Reds vs. Dodgers, Game Three: a preview of sorts

Baseball is funny, huh?

The Reds are bad. They’ve been bad for most of the year. They were good for, like, six weeks, but have been pretty bad in general.

The Dodgers are good. They’ve been good for most of the year. They were bad for, like, a six weeks, but have been pretty good in general.

The Reds are 63-83 and in last place in their division. The Dodgers are 78-67 and in second place in their division, only two games back of the division lead.

Which means the Dodgers should’ve thumped the Reds, or at the very least have beaten them more often than not this season. That, however, is the furthest from the truth. The Reds have owned the Dodgers this season. Cincinnati has beaten LA six times, sure. But the Dodgers (the good team) have allowed over twice as many runs as they’ve scored against the Reds (the bad team).

The Dodgers lost four straight to Cincinnati in LA in early May, and almost immediately went gunning for the division lead (the series lasted from May 10 to May 13). Remember, they were kinda shitty at the time, and came into the series hovering somewhere between eight and nine games back of their NL West foes. After losing four straight to the Reds, LA remained eight games back. By May 30, they were 3.5 back. By June 7, they were only a game and a half back.

They’ll need that “Reds kicked my ass” kick-in-the-ass to get back into it this late into the season.

Anyway, the Reds can do more damage to the Dodgers playoff hopes with win and season sweep this afternoon. Ross Stripling as been very solid for the Dodgers, pitching 110.1 innings of 2.61 ERA baseball, to go with a 1.133 WHIP and 9.9 K/9 line. That’s impressive.

He’ll face off against Anthony DeSclafani, who has been knocked around pretty well in his last few starts, but he pitches the Dodgers well, to the tune of 3.12 ERA in 26 IP.

Cincinnati Lineup

Los Angeles Lineup