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.