Location: Cincinnati, Ohio | Ballpark: Great American Ball Park (42,941) | Spring Training: Sarasota, Fla.
Owner: Robert Castellini | GM: Walt Jocketty | Manager: Dusty Baker | World Championships: 5
--LF Adam Dunn, struggling at the plate (.220), batted seventh in the order Monday, only the 32nd time in his career he has batted anywhere other than between second and sixth and the first time he batted seventh since July 8, 2005 against the Diamondbacks, the 17th time he batted seventh in his career.
--SS Jeff Keppinger leads the NL in batting average with runners in scoring position at .452 and when he reached base over the weekend eight straight times (seven singles, one walk), it was the most since LF Adam Dunn reached nine straight times (seven hits, two walks) in Houston July 26-27 in Houston.
--RHP Francisco Cordero recorded his sixth save Monday and has had only six save opportunities in the first 38 games and converted all six, and while the Reds are the only team in the majors not to have a blown save, they are only one save ahead of Atlanta at five for the fewest saves in the NL.
--RHP Edinson Volquez, leading the NL with a 1.04 ERA, makes his eighth start Tuesday against Florida and he has not given up more than one run in any of his starts, plus in his loss and in his no-decision, his team was shut out in both games, while scoring 44 runs in his five wins (8.8 runs per game).
--CF Corey Patterson, enmeshed in a season-long batting struggle that landed him on the bench, made the most of a rare start Monday as the leadoff hitter responded with four hits, including a leadoff bunt single in the seventh to be on base for SS Jeff Keppinger's two-run tiebreaking home run.
BY THE NUMBERS 18 -- Number of losing road trips that Reds have had over their last 19 trips.
QUOTE TO NOTE "Winning on the road is important for any team that has any aspirations of being successful and that's one thing we have to start doing to get better around here." -- Manager Dusty Baker.
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I will be mad if the Reds dont go after this guy hard. He is a gold glove, leadoff hitting SS with speed that solves 3 problems in 1 for the Reds. He just turned 31 and reportedly the As offered 4 yrs - $48 mil. The Reds need to offer him a better deal to come to Cincy obviously and I think they should. Any insight or thoughts?