CINCINNATI SPORTS LAST WEEK

On Monday, Memorial Day, the Reds had an afternoon game against the Pirates that was the last of a four game series. Kyle Lohse went to the mound with the pressure of a personal six game losing streak and a team six game losing streak over his head. He got some of the best defense we've seen this year to help him and he came through with a 4-0 complete-game shutout. David Ross hit a two-run homer to lead the offense. Ryan Freel went down and out in the outfield when he ran into Norris Hopper trying to catch a fly to right center in the third. He was taken to the hospital and placed on the 15 day DL.

The Reds flew to Houston for a series with the Astros and Matt Belisle was their opening game starter. Belisle followed Lohse's fine game with a good performance of his own. Scott Hatteberg hit a solo homer in the eighth to give him and the Reds an exciting 2-1 win. Belisle went 7-2/3 of 4-hit ball with eight strike outs and no walks. David Weathers pitched the last 1-1/3 to record the save.

On Wednesday, Aaron Harang pitched for the Reds and spun a complete game six-hitter in a 4-3 win. Three in a row - print the playoff tickets. On Thursday, things came back to normal. Bronson Arroyo had another bad outing and the Reds got whooped 10-2. Now, its on to Denver.


On Friday, the Bengals opened their mini-camp. Marvin proclaimed that no one in the locker room had been arrested so far this year. Whoopee!


That night, the Reds faced the Rockies in the thin Colorado air and sent rookie Bobby Livingston to the mound for his first major league start. Ken Griffey Jr hit his 575th home run and Alex Gonzalez added a two-run blast to help Bobby to a 4-2 win. Livingston went 6-2/3 innings without giving up an earned run. On Saturday night, Kyle Lohse pitched pretty well but not well enough to overcome the Red's offensive woes against left handers. He took the 4-1 loss.

On Sunday, Lakota West High School won the Ohio division 1 baseball championship.

Later on Sunday, the Reds went for a second series win in a row and looked in good shape until the 8th inning relief blues played their tune again. Matt Belisle pitched well enough to win. The Reds were ahead 8-2 when he went out in the 7th. With the help from his friends, they lost 10-9 in 10 innings. Oh, Lordy! The Reds end the week at 22-36 and still in last place in their division.