Reds vs. Cards (Defining Series Opener!)

[redsrbetter]

POLL: Will Narron cost this team another game?

I am calling this series teh Defining Series. It will either make or break the Reds and their season. The Cardinals are not only Reds rivals and are 3.5 games ahead of teh Reds, but they are a very hard team to beat. Thankfully the Cards have been on a downslide as teh Reds have. And we have to thank LaRussa and Jocketty for not having anyone better than Weaver to pitch against us in the opener.

We are going to have to beat up on the 4-12 6.71 pitcher tonight and are going to have to hope that Narron will put out the best lineup to do so. Encarnacion has got to start EVERY game. And Narron has got to lose the ability to even use Majewski anymore. Krivsky is hopefully about to do his job in preperation for the series in eliminating that option for Narron. So Narron is going to have to do his as well.

Any predictions on how this opening game will go?

[Mr. D™]

I only voted No in hopes Our team can get past Narron's idiot decisions

[NFLman2033]

Well i am going tonight, This is it boys, the series of the year.. We will know if they are contenders or pretenders.. they could be 0.5 games into first place or 7.5 out.. that is a huge difference.. They are playing at Home which is absolutely brutal for the Reds.. Milton is going tomorrow night which could be very deadly, Having Harang go on Wednesday is great, but its against Carpenter.. then Arroyo on Thursday, and as bad as the Reds have been at home, they are even worse in Day games, not to mention Arroyo has not had the best of luck.. I expect the Reds to be 5.5 out of it by the end of the series, I am expecting a Win tonight, followed by 3 straight losses.. We may pull off a tie if we can get to Carpenter.

and it has very little to do with the players on the field.. we have the worst manager in baseball

[redsrbetter]

I think that as long as we can get past the Cards in this series and remain within 1 game of the Wild Card, we can get to the playoffs. I want more, but cannot expect it withNarron managing this team.

I want this lineup tonight:

Freel RF
Dunn LF
Hatteberg 1B
EdE 3B
Griffey CF
Phillips SS
Ross C
Aurilia 2B
Ramirez P

My prediction?

Phillips 2B
Hatteberg 1B
Griffey CF
Aurilia 3B
Dunn LF
Valentin C
Clayton SS
Denorfia RF
Ramirez P

That second lineup would lose the game before it even started. We better hope it is at least a little better than that. Its as if I put together the worst lineup I could think of with this team. Lets see how much closer the second one is to Narron's than the first.

[redsrbetter]

Well i am going tonight, This is it boys, the series of the year.. We will know if they are contenders or pretenders.. they could be 0.5 games into first place or 7.5 out.. that is a huge difference.. They are playing at Home which is absolutely brutal for the Reds.. Milton is going tomorrow night which could be very deadly, Having Harang go on Wednesday is great, but its against Carpenter.. then Arroyo on Thursday, and as bad as the Reds have been at home, they are even worse in Day games, not to mention Arroyo has not had the best of luck.. I expect the Reds to be 5.5 out of it by the end of the series, I am expecting a Win tonight, followed by 3 straight losses.. We may pull off a tie if we can get to Carpenter.

and it has very little to do with the players on the field.. we have the worst manager in baseball

Have a great time tonight and get some good seats with the half price and eat a few dogs buddy!

We jsut realy have to start it off on the right foot tonight and Narron has togive us some kind of help. Come on Narron!

[CincyRedsFan30]

The second lineup sounds like what we might well see. I'm still on stand-by in terms of knowing if I'm going to tonight's game or tomorrow night's game or not, but I am going to Houston on Wednesday(until Monday) and will be at the Astros/Padres game on Friday night.

As for the series itself, I am not expecting much but hoping for the best. I wouldn't be stunned by losing 3 of 4 our getting swept. So many have dogged the Cards' rotation, yet they still have the second best record in the NL.

[NFLman2033]

Have a great time tonight and get some good seats with the half price and eat a few dogs buddy!

We jsut realy have to start it off on the right foot tonight and Narron has togive us some kind of help. Come on Narron!

thanks, I am down the first baseline, normally $30 a piece, but got em for 15, me My fiancee and her son.. I just hope we don't get soaked tonight with the rain.

[redsrbetter]

ohhh, rain tonight? That doesn't sound too good. Ireally want this one to happen in order to be sure we are facing Waever tonight. We have to pound this guy!

[Reds_fan_4_life]

i think Narron talked to someone because tonight's line-up is by far the best it has ever been. Just in time for the big series.

R. Freel RF
A. Dunn LF
K. Griffey Jr. CF
E. Encarnacion 3B
S. Hatteberg 1B
B. Phillips 2B
J. Valentin C
R. Clayton SS
E. Ramirez P

[missionhockey21]

I really don't get why we don't play Aurilia at SS. We're going to need all the firepower we can get with facing Prince Albert.

[Reds_fan_4_life]

Clayton has been hot as of late. esp with 2 Hrs.. he never hits homeruns. plus i think Clayton to is better at SS(Fielding) than Aurilla

[redsrbetter]

I like the lineup! Best he has made in a LONG while. As far as Clayton vs Aurilia go, I think they are both equal as far as defense goes, and Aurilia simply sucks vs. righties. We all know that. And he has also not had a good go at it for a while. Clayton, on the other hand has done a decent job the last few games. I am not entirely sure I would have made this decision either as I HATE seeing Clayton in there, but I may have went with Castro over any of them right now.

I think both points can be made and Aurilia has a far better track record, but hopefully Clayton can at least play defense tonight. But again, I wish it were Castro since all three of them would likely not make much on offensive side. And if Aurilia were in there, he would be batting cleanup which would really suck.

[love_that_reefer]

Bad news is you have to face Carpenter and Reyes for two games.
Good news you get to face Marquis and Weaver for two.

[Mr. D™]

I'm not to worried about Carpenter

[redsrbetter]

Bad news is you have to face Carpenter and Reyes for two games.
Good news you get to face Marquis and Weaver for two.

Agreed. At least against Carpenter and Reyes we are bringing our two best. I just hope this lineup really produces tonight so Narron sticks with it for the two rougher games.