The Tuesday Morning Rush for September 21, 2010

CINCINNATI - It's Tuesday September 21, 2010....

LEADING OFF: It still feels like mid-July, but the Reds moved a step closer to playing in the fall.  Their magic number has been reduced to 6

REDS 5  BREWERS 2: Joey Votto hit a two run homer to break a 2-2 tie in the 8th inning.  Scott Rolen followed with a solo shot. Votto's home run was his 35th.  He has 106 rbi's.

HOMER AND COMPANY: Homer Bailey pitched well for six innings, giving up only two runs.  The bullpen was stellar. Masset, Chapman and Cordero pitched a no-hitter over the final three innings.

EARLIER MONDAY: In a makeup game played in virtual secrecy in Miami, the Marlins beat the Cardinals 4-0 when Brad Davis hit a grand slam home run against Chris Carpenter in the second inning.

GETTING IT OVER WITH: The game was played in one hour, 52 minutes, the fastest game in Marlins history.

SO: The Reds have a seven game lead in the Central with 11 games to play

TONIGHT: Edinson Volquez pitches against the Brewers, while the Cardinals begin a series in Pittsburgh.

IN THE EAST: The Phils beat the Braves 3-1 in the first game of their series in Philly.  The Phils lead the Eastern Division by four games.

THE WILD WEST: Nobody in the Western Division race played on Monday.  San Francisco leads the division by one-half game over San Diego and 1 1/2 games over Colorado. On Tuesday, the Giants play at Chicago, the Padres play at LA and the Rockies play at Arizona.

IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE: The Yankees beat the Rays 3-1, so New York leads the East by 1 1/2 games.

GETTING THE CALL: The Yankees have called up Andrew Brackman, their top pitching prospect, who was a baseball and basketball star at Moeller.  The 6-10  Brackman pitched well this season at AA Trenton.

IF THE BASEBALL SEASON ENDED TODAY: The Braves would come to Cincinnati to play the Reds, while the Giants would play at Philadelphia.  In the American League, the Rangers would play at New York while Tampa Bay would play at Minnesota.

SUNDAY DEBUT: Carolina Coach John Fox says he'll start rookie Jimmy Clausen at quarterback Sunday against the Bengals. He was the Panthers top pick out of Notre Dame.  Matt Moore had started the first two games, but suffered a concussion in the first game, and played poorly in the second. 

THE MARVIN LEWIS MONDAY NEWS CONFERENCE:  He said nothing.

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: The New Orleans Saints scored on a field goal as time expired to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22.  The 49er's drove for a touchdown and converted a two point coversion with less than 90-seconds to play.  But Drew Brees drove the Saints for the winning field goal.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? It was 40 years ago tonight that "NFL Monday Night Football" made its debut on ABC.  The first MNF game was in Cleveland and the Browns beat the Jets 31-21.

THE TUESDAY QUIZ: Identify members of the broadcast team when Monday Night Football began.

THE COLLEGE GAME: Saturday on Channel 9, we'll carry Eastern Michigan and Ohio State at 3:30...then it's Boise State and Oregon State at 8pm.

MORE BUCKS: If you're heading to Champaign-Urbana for the Ohio State-Illinois game on October 2, get an early start.  Kickoff is 11a.m. at Illinois, that's noon eastern.

MISSING TIGER: The Miami Redhawks go to Missouri this Saturday, and Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel says star defensive end Aldon Smith will miss the game because of a broken bone in his leg. Smith set a school record with 11 1/2 sacks last season.

THE PREMEDITATED ATTACK:  You're probably seen video of Rufus Bobcat(the mascot of Ohio U) wrestle Brutus Buckeye(the Ohio State mascot) to the ground on Saturday.  Brandon Hanning told the Ohio U Post that "the whole reason" he tried out to be Rufus Bobcat was because "I knew we were going back to OSU this year, and I wanted to tackle Brutus" He says he'd do it again

THE FALLOUT: Ohio U apologized and banned Hanning from any further affiliation with the athletic department. Coach Frank Solich said "We needed to tackle the guy with the ball, not the mascot"  Ohio State crushed the Bobcats 43-7.  But Ohio U had the tougher mascot.

WHAT'S IN A NAME? Leonard Skinner, the gym teacher who inspired the name of southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died Monday at the age of 77.   He sent a group of students to the principal's office back in the 1960's because their hair was too long. Those students later formed the rock band,.

THE QUIZ-THE ANSWER: The original announce team for Monday Night Football was Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith.

KEEP THE FAITH.....POPO