The Morning Update (5/17): Cincinnati Reds, The Preakness

May 10, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Alfredo Simon (31) pitches during the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

Bad news, turned into not so bad news, a dismal outlook on the Cincinnati Reds turned into a not so dismal outlook, yesterday was a very up and down day. Joey Votto made headlines Friday with a potential knee issue, as fans were scared for the season Devin Mesoraco returned to the lineup and delivered quickly.

While the Reds were winning the rest of us here in Cincinnati spent the day in the cold, in the rain and it’s the middle of May. Seriously we are closer to June than April at this point and it’s 40 degrees out. 40! In May! What the hell is going on around here. “It’s global warming maaaaannnn.” Shut up hippie, we need global warming at this point, grab your aerosol cans and start spraying them into the air, get this ozone out of here.

If you took that last statement seriously please by all means stop reading immediately. Thanks.

Also does anyone believe any of these Johnny Manziel/Browns stories? First it was Sal Palantonio on ESPN saying a homeless man told Browns owner Jimmy Haslam to take Manziel. Then there was the ‘Draft Day’ storyline of Haslam changing from Teddy Bridgewater to Manziel. Now there is the story from ESPN again, that Manziel texted Browns coaches saying “lets wreck this league together” during the draft. I believe absolutely none of this, perhaps the Draft Day scenario because Haslam seems like an awful person to work for.

Cincinnati Reds (19-21)

Anyway back to sports that actually matter right now. The Cincinnati Reds rebounded from a disappoint win Thursday to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 in Philly on Friday night. Alfredo Simon returned to his dominant form again going 7.2IP, allowing 5 hits while striking out 8. The reliever turned starter got back to his winning ways and a return to form was much needed after his last outing.

Devin Mesoraco returned from his stint on the DL with a huge 3 run home run in the first inning. Those three runs would be all the scoring the Reds would need on a night numerous people questioned the future of this season if Joey Votto was out. Brayan Pena played first Friday night and did an excellent job. It was the perfect play by Price to keep both his hot hitting catchers on the field.

The Reds return to Citizen Bank Ballpark Saturday at 7:05pm, Homer Bailey (3-2) will be on the mound tonight against Cole Hamels (0-2).

The Preakness

The Preakness is today, live from Baltimore, Maryland at 6:18pm on NBC. Kentucky Derby winner turned America’s horse California Chrome will go for the win in the second leg of the Triple Crown. Chrome drew the 3 slot in the starting gate, a spot that has not produced a winner since 1993.

There were some questions about Chrome going into the race Saturday, the horse developed a slight cough this week, it appeared to be nothing as the horse trained well. He also saw rain for the first time this week, hopefully there is none Saturday.

Video of the Day

Leave it to the Chinese to have a movie style crash on the freeway and catch it on tape. I’ll give the big brother one state, it provides everyone with good viral videos. That animation makes pixar look like trash.

http://youtu.be/P6OxGfjmezE