At left: Bronson Arroyo and Joey Votto celebrate Sunday's win which moved the Reds into first place. Let's do the Baseball Weekend Review 5/17/2010:
Most impressive performance: The Cincinnati Reds (21-16) took two of three from the St. Louis Cardinals (21-17) to move into first place in the NL Central for the first time since 2006. The Reds have now won 7 of 8 while the Cardinals have lost 9 of 12. Bronson Arroyo pitched a complete game in Sunday's 7-2 victory and the Reds through out the tying run at the plate to end Saturday night's game. It was quite a weekend in Cincinnati. I'm surprised the Reds are playing this well and it would be really cool if they were able to keep it up. I am still sticking with the Cardinals as my pick to win the division, though. Next up for the Reds, the struggling Milwaukee Brewers (15-22).
Another impressive performance: The Los Angeles Dodgers (20-17) swept a three game series from the Padres (22-15) in San Diego. The Dodgers have now won seven games in a row and moved within two games of first place. I think they're going to be in the race to stay, while I think the Padres might be coming back to earth a little bit.
Least impressive performance: The Milwaukee Brewers completed an 0-6 homestand by getting swept by the Philadelphia Phillies (23-13). The Crew is now 4-14 at home and are underachieving so far this year. They'll need to get things turned around if they don't want significant changes made to their club. It's still not to late, but it'll be tough for them to catch the Reds and Cardinals if they don't start playing better. Also in the not so impressive category, the Oakland Athletics (18-20) were swept by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (18-21) and have now lost five in a row.
San Francisco Giants (21-15) Weekend Review: Swept the Houston Astros (13-24). The Giants got just what they needed after getting swept by the Padres earlier in the week by getting a series with the Astros. Todd Wellemeyer, Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito all pitched well and Brian Wilson nailed down two saves to give him 9 on the year. Wilson had a couple of duels in the 9th innings of Saturday and Sunday's games with Astros second baseman Kazuo Matsui with runners on base that put fans on the edge of their seats. Wilson was able to win both battles and preserve a pair of one run wins. Aaron Rowand and Andres Torres both had solid series at the plate, with Rowand providing a couple of homers and Torres coming through with several extra base hits, including a home run into the bay yesterday. The Giants looked good, but I'm going to have to temper my enthusiasm a bit because it was just the Astros. I do think the Giants have a good team and will be in the race this year. It would really be a boost to everyone's confidence if they could win at least one game against the Padres this week.
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