yes it is
Printable View
Be nice to win out,however the Reds more than likely are going to have to slay the two headed dragon to make the post season.
Re: We don't have to beat the Cards...
True.
They seem to always be beating themselves.
The Reds will have to beat the Cardinals in St. Louis in September. I don't see either of these teams taking off or faltering badly in the next few weeks. A three game series will be huge at that point in the season.
Yeah the Cubs beat the Cardinals and the Reds beat the Marlins. Both games could have gone either way with both teams seeming to want to give the game away. The same could happen the next game. The problem I see is consistency, neither team can put together a significant number of "good" games together. I don't see one team rolling over and both teams have the tools to win a lot more than they have so far. I'm surprised there isn't more talk about the Braves, Phillies, Padres, Giants and maybe the Dodgers and Rockies. They as well as the Cardinals are potentially in the way of the Reds getting into the playoffs. Sure, win the division and you're in. Fall one game short to the Cardinals and it's still possible to be the wildcard, but there's a lot more to overcome than just the Cardinals. Being the wildcard isn't so bad as opposed to not being there at all. Either way, if you don't finish with more wins than either the east or west winners, it will be a road trip to start the playoffs.
I actually throw out who should win or who should lose when it comes to a Cubs/Cards series. The Cubs could be the worst team in baseball yet still will come in and play the Cards tough all the time. For the past couple of years, for example, the Cards have had a tough time winning at Wrigley. Its a traditional rivalry where you sort of have to throw all stats and what not out of the window.
....and the Cardinals continue to beat themselves.
Man, they're good at that.
They should write a book about it.
The Reds may not have success against the Birds, but as many previous posters have pointed out, they don't have to.
The Reds have success against teams they should beat, while the Cardinals play down to their competition. I don't understand why the Cardinals can't play teams like the Cubs and the Astros well, while pounding teams like the Reds, Braves, and others who should be much stiffer competition.
It's an anomaly that will befuddle me until resolved, but from the outside looking in, I'd say the Reds are the team that will represent the Central in the postseason. Unless the Cardinals figure out how to beat the teams they should.
Good to see Lohse back. :D
No kidding.
The 5th spot in the rotation is certainly a black hole for the Cards. Lohse/Hawksworth/Suppan is not going to cut it. Plain and simple.
But with the amount of off-days the Cardinals have from here on out, Lohse won't need to pitch often. The Cards could easily go to a 4-man rotation for the next month. I doubt TLR does that, but it is possible.
Oh well. If they can win 3 out of 5 with Carp, Waino, and Garcia consistently, while taking a 4th here and there, they'll be in good shape.
Well, the Cards have pretty much had a 4 man rotation as many times as possible this year so it wouldn't surprise me if they continued the trend.
I said this in another post but I would definitely not take the Astro's for granted. They have a nice young nucleus and they might be a viable team in the next couple of years. I think they have actually scored the most runs of any team in baseball since the All Star break.
I won't take that away from them. They've really come out strong here in the second half.
Even in the first half though, when they weren't playing well, the Cards couldn't handle them. The Astros came here May 11-13, and the Cards just layed an egg. 3-game sweep at the hands of Myers, Rodriguez, and Bud (Cy Young) Norris. The Stros were here again August 2-4 coming off of 2 trades that sent away their two best players, came in and took 2 of 3 from the Birds, and outscored us 31-16. Embarrassing series.
I do agree though, they've started to form a good young nucleus with former Cardinals' farmhand Brett Wallace, Hunter Pence, and Brett Myers.
They have some ways to go if they want to revert back to their 2005 form.
Hunter Pence was never in the Cardinal's organization. Pence was drafted in the second round of the 2004 draft by the Astros out of the University of Texas at Arlington. I don't believe Brett Myers ever was either. Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1st round (12th) of the 1999 MLB June Amateur Draft.