Happy Birthday Homer Bailey, Ryan Dempster Better Luck Next Year

It has happened before.  The Reds rallied from three-runs down in the ninth inning to take a 4-3 win in 10 innings but the pitching matchup was unique.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster, wasn't sharing the birthday cake with Homer Bailey or his Reds teammates.

The stingy Dempster pitched eight shut out innings on his 35th birthday and became part of Major League history.  It was the first time ever that two starting pitchers opposed each other on their birthday.  Bailey did not pitch all that badly on his 26th birthday but the Cubs hit three home runs to ruin his day.

Starling Castro, Bryan LaHair and Geovanny Soto hit solo home runs among the nine hits Bailey allowed.

It was the first of the season for Castro, the seventh for LaHair and the second for Soto.

The Reds managed three hits off the former Red, Dempster.

Joey Votto singled and doubled.  Ryan Ludwick dropped a single just inside the right field foul line.

The Reds bullpen was a bright spot again.  Jose Arredondo, Aroldis Chapman and Sean Marshall hung scoreless innings on the Cubs.

The Reds bullpen hasn't allowed a run in the last five games, covering 16 innings.  Chapman has not been scored upon in any of his 13 1/3 innings to date.

Then the roof fell in on the Cubs den.  Closer Carlos Marmol lost control of his pitches and the game.

Marmol walked Willie Harris, who was given the start by Dusty Baker to keep him sharp.  The veteran knows Marmol is a dominating closer but has a wild streak in him.  Harris worked a walk.  Marmol walked Votto.  The Ian Stewart the Cubs thirdbaseman, tried to make an aggressive play on a chopper by Brandon Phillips that slipped by him for an error.  Harris scored on the play.  Jay Bruce lined a single to right, the only hit of the inning to load the bases.  Marmol walked Ryan Ludwick to get the Reds within a run and put the tying run on third with no outs.

First year manager, Dale Sveum, brought Rafael Dolis out of the bullpen.  Devin Mesoraco hit into a 5-4-3 double play but the run scored to tie the game.

"You have to throw strikes if you're closing games," Sveum said, hinting that he could change roles in his bullpen, using James Russel, whose father pitched in the Major Leagues after graduating from Cincinnati's Wyoming High School.  He could also use Dolis.

"Stewart tried to do too much.  It was an aggressive error.  He tried to make a play and it back fired," Sveum said.

The game went to the 10th and Baker emptied the bench which was starters, who were taking the day off.

Zack Cozart singled up the middle to open the 10th.  Chris Heisey bunted and Dolis' throw rolled away from Darwin Barney, who was covering on the play.  Scott Rolen, also off the bench, hit a sacrifice fly to rightfield to plate the winning run.

Logan Ondrusek who has thrown 12 scoreless innings to start the season picked up the win, thanks to a diving stop and throw by Cozart.

"You see our guys fighting the whole game," Ondrusek said.  "There was good defense in the top of the 10th.  I'm healthy and trusting my stuff.  We (the bullpen) try to go out there and keep the game where it is.  If we're winning our losing, to give our guys a chance to come back.  All of us want to keep it rolling to pass the game off to the next guy."

Bailey didn't get a win on his birthday but neither did Dempster as it turned out.

"We won and that's all that matters to me," said Bailey, who along with Dempster, signed four baseball to commemorate the double birthday encounter.  "We each got one, the National Hall of Fame got one and the Reds Hall of Fame got one."

There is a saying that a tie or a no decision is like kissing your sister.

Bronson Arroyo remarked, "Dempster kissed his sister.  Bailey kissed his cousin."