The Big Red Machine

The Reds have never bothered me.  I've appreciated their tradition and always, if not cheered for them, at least didn't cheer against them.  Then I married into the fandom.  My father-in-law is a big Reds fan, so we talk baseball a lot.  Since then, I've tried to keep an eye on the Reds, and them being in the same division has helped out as well.

Suddenly, though, the Reds are, if not in the race, at least within sight of it.  With the right combination of events, Labor Day could see the Reds within 4 games of the lead.  Who'd have seen that when the managerial change went through?  (Probably the same people that saw the Cardinals within 3 right now.)

A quick scan of the schedule shows the Cards are 6-3 against the Reds, winning 2 of 3 in each series.  In tonight's opener, the Reds go straight for the Cardinals' weakness by throwing a guy we've never seen before.  Tom Shearn was the oldest starting pitcher to make his first major league start for the Reds in around 50 years (according to my father-in-law, who was actually at the game) when he pitched against the Marlins Sunday.  He is a righty, so that hopefully will help out some.

The Cardinals send Anthony Reyes to the bump.   Right now, with Reyes, it seems if he could get past the one big inning, he'd be all right.  Hopefully he doesn't make it three starts in a row with a grand slam.

Scoreboard watching:  Chicago hosts Houston this afternoon, so we'll know before the game if St. Louis can make up ground or must win just to keep pace.  Milwaukee hosts Pittsburgh in a game that will run alongside the Cardinal contest.