Cozart 6
Stubbs 8
Bruce 9
Phillips 4
Heisey 7
Frazier 5
Costanzo 3
Hanigan 2
Cueto 1

*This is Joey Votto’s first day off from the lineup this season. Dusty Baker had indicated a day off was coming for Votto, and with Thursday’s scheduled day off for the team, this effectively gives him a two-day break.

**UPDATED INFO –

The last time Votto did not start a game was 8/23/11. The last time he did not play at all was 5/9/11. He currently has 176 consecutive games played heading into tonight, which is tops among active NL players. The active “iron man” of baseball is Detroit’s Prince Fielder, who has 230 consecutive games heading into tonight.

After the 5/9/11 total off day, Votto went 7-for-14 over his next three games.  He went 8-for-20 following the 8/23/11 break.

Click here for the game story on MLB.com

Here are the Three Stars:

No. 3 star: Todd Frazier — 2-for-3, RBI triple, RBI double, one Heimlich performed. Frazier made it a 2-0 game with his RBI double in the top of the second. In the fourth, his triple drove in Jay Bruce and he scored on Josh Harrison’s throwing error to third base.

No. 2 star: Jay Bruce — 3-for-4, two doubles, two RBIs, three runs scored.

No. 1 star: Homer Bailey — 9 ip, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 103 pitches/77 strikes, 28 of 32 first-pitch strikes. Bailey now has 8 quality starts in 10 games and a 4-3 record, 3.73 ERA. He’s quietly become very consistent and in a nice groove with catcher Devin Mesoraco.

“Homer and Mesoraco are starting to work good together,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “I knew Homer was going to be one of our major keys in our rotation where he is. He’s coming through. He threw the ball great tonight. In that one inning, he hung a couple of breaking balls and then went back to his well-located fastballs and his slider and he had a great changeup tonight.”

In 8 starts lifetime vs. PIT, Bailey is 6-0 with a 1.79 ERA.

“I was talking to him and I see it out of the corner of my eye,” Frazier explained. “I said ‘I think that dude is choking over there.’ He was a little obese and there were two women side-by-side trying to give him the Heimlich. [Ludwick] said get over there because I was the closest one. So I went over there and was yelling at them to get out of the way. They did and I gave two pumps and it came out.”

The man had eaten a very large bite of steak, apparently.

“It was a big fat piece too, it was pretty insane,” Frazier said. “It was a good 30 seconds they were trying at least.

“He paid for our lunch, which he didn’t have to do and said thanks a couple of times. It was pretty surreal. I have never done that before.”

Cozart 6
Stubbs 8
Votto 3
Phillips 4
Bruce 9
Ludwick 7
Frazier 5
Mesoraco 2
Bailey 1

*The history says this should be a good matchup for Reds starter Homer Bailey. Over seven starts, he is 5-0 with a 1.94 ERA in his career vs. the Pirates, including 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA at PNC Park.

*To say the Reds have lacked lefty hitting off of the bench this season would be a major understatement. Mike Costanzo is 0-for-11 with six strikeouts as a pinch-hitter and 1-for-13 overall for a .077 batting average. Willie Harris was 3-for-35 (.086) before being outrighted to Louisville.

*It’s become a pastime for people to suggest that about 86 percent of the roster gets optioned or designated for assignment when things don’t go well with certain players. What I rarely hear back are contructive ideas on who should come in and replace them. So, here is the Triple-A Louisville stats page…who down there has numbers that scream for a promotion? Keep in mind that even the right-handed hitting potentials aren’t doing well right now or are injured. Chris Valaika and Paul Janish are on the DL.

*Perhaps the best candidate I could suggest is Dioner Navarro. He’s a switch-hitter and a veteran with respectble numbers down there. And he would be a third catcher when the team is strapped.

***Update: Navarro is hurt too with a right hamstring injury. He’s not on the DL however.

*In the amazing department, Class A Bakersfield SS Billy Hamilton already has 52 steals this season! Click here for a story on Hamilton.

Click here for the game story on MLB.com

The Three Stars:

No. 3 star: Alfredo Simon — 3 ip, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K. This is for as much as Simon’s body of work this season as it was for saving the bullpen from wear and tear. Simon has given up only one earned run over his last 17 1/3 innings in 10 games.

“He’s done a great job for us,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “Other than that very first outing for us, he’s thrown the ball great. For him to go three innings, that’s what you want your long man to do. He saved our bullpen big time for tomorrow and the next day prior to our off day.”

No. 2 star: Pedro Alvarez — 2-for-4, 2 doubles, 1 RBI

No. 1 star: James McDonald, PIT — 8 ip, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 103 pitches/65 strikes.

“He’s got good stuff but he’s got the right amount of wildness to him,” Chris Heisey said. “He’s got good enough stuff that it keeps you off balance. You can sit on a pitch or location because he doesn’t hit his spots perfectly but has good enough stuff to get away with that. It’s to his advantage almost.”

McDonald has allowed only 2 HR over 65 1/3 innings this season. For the Reds, who have used 20 homers to score 31 of 47 runs while winning the previous 8 of 9 games…this was a big problem.

News and notes:

*The Reds were 1-for-8 RISP in the game, but were 0-for-7 against McDonald. Heisey hit a RBI single in the ninth. The biggest misstep was the top of the third with runners on first and second with no outs. Drew Stubbs didn’t get down a good bunt and it was a fielder’s choice to third base. The rally died from there.

*Bronson Arroyo wasn’t very good today. 4 ip, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 1 K. All of Pittsburgh’s runs came with two outs.

Stubbs 8
Valdez 6
Votto 3
Phillips 4
Bruce 9
Heisey 7
Cairo 5,
Hanigan 2
Arroyo 1

Click here for the game story on MLB.com.

On to the three stars, sponsored by Don Cherry’s suit from Friday night.

No. 3: star: Brandon Phillips — 3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI. Phillips had a two-out RBI double that scored Zack Cozart in the first inning. Following back-to-back walks issued by Rockies reliever Esmil Rogers in the seventh, Phillips worked a 0-2 count into an 11-pitch at-bat that included six foul balls before he laced an RBI single into right field that scored Drew Stubbs.

No. 2 star: J.J. Hoover — 1 1/3 ip, 1 BB, 2 K. Hoover was awarded his first big league victory after replacing Mike Leake with two outs in the fourth. Hoover has a 0.75 ERA with one run allowed in 11 appearances this season. It was a nice night for the bullpen that allowed just one hit over 5 1/3 innings.

“All of them came in and did an outstanding job,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “We need some innings from Latos though. They went from not pitching at all to pitching every day. That’s how it goes.”

No. 1 star: Chris Heisey — 2-for-3, 1 HR, 3 RBIs. As Leake was scuffling in the first and down early by a 1-0 score, Heisey’s three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the first was very big for the team. For him personally, it was his first homer of the season (in 110 ABs). Heisey has been hot the past couple of weeks and is hitting .404 (17-for-42) over his last 12 games.

“It was one of those things where it just wasn’t happening,” Heisey said of his lack of homers. “I’ve been feeling great at the plate for two weeks now. It was a matter of time.”

News and notes:

*PH Ryan Ludwick hit a three-run homer in the seventh. It was the first pinch-hit homer by the Reds this season.

*In the third inning, Jay Bruce snapped a 0-for-14 and 1-for-31 funk with a RBI double through the gap in right-center field that scored Joey Votto.

*Speaking of Votto, he notched two more doubles in the game, gving him a MLB leading 21 for the season. He has six hits in his last seven ABs.

*It was not a good night for Leake, who lasted only 3 2/3 innings and was knocked around for nine hits.

“I was missing just off instead of on the plate,” Leake said. “When I was on the plate, I was too much on the plate. It was kind of missed spots today.”

*I’m off on Sunday. Catch you Monday from Pittsburgh.

Cozart 6
Stubbs 8
Votto 3
Phillips 4
Bruce 9
Heisey 7
Cairo 5
Mesoraco 2
Leake 1

*It’s a limited sample, but Miguel Cairo is 4-for-5 lifetime vs. Rockies starter Jeremy Guthrie. Brandon Phillips is 2-for-3 with 1 HR.

Click here for the game story on MLB.com

The Three Stars:

No. 3 star: Troy Tulowitzki, COL — 3-for-4, double, RBI. Tulowitzki is batting .436  (24-for-55) lifetime at GABP.

No. 2 star: Joey Votto: — 4-for-4, 2 doubles. Votto snapped out of a mini-funk as he increased his NL lead with 19 doubles on the season. It was the 12th four-hit game of his career and his third of the season.

No. 1 star: Todd Helton, COL — 2-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBIs. The venerable Rockies star entered batting .220 but Helton was strong tonight. His two-run HR off of Cueto in the second gave Colorado an early 2-0 lead. His RBI single in the fifth was big as the Reds had just tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth.

News and notes:

*The six-game quality start streak that coincided with the win streak is kaput. Johnny Cueto’s line was 4 2/3 ip, 11 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 95 pitches/59 strikes. It’s the second time in 10 starts Cueto has allowed more than 3 ER, but he’s given up 5 ER in two of his last three starts.

“He didn’t have his breaking ball,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “He was flying open and couldn’t control his breaking ball. It’s a big pitch for him. He just wasn’t locating his fastball like he usually does.”

*Zack Cozart extended his hitting streak to six games with a two-out double in the third. Cozart also made a great diving stop on a Marco Scutaro sharp groundball to start the top of the ninth.

*It was a solid night for two relievers that hadn’t been seen much lately. J.J. Hoover, pitching for only the second time in 10 days and the first time since May 17, followed Cueto with 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Alfredo Simon, who hadn’t pitched in 10 days, worked two scoreless innings. Simon has a 0.68 ERA (1 ER/13.1 ip) over his last nine appearances.

*Something I realized later in the day…this was the one-year anniversary of the 19-inning Reds loss at Philadelphia when Wilson Valdez had to pitch the top of the 19th. It was also the four-year anniversary of the 18-inning Reds loss at San Diego.

Cozart 6
Stubbs 8
Votto 3
Phillips 4
Heisey 9
Ludwick 7
Frazier 5
Hanigan 2
Cueto 1

*With a LHP going for Colorado and his being 0-for-14 and 1-for-31 of late, it’s not stunning that Jay Bruce gets a break from the lineup tonight.

*From the Reds: The Reds’ game rained out at Great American Ball Park on May 1 vs the Cubs has been rescheduled for 1:10 p.m. on Saturday, August 18 as part of a day/night doubleheader…the originally scheduled game will begin at 7:10…fans with tickets dated May 1 can use that same ticket at the gate for admission to the 1:10 p.m. game with no exchange necessary…fans also can exchange their tickets dated May 1 for any other 2012 game, pending availability.