St. Louis Dispatch: Did Brandon Phillips just win NL Central for Cardinals?

[mu4103]

No, I thought what he said was awesome (not to mention true). The Cards can sweep a series now, who cares. The Reds are a game back. I can't wait to see them play again. Also, Dusty Baker going after Larussa was awesome. I have a new found respect for Dusty (except for his line-ups). I would have loved to see him and LaRussa really go at it. LaRussa would have been like ... "I will send my best right handed hitter against large black men to fight for me." The Reds can't let this series get them down. I honestly don't think they are as talented as the Cardinals, but they have played over my expectations all year, so keep it up.

[10xWSChamps]

From a purely motivational standpoint the Reds had more to prove then the Cardinals in this series (at least before Phillips made his comments). But the Cardinals obviously had more to lose in the standings

The Reds being one game back, in the grand scheme of things, isn't bad. But if the Cardinals got swept we would have been five games back. Not totally insurmountable but that would have been a tall hill for the Cardinals to climb.

As I said before this series started, the 6 games we had left (3 at this point) will be what decides this division. We've been within about 2 games of each other for over two months and I don't see either team gaining more then a few games.

Luckily for the Cardinals, the next series with the Reds is at home where the Cardinals have been very good. I imagine LaRussa and Duncan will be trying to stack the rotation in the same fashion.

[mu4103]

Originally Posted by mu4103

No, I thought what he said was awesome (not to mention true). The Cards can sweep a series now, who cares. The Reds are a game back. I can't wait to see them play again. Also, Dusty Baker going after Larussa was awesome. I have a new found respect for Dusty (except for his line-ups). I would have loved to see him and LaRussa really go at it. LaRussa would have been like ... "I will send my best right handed hitter against large black men to fight for me." The Reds can't let this series get them down. I honestly don't think they are as talented as the Cardinals, but they have played over my expectations all year, so keep it up.

One more thing, despite that the Reds lost, one thing they did was wake the Cardinals up (in a good way for the Reds). The Cardinals probably assumed that they would eventually win some games, the Reds would lose some and the Cards would win the division. The Reds showed, in my opinion, that they are here to fight!