Reds at Cardinals, Game 3 - Preview and Lineups

Despite the frustration with Saturday’s lackluster performance against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cincinnati Reds can actually win the series against their NL Central foes with a victory on Sunday.

At this point, however, we’re left to wonder if that’s going to be good enough to salvage this disappointing season.

The Reds are 6 games under .500, which is bad. They’re 3.5 games out of the 2nd guaranteed playoff spot in the Central, which is bad with just 14 games to play. Their season is, and has been, in the balance for a week now, and the scales are still tipping in the wrong direction every damn day.

These Reds need not just one, but multiple miracles to make the expanded postseason at the moment. They need to play better, for longer, than they ever have as a club this year. They need other teams to win the exact right games against the exact right performance. Frankly, they need to find a way to make the Kessel Run in eleven parsecs, and I’m not sure that’s even mathematically possible.

If the miracle run is to begin, however, it’ll start with Tyler Mahle, as the young righty will toe the rubber for the Reds today in an attempt to continue a season that’s been quite promising, actually. Mahle has been one of the very few true bright spots for the 2020 Reds, and hopefully that’ll continue against the Cardinals, who today will counter with righty Carlos Martinez to start.

Mike Moustakas returns to the Reds lineup after a bruised foot had him sidelined for a few days, and he’ll play 1B today. Joey Votto will get the DH duties.

First pitch is set for 2:15 PM ET.

Go Reds.

Reds Lineup

Cardinals Lineup