There is still a few remaining spots of snow around the Cincinnati area, but the sun is out, the temperatures are somewhat warmer, and baseball will be on the television and radio. Does it get any better than this?
The Reds and Indians will meet for the first of six face-offs today at Goodyear Ballpark. The Reds are the home team in this tilt. Tomorrow when they face each other again, the Indians will play as the home team.
Mike Lincoln will start today for the Reds. Dusty Baker has said that Lincoln will be trying out for the 5th spot in the rotation. I have to wonder if some of that is just talk to get him to stretch out and possibly fill a swing man role on the staff. Outside of Micah Owings, and Lincoln, the Reds don't have many pitchers likely to fall into that role at this point, since you'd have to wonder if they'd give that role to Matt Maloney and since Kip Wells and Justin Lehr are not on the 40-man roster.
Also scheduled to pitch today are Maloney, Lehr, Carlos Fisher, Sam LeCure, and Jon Adkins. The Indians will throw Justin Masterson on the mound to start, followed by Kerry Wood, Aaron Laffey, Rafael Perez, Chris Perez, Joe Smith, and Saul Rivera.
Lineups are after the jump. You can catch the game live on Fox Sports Ohio and 700 WLW. The game will also be replayed on MLB Network tonight at 7pm ET, though it could be subject to blackout in your area, which is ridiculous, but whatever, I'm watching it live!