Reds at Cardinals, Game 1 - Preview and Lineups

So, this may be hard to believe, but the Reds are going to play a baseball game tonight.

They’re in St. Louis for a 4-game set, and it’s as necessary for their season as ever. The Reds sit at 10-12 as things stand right now, 4th place in the NL Central. The trade deadline is a couple of weeks away. A bad series here takes the Reds into desperation mode, as they could find themselves at 11-15 or 10-16 with a series loss. There’s more margin for error this season with extra playoff teams, but not that much more.

As the Cardinals have had some cancellations, they’re at 6-7 right now. They’ve been afforded the opportunity to get their COVID cases back in action and healthy, without having to miss games. It’s worth mentioning that the Reds will be without Nick Senzel tonight.

The last week is one of the weirdest in Reds fandom that I can remember. From having 4 games cancelled due to the pandemic to the announcer stuff last night, it’s so easy to focus on anything but baseball, but this is as important as a series that the Reds have had in years. I’m going to do my best to enjoy what’s happening on the field, and I hope that you can too.

We’re treated to a fantastic pitching matchup, as Sonny Gray and Adam Wainwright match up. Gray has been setting the pace for Reds starters so far this season, and they need him to set the pace for this series as well. He’ll face Adam Wainwright tonight, who has given up 1 run in each of his first two starts.

Reds lineup looks a lot like last night’s with the same Votto/Castellanos/Winker top of the order.

Go Reds.

Reds lineup

Cardinals lineup