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The three-game series against the Brewers this week is the most important series for the Reds franchise since 2013.
David Bell just announced the club’s starting rotation:
- Monday – Luis Castillo
- Tuesday – Sonny Gray
- Wednesday – Trevor Bauer
Castillo will be on regular rest. Gray will be coming off a stint on the IL to start Tuesday. Trevor Bauer will pitch on three days rest instead of four.
The Brewers will throw a couple of their best, but the Reds will miss Milwaukee’s Cy Young contender Corbin Burnes:
- Monday – Brandon Woodruff
- Tuesday – Brett Anderson
- Wednesday – Adrian Houser
The series with the Reds is big for the Brewers, but they also have five games left with the Cardinals Thursday-Sunday.
We’ll have a detailed breakdown of the pitching matchups in the morning.
Featured image: https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1120809013594271749/photo/1
Too exciting for words, but I hope they’re not rushing Gray. The Minnesota series is going to (hopefully) be important too. Bauer has always wanted to pitch on 3 days rest, so he’s getting what he wants.
When the Reds were still struggling as of late August into September, I started looking ahead to this home stand and fantasizing about the Reds finally getting hot and winning 9 out of 10. (Not 8 or 10 ot 10, mind you, but 9 of 10 like Bryce Harper said the Phillies needed to do before they did it).
After the Reds won that huge get-away game in St. Louis, which was needed for this to feel even remotely possible, it HAD to begin with sweeping the Pirates. Now it’s been in my head more and more. They still have a shot at it.
Lorenzen threw 93 pitches today so he will obviously not pitch against the Brewers. It will be interesting to see how Bell uses him against the Twins.
I would think Lorenzen and Lucas Sims are the only unavailable arms tonight. Antone threw 42 pitches but has had two days off.
I have a huge respect for what the Cardinals have done, but can they beat a real team right now ? In the first game against the Pirates, Steven Brault beat them with a 2 hit complete game. On Saturday they were no hit for 6 innings, down 4-0, and came back when Hartlieb (the same guy who walked 4 in less than an inning against the Reds) loaded the bases against his first three batters by walking two and then hitting Molina (that was his best pitch). Then they nearly lost the game with a 5-4 lead, two outs, no one on in the 9th with the Pirates loading the bases on a wild sequence of events that included Goldschmidt dropping a throw for their 4th error of the game. Then today Musgrove shuts them out for 6 innings with 11 Ks and only 3 hits allowed. They come back of course against the bullpen again (Holland this time).
I have no idea whether the Royals will be a real test, but KC was hot before getting swept by the Brewers. I know that the Cardinal team I’ve been watching would be in major trouble in a 5 game series against the Brewers (they just lost 3 of 5 to the Brewers but appear a lot more lifeless now).
My point here is that I would bet on the Brewers, not the Cardinals, as the Reds’ biggest obstacle to finishing 2nd in the NL Central.
The problem with beating the Cardinals for 2nd in the division is they have those two games against the Tigers on Sept 28 and the head-to-head tie-breaker in their pocket. Unless the Reds get way ahead of them, they’ll only have to win one of two on Sept 28. Let’s say the Reds go 4-2 and finish 31-29. The Cardinals only have to go 3-5 to finish 29-29. They’d have to win both games against Detroit. If the Cardinals go 4-4 and finish 30-28, they’d only have to win one on Sept 28.