Reds-Marlins series 9/14

[Kc61]

Reds travel to Miami. Arroyo v. Turner (0-2, 5.29), Cueto v. Buehrle (lefty, 12-12, 3.74), Latos v. Nolasco (12-12, 4.40). Nolasco hot pitcher 3-0, 0.36 ERA, 16Ks over his last three starts. Marlins 63-81, at home 32-37. Reds won two of three to open season against Miami. Reds trail Nats by 2.5 in NL overall standings, Reds 11.5 in front in Central.

Cards at LA for four beginning tonight. Wild card battle. Lynn v. Beckett, Kelly v. Capuano, Garcia v. Blanton, Wainright v. Kershaw. First two are 7:10 PM, L.A. time, so good late night viewing for interested Reds fans. Last two games are earlier. Cards lead Dodgers by 1 game in wild card, Reds' fans interest mostly in knocking down magic number even further. Cards with 8 games this year v. Dodgers, with Cards winning three of four in St. Louis in July.

Nats play three in Atlanta starting Friday. Detwiler, Jackson and Gio v. Medlen (8-1), Hanson, and Minor. Nats with tough schedule from here on out, all games against wild card contenders. Sunday night ESPN game. Nats 10-5 over Braves this year so far. Nats have won 12 of last 15 games, since losing four to Phils in late August. Braves had won seven of eight, then were swept in Milwaukee.

Other series of wild card interest in NL. Pirates at Cubs for four starting Friday. Phils at Stros for four starting tonight. Mets at Brewers for three starting Friday. Dickey not scheduled, faces off with Cliff Lee on Monday.

[RedsMan3203]

Ouch?

Richard Justice ‏@richardjustice
Cardinals during 4-11 slump: .232 team batting average, 5.59 ERA. Outscored 91-47.

[DGullett35]

Nolasco shared NL player of the week honors with Bruce. Hes been pitching very well. Should be a good matchup with him and Latos. Also I didnt know until the other day that the players that get that honor get a watch. I wonder what kind they get for that. I read a quote from bruce that said he likes getting the watches and has 5 of em so far in his career.

[cumberlandreds]

The Phillies really have it made. Four against the Astros. They could be really,really close to that wild card spot by the end of the weekend if not in it.

Man, its been a long time since the Reds played the Marlins. I had almost forgotten they started the season with them. Should be a good series and hopefully the Reds will knock a few more off that magic number.

[Kc61]

Originally Posted by cumberlandreds

The Phillies really have it made. Four against the Astros. They could be really,really close to that wild card spot by the end of the weekend if not in it.

Man, its been a long time since the Reds played the Marlins. I had almost forgotten they started the season with them. Should be a good series and hopefully the Reds will knock a few more off that magic number.

Phillies play six with Nats at the end of the season but overall not too bad a schedule.

Astros, Mets, Braves, Nats, Marlins, Nats.

[medford]

Crazy thought, w/ St Louis in LA, and Philly, Pittsburgh & Milwaukee all having winnable (if not sweepable) series, the Cards, who ventured out West w/ a solid lead for the final WC spot over everyone except LA who was and remains 1 game back, could concievable depart the West Coast Sunday evening and find themselves looking up in the WC standings at LA, Philly, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee.

Hopeful (and only slightly less crazy) thought, if the above happens, the Red's magic number could be down to 1 sole game.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by medford

Crazy thought, w/ St Louis in LA, and Philly, Pittsburgh & Milwaukee all having winnable (if not sweepable) series, the Cards, who ventured out West w/ a solid lead for the final WC spot over everyone except LA who was and remains 1 game back, could concievable depart the West Coast Sunday evening and find themselves looking up in the WC standings at LA, Philly, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee.

Hopeful (and only slightly less crazy) thought, if the above happens, the Red's magic number could be down to 1 sole game.

Have you seen LA's play lately? They're really screwed up. I don't think they're capable of sweeping anyone. My guess is this series will do more to hurt their chances than St Louis'

[vic715]

Originally Posted by cumberlandreds

The Phillies really have it made. Four against the Astros. They could be really,really close to that wild card spot by the end of the weekend if not in it.

Man, its been a long time since the Reds played the Marlins. I had almost forgotten they started the season with them. Should be a good series and hopefully the Reds will knock a few more off that magic number.

Thats why I would almost rather have that second seed,as I am afraid Philly might be the wild card.Let Washington have them in the first round.

[mdccclxix]

Originally Posted by vic715

Thats why I would almost rather have that second seed,as I am afraid Philly might be the wild card.Let Washington have them in the first round.

+1

The only downside would be maybe going down 0-2 in SF, a hard place to win. But you could say that about any team we're visiting.

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by vic715

Thats why I would almost rather have that second seed,as I am afraid Philly might be the wild card.Let Washington have them in the first round.

The thing with Philly is they can buck the wild card. I think the theory was that a wild card team would have to throw its ace in the WC game thus leaving them with their #2 and 3 in the next series. Philly could throw Hamels in the WC game and if they win start of the next series with Lee, Haladay, and then Hamels in game 3. Lee and Haladay aren't putting up typical numbers this season but they still are dangerous pitchers.

[Kc61]

IMO best thing for Reds fans is to root for Atlanta to clinch its wild card spot early on, get it's pitching set up for the WC game, be able to get its players healthy for that game.

Atlanta is a good team, but they don't bring the concerns of the Cards (long time rivals) or Phils (give Reds trouble).

So I'd root for the Bravos, and hope everyone else has to go down to the wire and use up their best pitching.

[Tom Servo]

How many home runs will Stanton hit off of Arroyo? 3?

[traderumor]

Well, the easy prediction here is a series win. It was also easy predicting a series win against the Astros last weekend, and we know how that played out

Anyhow, a 4-2 or 3-3 roadtrip has us set up for a homestand clinch, then everyone can take a deep breath and gear up for the hopes of a postseason run.

[oneupper]

I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it down to Marlins Park for this series.
The team is going to have to win without me.

[berryluther]

I'll be at the game on Saturday. Got seats right behind Reds dugout.