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The Reds found a way to win on Saturday on the back of Johnny Cueto, but now look to make it two in a row without their ace pitcher. In doing so, the Reds will have to succeed with a lineup with an awfulness and ineptitude rivaling only Darren Rovell. That's okay though, because in sports, there is always an opportunity to fail upwards. Ask Lane Kiffin.
The Reds will square off today against Zack Wheeler of the New York Mets. Wheeler, in his second full professional season, has put together some strong numbers, but he struggled in his last start. On the season, Wheeler is currently sitting on a 3.45 ERA while averaging 8.9 strikeouts every 9 innings. However, against the Marlins last Monday, Wheeler did not make it out of the fifth inning and gave up 5 runs with 2 earned before being pulled with "terribleness."
Mat Latos will get the start for the Reds this afternoon. Latos will be in search of his sixth win of the season and looking to improve upon his 3.46 ERA in his sixteenth start of 2014. Latos has had some mixed success against the Mets lineup with the good news being that David Wright is 2 for 14 in his career against Mat. The bad news is that those two hits include a double and a home run. Similarly, Lucas Duda, who appears to have drinking supplies from the Rickie Weeks fountain has an OPS of .788 against Latos in a dozen at bats.
The Reds are currently 11 games out of first place with the #CubWatch placing that awful team from Chicago 3 games behind our team. Hopefully, the Reds can find a way to win to regain some semblance of respectability for 2014.
Go Reds.
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