CINCINNATI SPORTS LAST WEEK

CINCINNATI SPORTS LAST WEEK

The Reds started the week off by losing 6-5 to the Dodger; their fourth loss in a row. They were 3-1/2 games behind the Cards at this point and still leading the wild card race. On Tuesday, they went 16 innings, their longest game of the year, and lost 6-5 again. Brandon Phillips hit a home run for the second night in a row. Reliever Ryan Franklin threw only one pitch in the game, a gopher ball to lead off the bottom of the 16th to Ramon Ramirez. This loss dropped the Reds out of the wild card lead. On Wednesday the Dodgers completed the sweep, 7-3 behind the pitching, hitting and fielding of Greg Maddox. After an off-day on Thursday, they opened a 3-game series with the wild-card leading Padres in San Diego by beating them 6-2. Rich Aurilia's home run and Bronson Arroyo's pitching helped end the six game losing streak. Saturday night, the Padres Jake Peavy limited the Reds to two hits on the way to a 7-1 thumping. One of the Reds two hits was an Adam Dunn home run, his 39th of the year. Sunday, the Reds completed the 10-game west coast road trip with a 2-1 one loss. Their 2-8 record on the trip dropped them to 3-1/2 games out of the wild card race and a full 6 games behind the Cards in the division race. The Reds may not be dead, but their pulse is fading.

Monday night football agreed with the Bengals. They were everything you could hope for and more. Carson Palmer was his old self and the defense seems to be very much better than last year. Its hard to draw strong conclusions during preseason but it is encouraging. They whipped the hapless Packers, 48-17. On Friday, they played the Colts before a half-full stadium in Indianapolis and won easily 20-6. The Colts played only 2 of 22 starters. This completed the Bengals first perfect preseason in the club's history. After the game, Vegas moved the Bengals to 3-point dogs in next weeks opener at Kansas City .

On the high school front, Mariemont killed Batavia 49-0, Fenwick lost to Dayton Chaminade 28-14, Norwood edged Purcell 14-10, Hamilton beat Springfield North 24-0 and Lakota West topped Winton Woods 27-7.

The UC Bearcats opened their football season Saturday night against Eastern Kentucky with an impressive 31-0 win. This was their first shutout since 1995. Eastern Kentucky, a division II school, is the favorite to win the Ohio Valley Conference this year. The Bearcats used two quarterbacks in alternating quarters. It didn't seem that much was accomplished toward choosing the number one guy. It will be interesting to see how they do next week against Pittsburgh. UC has THE toughest road schedule and one of the toughest overall schedules in the country.