Paul Wilson wore a bandage across the broad of his nose and a little cut beneath his right eye, the result of the only big hit he allowed all afternoon. In the seventh inning, Wilson was looking to bunt when Cubs pitcher Kyle Farnsworth tried to filet him with a fastball. Wilson took two steps toward the mound. Farnsworth dropped him with a double-leg takedown and smashed Wilson's nose with a bouncer-approved right cross. Farnsworth will be playing outside linebacker for Marvin Lewis next month.

Next time Wilson squares off, he should pick a guy who isn't 6-4, 235, with shoulders you could land a jet on.

Benches cleared, shoving happened. It degenerated into the usual basebrawl push-and-shove, yo-mama-fest. Which obscures the larger point:

Buy a pitcher, Carl.

Could anything be more obvious? Could any club deserve it more?

This team has spine, Carl. It has sand. If it were an oyster, it'd be growing pearls.

Thursday, the Reds needed a win to keep from losing three of four to the first-place Cubs and falling five games out, with a 12-game, Willy Loman road trip beginning today. All they had to do was beat Mark Prior, one of the NL's best.

They did it. They scraped out another one. "With us, a game is never over," said Jason LaRue. He might have added "until we say it is."

Let's review: A team with the worst starting pitching in the National League, the worst defense, the most strikeouts, is currently three games out of first place.

Eighteen wins in their last at-bat. They've risen above their humble beginnings, Carl. Just like you. Give them a break. Show them you care. Think of it as a performance bonus.

Say hello to Mr. Wallet. Let some Kris Benson or another live there awhile. Find room in the Big Billfold for Sidney Ponson or Bartolo Colon. Whoever. Send in the cavalry. Get Jim Bowden to do it. He knows who's out there.

Did you see the game Thursday? Beautiful. A packed house for the second straight day. The promise of Great American Ball Park fulfilled, at least for an afternoon. The fans are falling for this team. It's a group they're coming to realize will throw a punch for every punch it takes. Literally.

"The ball was thrown completely behind me," LaRue said, apparently referring to a pitch Prior threw at him in the sixth inning. "Maybe he was trying to send a message. (Our) message is, we're like a bunch of brothers. We're going to do anything it takes to win."

And you, Carl?

Without the cavalry, this team dissolves by Labor Day. How often can you come back in the bottom of the ninth before you stop resembling a baseball team and start resembling a Hollywood movie?

Seventeen one-run wins. Nine walk-off wins, an 8-2 record in extra innings. You won't get that kind of karma for three more months. The Reds come back because they can mash the ball, and because their relief pitchers have been terrific at stuffing fingers in the dike. What happens when their ulnar nerves start dancing the pain mambo?

Buy a pitcher, Carl. Find a guy to give you innings and keep your mashers close. It's a winnable division. Go for it. And tell Paul Wilson not to fight any more outside linebackers.

E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com