Phils-Reds series 9/3

[Kc61]

Reds go home to face the Phils, Astros, and Pirates. Phils out of the NL East race 17.5 games behind the Nats play Cincy Labor Day afternoon through Wednesday. Phils 32-33 on the road. Phils scheduled to throw three righties. Rookie Tyler Cloyd makes his second big league start against Johnny Cueto. Kyle Kendrick (winner of four consecutive starts) faces Mat Latos on Tuesday. Then Halladay and Leake square off Wednesday afternoon. Reds then with off day Thursday.

Cards and Pirates also go home following fairly disastrous road trips. Cards to host the Mets three games. McHugh v. Kelly, Harvey v. Garcia. Then the big pitching matchup Wednesday now scheduled as RA Dickey v. Adam Wainright. Reds fans probably want the Mets to win 12-11 with Dickey losing ground in Cy Young race but Mets winning ballgame.

Pirates host the Astros for three. Labor Day appears to be a matchup of first MLB starts of the season for Edgar Gonzalez of the Stros, who was signed out of the Mexican League, and for Jeff Locke of the Pirates. Then we get Jordan Lyles against Wandy R. Then Abad v. Correia.

Finally, we begin to track the Reds true competition - the Nationals of Washington, DC, battling with the Reds for best NL overall record. The Nats play at home against the Cubs for four games. Nats have relatively easy schedule right now, but it gets tougher later in Sept. Monday, Samardzija v. Detwiler. Tuesday, Rusin v. Jackson. Wed, Volstad v. Gonzalez. Thursday, Germano v. Zimmermann.

Lots of day games this week so watch the schedule or you might miss something.

[WVRedsFan]

Not really worried, but it's ironic that we play the hot Phils while Pittsurgh gets the hapless Astros and the Cards get the hapless Mets. Glad we have that big lead. We'll do fine, but the Bucs have a cupcake schedule the rest of the way. The Cardinals do not. We need to take care of business and win and all will be find.

[Kc61]

Not really worried, but it's ironic that we play the hot Phils while Pittsurgh gets the hapless Astros and the Cards get the hapless Mets. Glad we have that big lead. We'll do fine, but the Bucs have a cupcake schedule the rest of the way. The Cardinals do not. We need to take care of business and win and all will be find.

Hard to worry about either the Cards or Bucs at this moment. Both had disastrous weeks overall.

Glad to see Dickey pitching Wednesday, according to various websites. Originally Niese was listed. Mets throwing some real pitching at Cards, should be a competitive series. No comment on Bucs-Astros or Nats-Cubs.

[Phhhl]

Not really worried, but it's ironic that we play the hot Phils while Pittsurgh gets the hapless Astros and the Cards get the hapless Mets. Glad we have that big lead. We'll do fine, but the Bucs have a cupcake schedule the rest of the way. The Cardinals do not. We need to take care of business and win and all will be find.

The Reds' schedule is not exactly a gauntlet. Cardinal fans probably weren't thrilled to see St. Louis go into Washington while the Reds played Houston...

But, I like the way the matchups work in the Philadelphia series. Especially since they come in here after a long night in Atlanta. Kendrick may be on a roll, but he is not and likely never will be Lee or Hammels. Here is Cueto's chance to prove he is a Cy Young winner... here is Latos' chance to justify the "trade" by dropping the hammer on the Phillies in an important ballgame.

I like the challenge.

[Tadasimha]

Another series where the Reds need to step up and show the league they're prime time players and that coming into GABP is going to be tough. Take two out of three and you send that message to the other playoff teams, and also the Reds give themselves a confidence boost as well.

[Kc61]

Reds do have a decent chance of beating out the Nats for best record in NL. But it could easily go the other way.

Nats schedule is Cubs, Marlins, Mets, Braves, Dodgers, Brewers, Phillies, Cards, Phillies.

Reds schedule is Phillies, Astros, Pirates, Marlins, Cubs, Dodgers, Brewers, Pirates, Cards.

Reds have played two more games than Nats to date. Both teams have played 69 on the road, Reds have played two more than Nats at home.

Teams have a lot of common opponents, except: Reds have two series with Pirates, tough, and a home series with Astros, not so tough. Nats play 6 with Phils (Reds only 3), Nats play Braves and Mets.

Much may depend on how hard the Phils are trying v. Nats in 6 games very late.

[KittyDuran]

Have ticket for today's game (traded in the night game w/Detroit) and thinking about the business day special on Wednesday. Tickets for all 3 weekend games vs Astros.

[RollyInRaleigh]

I had thought about driving down by myself from Indy for the Wednesday business day special.

[traderumor]

The Reds are now playing for the best record and to keep sharp while giving guys the rest they need to be as fresh as possible for a postseason run.

It really just doesn't matter who the Pirates and Cards are playing at this point, but I will say that Harvey and Dickey could very well make a bad situation worse for the Cards. The Cards are not looking like a team that is going to make a late season run.

The Pirates will have a hard time doing any more than taking 2 of 3 from even the Astros right now. They have come back to the reality of the improving but still not there squad that they are.

[RedsMan3203]

Reds finally get matched up well this time around...

The Reds get their top 2 starters going (Cueto/Latos) and miss Lee/Hammels...

Plus get the return of Joey Votto...

They'll take 2 out of 3, with a chance of a sweep.

[Vottomatic]

Reds need a quality lefty in the rotation eventually. They'll surely see the Phillies in the coming years in the postseason. That Phils lineup is tough.