Atlanta @ Cincinnati preview
Great American Ball Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 31, 2010 ) Atlanta 2, Cincinnati 5
For the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves, it's a simple formula: Keep winning series, and their division races should take care of themselves; start losing them, and their postseason dreams could start slipping away.
The pair of National League contenders square off with the balance of their three-game series on the line today at Great American Ball Park.
Each team has provided some late-inning heroics already this weekend. The Braves won the opener 6-4 in 10 innings, and the Reds scored four runs in the seventh inning for a 5-2 victory Saturday.
Despite the loss Saturday, the Braves maintained their 3 1/2-game lead in the NL East thanks to Philadelphia's 7-5 loss to Washington, while the Reds remained a half-game behind St. Louis in the NL Central after the Cardinals pounded Pittsburgh 11-1.
Atlanta made a two-pronged move at the non-waiver trading deadline in hopes of bolstering its batting order and its bullpen. The Braves acquired outfielder Rick Ankiel and right-hander Kyle Farnsworth from the Royals, sending outfielder Gregor Blanco, reliever Jesse Chavez and pitching prospect Tim Collins to Kansas City.
The additions come at the same time as a temporary subtraction, though. The Braves will be without leadoff man and second baseman Martin Prado for at least a week after Prado fractured his right pinky on a headfirst slide into home plate Friday.
Prado ranks third in the NL with a .315 batting average and leads the league with 138 hits.
Unlike the Braves, the Reds chose to stand pat at the deadline. They've already made a key addition to their starting rotation with Edinson Volquez returning from the disabled list last month. The 27-year-old right-hander is set to make his fourth start of the season today.
Volquez (1-1, 8.25 ERA) was electric in his first start since Tommy John surgery, holding Colorado to one run on three hits and striking out nine in six innings. But his last two starts haven't gone nearly as well. He gave up six runs in 2 1/3 innings against Washington and allowed four runs in 3 2/3 innings Tuesday at Milwaukee.
In three career starts against Atlanta, Volquez is 0-2 despite a solid 3.18 ERA.
The Braves’ scheduled starter, 23-year-old right-hander Tommy Hanson, has experienced the same type of luck lately. Hanson (8-7, 3.99 ERA) is winless in his last four starts despite having allowed three or fewer earned runs in each outing.
After ending June with two rocky starts, Hanson went 1-2 with a 2.43 ERA in five starts in July.
Hanson has had mixed results in two starts against Cincinnati. The Reds sent him to the showers after the shortest start of his career May 20 in Atlanta, pounding him for eight runs on eight hits in 1 2/3 innings. But that outing was in stark contrast to his only start at Great American Ball Park, in which he threw six scoreless innings for his second major league win in June 2009.