Game 108: Reds vs. Twins (12:35 PM ET) - Castillo vs. Barnes

Take a big swig of mouthwash and gargle away the last remnants of last night’s disastrous loss to the last place Minnesota Twins. Sadly, it’s exactly the same kind of loss that we’ve covered countless times so far this season, one that has seen a spike of even more epic proportions in the weeks since the All Star break.

This Cincinnati Reds club mildly addressed their bullpen woes at the trade deadline, making a trio of mid-level additions in lieu of landing, y’know, the kind of lock-down impact arm that teams with pure playoff ambition typically do. Instead, they’re going to wait out their injuries and entrust a cadre of guys signed to minor league contracts last spring - meaning no other team out there thought they were worthy of a major league deal - to get the biggest outs in the biggest spots until then.

So far, it’s been an anchor keeping the Reds at shore. Last night was more of the same, as David Bell’s willingness to continue to roll the dice with minor league signee Heath Hembree instead of pulling him for minor league signee Brad Brach backfired. It was a loss that stings now and will sting more in late September as we all stare at the standings.

Today, though, the Reds turn to Luis Castillo again, the ace of their last two months. Hopefully, they can ride him deep enough into the game to ignore the bullpen altogether, with the bats thumping accordingly to at least salvage a split of this series (puke noises).

First pitch is up next at 12:35 PM ET. Go Reds.

Reds Lineup

Twins Lineup