Reds 5, Cardinals 1

With all the talk on this blog about when young players are ready, ponder this: Edwin Encarnacion in nine months older than Joey Votto. Encarnacion played in his 308th big league game Wednesday, Votto played in his seventh.

So some guys are obviously ready at an early age. Encarnacion was. Votto might have been; he just didn't get a chance until he was almost 24.

Encarnacion went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. He's salvaged his year after a rough start. He's hitting .288 with 13 homers and 68 RBI.

Brandon Phillips also homered and stole a base. He's at 30-29. My guess is he gets the homer he needs and joins Barry Larkin and Eric Davis as the only Reds in the 30-30 clubs.