With the Reds 5-2 victory against the Braves today, the Reds wrapped up another winning month as they went 14-12 in July. It's the first time since 1992 that the Reds opened the season with four consecutive winning months. The 1992 Reds finished the season with a 90-72 record though they missed the playoffs. If this club can just keep having winning months they'll stay in contention until the end.
Reds record by the month:
April: 12-11; 106 RS/126 RA
May: 18-11; 162 RS/117 RA
June: 14-13; 118 RS/116 RA
July: 14-12; 129 RS/86 RA
At one point the Reds were 7-11 in April but they went on a five game winning streak to end the month.
As evidenced by their RS/RA in July, the Reds should have went a lot better than 14-12 but at least they were able to salvage a win today and end the month on a positive note. It should be noted that this month featured a season long 11 game roadtrip.
A look at the upcoming month:
Reds play 27 games games in August.
1 vs Braves
3 at Pirates
3 at Cubs
3 vs Cardinals
3 vs Marlins
3 at Diamondbacks
3 at Dodgers
3 at Giants
3 vs Cubs
2 vs Brewers
The bolded part is the key stretch. A nine game roadtrip to the west coast. The Reds went 3-3 on their first west coast roadtrip thru Seattle and Oakland back in June. The Reds have struggled on the west coast in the past, so a 4-5 trip would have to be considered decent though 5-4 should be the goal.
There's no such thing as a gimme win in Major League Baseball, but if the Reds can make it through August with another winning month, their schedule eases up a bit after the first 7-10 days in September. A 14-13 August would put the Reds at 72-60 entering September. That should be the goal at this point. Anything above would be a bonus.