Colorado @ Cincinnati preview
Great American Ball Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 17, 2010 ) Colorado 1, Cincinnati 8
With every win, the Cincinnati Reds are proving that they belong in the postseason discussion.
The Reds will be looking for a three-game sweep when they take on fellow playoff contenders the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.
A trendy pick to make some noise in the National League wild card discussion this season, most people assumed that the St. Louis Cardinals would have no trouble running away with the NL Central. But Cincinnati hung in and took the division lead into the All-Star break and has shown no signs of slowing down since its return to action.
The Reds scratched their way to a 3-2 win in the series opener on Friday night before breaking the bats out in an 8-1 triumph on Saturday. The offensive show, which included four home runs, was a welcome return for the team after getting shutout in two straight games prior to the break and managing only eight hits on Friday.
While its pitching has been stellar, Cincinnati’s offense is what has kept the club in the race so far, leading the NL in runs scored behind All-Stars Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto and Scott Rolen.
The Rockies are playoff contenders as well, currently one-half game out of the wild card lead. But after dominating the first half of July, the Reds have been able to expose the flaws in a Colorado lineup that is missing the big bats of Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton. Both players are expected back by the end of the month.
Reds rookie Travis Wood will be aiming for his first career win when he takes the mound today. The right-hander has been fantastic through his first three starts, allowing five earned runs in 20 2/3 total innings. He took a perfect game into the ninth inning on July 10 at Philadelphia before Carlos Ruiz broke it up with a leadoff double.
Unfortunately for Wood, Roy Halladay was on the other side and took his own shutout through nine innings. Wood was lifted after allowing just one hit and striking out eight in nine scoreless frames. Cincinnati went on to suffer a 1-0 loss in the 11th inning.
The Rockies will counter with veteran Aaron Cook. The right-hander has only one win in his last seven starts and is coming off a disappointing outing against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 7, when he allowed five runs on 10 hits in five innings.
Successful when his sinkerball is inducing ground balls, Cook allowed a pair of homers to the Cardinals and has yielded four blasts in his last three outings.
Cook has never lost against Cincinnati, owning a 2-0 record despite a 5.12 ERA in eight appearances.