubs. Bronson Arroyo did it Monday against the Pirates.

It was also the fourth consecutive quality start for the Reds pitching staff.