Last night, the Cincinnati Reds dropped their third game to the Pittsburgh Pirates during a four-game series at the Great American Ball Park, but it wasn’t all bad news for them.

After watching the velocity on Aroldis Chapman’s fastball top out in the low 90s last week, manager Dusty Baker decided to rest the 22-year-old Cuban.  That decision turned out to be a good one, as Chapman returned last night and set a Major League record by ripping a 106 mph fastball by Pirates batter Andrew McCutchen.  Well, at least everyone at the Great American Ball Park thought he had just set a record.

Despite the radar gun at the Great American Ball Park reading 106 mph, MLB.com’s Pitch/FX tracker clocked the pitch at 105 mph, 0.1 mph slower than the current record.  That meant Chapman would not officially break the record on this night, but on the bright side, it would also mean that his previous record of 105.1 would not be broken.

I’m not sure if that makes this a win-win situation for Chapman, or a lose-lose, or a win-lose.  Well whatever the case may be, it was quite impressive.  Here is a look at the reaction from the Reds fans after seeing 106 mph on the Great American Ball Park scoreboard.  We’d like to show you actual footage of the pitch, but Major League Baseball would rather have you not watch their highlights for some strange reason.

Hat Tip – [NY Daily News]

So Aroldis decided to come to Boston to pay a visit to one of his many suitors and decided to have a night out on the town.  Based on the pictures, it sure looks like he did.  But the thing that was so odd about those pictures is that they weren’t sent in to a sports blog by an anonymous tipster.  They were posted on Athlete Premiere International’s Facebook page!  For the 21-year-old Aroldis, this seems like an strange image for his agents to want to convey.

I mean, its definitely not warm enough in Boston to be wearing the outfit that woman is wearing, right?  That is most certainly a strip club.  We all know that athletes (and some other people, but don’t tell my girlfriend) go to strip clubs from time to time.  Pacman Jones notoriously did it.  Those people aren’t usually looking to get publicity for it though, and I’m sure it is not the best plan when trying to market a 21-year-old kid.

Hat Tip – [BigLeagueStew]