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I thought the Phillies were supposed to have bad pitching. What gives? Okay, so I'm being facetious. Rodrigo Lopez has only made one start this year, but still he pitched pretty well against the Mets last week. At 33 though, I wouldn't expect him to suddenly turn into a lights out pitcher. I suspect that the Reds have a much better shot to score some runs tonight than they have in each of the last two nights, even if Lopez is a right-hander. I'm calling for 6+ runs tonight, especially because the lineup is a decent one: Dickerson, Hairston, Votto, Phillips, Nix, Hernandez, Bruce, Encarnacion, Bailey.
Speaking of Bailey, does anybody have nervous anticipation when it's his day to pitch? I still don't have any expectation that he's going to be something special, but I think still have hope that he will. So, whenever he pitches, I want him to do something special to wow us. He got close in his last start. Hopefully tonight he keeps getting better.
A win tonight gives the Reds a really good chance to take the series, while a loss makes it impossible. Tomorrow night they face Jamie Moyer, who hasn't quite been lights out this year. But we have to worry about tonight first. Put a win up on the board tonight and take the series tomorrow. Sounds like a plan.