By now, you may have noticed that the Cincinnati Reds have been celebrating the "11 Days of Larkin," to dually commemorate the former Captain's election into the Baseball Hall of Fame and the retirement of his uniform number . Unfortunately, the outcome of Friday's game [the 10th Day of Larkin (observed)] seemed less like a play on the 12 Days of Christmas and more like a Lenten observance. The Reds look to get their post-All-Star Break groove back this afternoon, on the 11th Day of Larkin, in their battle with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Also looking to regain some momentum is Reds' starter Mike Leake (MIKE LEAKE). Leake struggled mightily in his previous start in Philadelphia where he failed to make it out of the fifth inning. Countering Leake will be Jaime Garcia who recently returned from the disabled list. Garcia displayed no problems last Sunday where he went eight innings and struck out ten. In fact it appears that Jaime* has been taking his start against Cincinnati rather lightly:

Mr Brainwash "Follow your dreams" #london #streetart twitter.com/jaimegarciag/s…

— Jaime Garcia (@jaimegarciag) August 24, 2012

How will the Reds react to this insult? If it's anything like their reaction to the Cueto and BP All-Star snubs, it will probably involve winning the next two games; forcing the WLB's to return to St. Louis with their tails between their legs (Editor's Note - Skip Schumaker actually has a tail). Given the recent tailspin of the Pittsburgh Pirates, it seems it is once again up to the Reds to safeguard the playoffs from an infestation of neck tattoos and insufferable fans.

Hopefully the 2012 Reds will take this 11th Day of Larkin to put up 11 runs on the board in an 11-0 shutout of the Cardinals allowing them to eventually #TakeTheCentral with over 11 games left in the season. Lineups are after the jump! Go Reds, they're my favorite team!

*This is probably not the Twitter feed of THAT Jaime Garcia.

REDS

Zack Cozart (R) SS

Drew Stubbs (R) CF

Brandon Phillips (R) 2B

Ryan Ludwick (R) LF

Todd Frazier (R) 1B

Jay Bruce (L) RF

Scott Rolen (R) 3B

Dioner Navarro (S) C

Mike Leake (R) P

CARDINALS

Jon Jay (L) CF

Matt Carpenter (L) 3B

Matt Holliday (R) LF

Allen Craig (R) 1B

Carlos Beltran (S) RF

Skip Schumaker (L) 2B

Tony Cruz (R) C

Rafael Furcal (S) SS

Jaime Garcia (L) P