Reds at Cardinals, Game 1: Preview and Lineups

The Manager is dead. Long live the Manager!

After exactly 666 career games as the skipper of the Cincinnati Reds, the Bryan Price era is officially over, leaving Jim Riggleman and Lou Brown and who the heck else to try to steer this ship back on-course. Their first shot will come in St. Louis against a Cardinals team that just swept these Reds, which is always an admirable spot for a struggling Reds club to try to pick up some easy wins, right?

Right.

Brandon Finnegan, who just got shelled by these Cardinals for 5 ER in 4.1 IP, will get his second start of the season, and will hopefully show some more refinement. He’ll be countered by St. Louis starter Michael Wacha, who alled 3 ER against the Reds in 5 IP last week, too. You may remember Wacha from some such films as Muppet Babies, Muppet Babies 2, and Being Drafted 19th Overall in the 2012 MLB Draft Immediately After Corey Seager and Five Picks After the Reds Selected Nick Travieso.

First pitch is set for 8:15 PM ET, so settle in for a cozy Friday night of baseball.

Cincinnati Lineup

St. Louis Lineup

Other Notes

• Last night, I joined Tara Wellman for a recap of the firing of Bryan Price and for a preview of this series for Birds On The Black, and you can listen to that here.
• Scott Schebler is in the locker room, according to The Enquirer’s John Fay, which means a roster move is inevitable (though the Reds are waiting forever to announce it).
• Go Reds. Please, please go.