CINCINNATI SPORTS LAST WEEK

On Monday, the Bengals met the Atlanta Falcons in prime time with the nation watching. The Bengals succeeded in raising the odds of them making the playoffs. Super Bowl champion Indianapolis was 0-4 in preseason last year and Cincinnati was 4-0. Enough said. Who cares.

On Tuesday, the Reds played two with the Pirates in Pittsburgh. They must have spent Monday smiling about being only 6-1/2 games out of first. Elizardo Ramirez pitched the opener and stunk again. He gave up a grand slam that just about ended it. At that, the Reds had a chance to overcome the deficit but couldn't get the big hit when they needed it. They lost 6-4. In the nightcap, Bronson Arroyo pitched a super game. He gave up only one run but the bull pen failed him and the Reds lost 3-2.
On Wednesday, the Reds sent their stopper, Aaron Harang to the mound and he did his job. He dropped a complete game two-hitter on the Pirates. Brandon Phillips and Ken Griffey Jr each homered in the 8-0 rout.
Thursday night had a full plate. The Reds won an exciting game to split the series in Pittsburgh by a score of 5-4. The Reds lost two runs during the game because Adam Dunn missed a base when he was running and they threw out two runners at the plate; one to end the game. Brandon Phillips made the awesome plays in the field and smacked the ball all over the place when he was batting. Also that night, the UC Bearcats opened their football season against SE Missouri State and did what they should do to a 'directional' school in a 59-3 drubbing. Its hard to tell how good a team is when they play an opponent who just doesn't measure up.
On Friday night the Reds opened a series with the Cardinals in St. Louis which was probably their last chance to make a run in the division. The Reds opened with rookie Shearn pitching his second game in the majors. He didn't do nearly as well as he did in his first start. Josh Hamilton led off the game with a 'long ball' and Edwin Encarnacion had in inside-the-park homer in the second. The bull pen blew a 4-3 Reds lead in the 6th and they lost 8-5.
On Saturday night, Phil Dumatrait tried again for the Reds. He did alright for a while but the Reds blew a 2-1 lead in the fifth and lost 11-3.
Bronson Arroyo went to the mound for Cincinnati in the Sunday finale. He pitched a good game giving up 2 in the sixth and one in the seventh. The Reds managed to squander their opportunities again and lost 3-2. They finished the week at 62-75 and 9 games out of first place.
The Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs USA high school football challenge was held this weekend. Cincinnati against the USA did pretty well. LaSalle lost 7-6 to Indianapolis Cathedral on a pass with 2:56 left on the clock. Moeller lost to California Mission Viejo 26-22 when Viejo scored a TD with 1:14 left to go in the game. Colerain defeated Alabama Hoover 20-17 in overtime. Elder ended the 109-game winning streak of Independence High from Charlotte, NC. 41-34 in overtime. And finally, St. Xavier blasted DeMatha High School of Maryland (Washington DC area) 28-7. St. Xavier's star running back didn't play because of an ankle sprain. In other action, Maderia lost to CHCA and Fenwick lost to Monroe 21-14.
As of Sunday night, Cincinnatian Brett Wetterich is leading the Deutsche Bank Championship that is part of the new FedEx Cup competition. Even if he doesn't win in the finals tomorrow, he will probably get to go on to next week's competition. Big bucks are involved.