Great news. Votto starts his rehab on Tuesday in Dayton. When he went on the DL we had a one game lead, now it's seven games. Both Bailey and Leake are into career high innnings and that's a concern for me. Can't see us going all the way through to the playoffs with the same five guys. I'm actually a bit surprised that Baker hasn't rested any of them but I can understand why he wouldn't want to disrupt our groove. We're having a great season though and this was the fastest Reds team to win 70 games since The Big Red Machine in 1976.

Interesting with the Red Sox offloading a couple of mega contracts to the Dodgers. Makes the NL even harder now. I don't really follow the AL that much so not sure what it means for the Red Sox.

I'm informed that if we go 15-15 (.500) rest way (95-67):Cards must go 24-8 to tie. If Reds go 13-17 (.433) rest way (93-69): Cards must go 22-10 to tie. With a series down in Houston coming up this weekend I'm quietly confident that we can take our second division crown in three years or fifteen if you prefer lol.

www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball ... 57591386/1

www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball ... 57591386/1

A few unpromising stats about the Reds.

2010 Reds were 11 for 89 vs Phils in playoffs (.124 BA/.160 OBP).

Leadoff spot in order for Reds....BA: .206 (30th), MLB average .261, Seattle is 29th at .230

Reds leadoff spot....OBP: .248 (30th), MLB average .323, Seattle 29th at .281

And a nicer bit of history.

On this date 1975, the Reds, leading by 20.5 games, clinched the NL West with 8-4 win over Giants. The earliest clinching date in MLB history.

Ok, final day Can't wait for this weekend and the start. Relatively confident that we can give a better demonstration of ourselves this year than two years ago because we're not up against the vaunted Phillies like then. That said, the last two World Series winners are in the mix and both have talent to burn. I believe Zito (who is likely to start their series opener) is on an 11-game winning streak so that would be a concern. Our pitchers have to be a bit tired, seeing as they've pitched all but one game this year (that one being a Sunday afo double header) so it will be tough. I dont' think anybody fancies us because we have no star names in our rotation and only a couple in the lineup. If we don't win the pennant I'll be hoping the Nats do, seeing as neither of us has tasted success in decades.

On the AL front. Could be very interesting and I'll be cheering on the Orioles and A's, in that order. Be great to see the former do something as was mentioned earlier in the year and if they win the division tonight I'm pretty sure it'll be the first time that the Yankees will have surrendered a six game lead in their history. That's an amazing fact in itself. I understand the Yankees are going full out with a regular lineup to win tonight which could be very interesting if they do win as those potential division series match-ups in the AL are very tasty e.g. Yankees v Rangers or Tigers would be an epic first rounder.

Very exciting climax coming.

Well they couldn't quite manage it. They couldn't have won the division as the Yankees won but a win would have earned them a home wild card game against the Rangers. Intstead its a trip to Arlington to face (probably) Darvish, which will be tough. The O's haven't named a probable starter yet but as Tillman pitched last night and Hammel is still injured my guess would be Chen.

As dissapointing as a loss in the wild card game would be (especially given that we finished with a record 5 games better than the AL central winning Tigers) the O's have had an amazing season. Nobody (myself included) gave them a chance at the start of the season and midseason Bobby V called us lucky presumably to try and detract attention away from how hard his Sox were failing. Machado has been a fantastic call up at 3rd and all reports are that Dylan Bundy is an even hotter prospect as a pitcher so with just a couple of off season additions next year should be just as good if not better.

Been some good games so far. Glad to be at home for the next three, not least because it means I won't have to stay up beyond 6am to watch the games. We could clinch tonight but Homer Bailey, as good as he's starting to look, can be dodgy at home (I think there's about a two run differential between his home and road ERA). I'd be delighted to clinch to give Cueto some rest time, which reminds as to how good Saturday was for the Reds. Lost ace pitcher after eight pitches and then Latos puts his hand up to go in. Hero stuff. Sunday night was the biggest Reds postseason win ever I believe too.

Interesting Reds playoff stat. Seven of the last eight postseason series the Reds have been involved with have been sweeps, going back to 1976 when The Big Red Machine went undefeated through the playoffs (still the only playoff team not to drop a game since the division formats were introduced).

If we get through I definitely fancy our chances more against the Nationals than the Cardinals but part of me wants the latter because the atmosphere would be electric. It'd be like Saints-Wigan over seven games, except with American childish bitterness thrown in (we have healthy grown-up rivalries over here you see). The Cardinals though have that big game experience but I suppose, if you want to get that yourself then sometimes there's no better place to start.

We'll see anyway. If we close off the Giants then that's a move that's as big as beating the Cardinals and should send a warning that this isn't the naive Reds of two years ago.

I can sense a big finish in cincy. The Reds have come back from 6-0 down already this season against the Dbacks.

Not looking good at the moment. Anything can happen if we keep them to just three runs but I wouldn't put money on it.

Got to say the tension has been unbearable. As soon as the ball came off Posey's bat you just knew and I could feel a thousand hearts sink. Horrible it was. Not quite as bad as Kevin Iro scoring after two minutes in 1989 but comparable. Tuesday's game was epic. To have Grand Final tension stretched out for over an hour is exceptionally exciting.

Well it wasn't to be. I think that game 3 was the turning point. We were dominant but had a few bad breaks in that game and couldn't get going after that. I think the fact that we lost Cueto after eight pitches (when no pitcher had missed a start all year) and then being swept for the first time at home this season, is probably a bigger indicator of what happened. Unsure on what they should do about Baker. Me? I love the guy. I get his record in the playoffs and that he favours veterans over the youngsters but perhaps that will change next year. We're still a young team, choc full of talent with only a couple of positions that need strengthening next year i.e. rotation should be good for another year, Frazier to replace Rolen and another year older for the likes of Cozart, Bruce and Heisey. We still need another left-handed bat coming off the bench but we might stick with Paul. Centre field is a minor concern as Stubbs doesn't appear to be able to shake his trigger happy swing.

So it's back down to cheering for O's and Nationals now. New names on the trophy would be great. Anybody but Cardinals though.

Game 5. Lets do it.

Here's one for you. On this day in 1975, Red Sox pitcher Liant threw 163 pitches to level the World Series 2-2.

First time on this site in ages. Easy win in the end for the Giants. Pleased for them as they're okay and always good to see the lower wage bill win. Think something like seven out of the top eight payrolls are in the AL and yet we've snatched the past three.

Seeing the Giants win demonstrates just how fine a line there is to tread in baseball. There's a cracking read about that game three in Cincinnati and how the game turned on three pitches. rlReds vs Giants. Great analysis of how close the game can be. Definitely have a read if you love baseball because it's a great insight into the game.

www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-01-31 ... ames/full/

www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-01-31 ... ames/full/