As the month of August winds down, the Reds hope to trend upwards, even though playoff odds are merely at 0.00 with a bad start to the 2nd half of the season. The Reds faced division foes in Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates this week and broke-even at 3-3. The Reds last 19 games are against division opponents and winning is now important with these division games against the Top 3 division leaders in Milwaukee, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. To actually come back against those Top 3 require a win out at best, but 14-5 at the least. It’s important to contend and must keep pushing to the end, who knows what happens in September. (See September 2011).

STARTING PITCHING

43RD SERIES

18.1 IP/16 H/7 R/6 BB/26 SO/4 HR

BAA .225/ERA 3.44/WHIP 1.20

GRADE: 82.83% (B)

RATES: 21.05% H/9.21% R/7.89% BB/34.21% SO/5.26% HR

PER 9: 7.85 H/3.44 R/2.95 BB/12.76 SO/1.96 HR

44RD SERIES

22.0 IP/19 H/5 R/3 BB/14 SO/3 HR

BAA .224/ERA 2.05/WHIP 1.00

GRADE: 88.72% (B)

RATES: 22.89% H/6.02% R/3.61% BB/16.87%/3.61% HR

PER 9: 7.77 H/2.05 R/1.23 BB/5.73 SO/1.23 HR

BULLPEN

43RD SERIES

8.2 IP/8 H/3 R/BB/11 SO

BAA .235/ERA 3.12/WHIP 1.04

GRADE: 84.62% (B)

RATES: 24.24% H/9.09% R/3.03% BB/33.33% SO

PER 9: 8.31 H/3.12 R/1.04 BB/11.42 SO

44RD SERIES

3 IP/3 H/2 R/BB/2 SO

BAA .250/ERA 6.00/WHIP 1.33

GRADE: 72.84% (C)

RATES: 25.00% H/16.67% R/8.33% BB/16.67% SO

PER 9: 9.00 H/6.00 R/3.00 BB/6.00 SO

AUGUST 27TH-CHICAGO CUBS

7 IP/7 H/4 R/BB/10 SO/2 HR

BAA .250/ERA 5.14/WHIP 1.14

GRADE: 76.72% (C)

RATES: 25.00% H/14.29% R/3.57% BB/35.71% SO/7.14% HR

PER 9: 9.00 H/5.14 R/1.29 BB/12.86 SO/2.57 HR

AUGUST 28TH-CHICAGO CUBS

5 IP/2 H/3 BB/8 SO

BAA .118/WHIP 1.00

GRADE: 96.30% (A)

RATES: 10.00% H/15.00% BB/40.00% SO

PER 9: 3.60 H/5.40 BB/14.40 SO

AUGUST 29TH-PITTSBURGH PIRATES

7 IP/6 H/SO

BAA .222/WHIP 0.86

GRADE: 96.83% (A)

RATES: 24.00% H/4.00% SO

PER 9: 7.71 H/1.29 SO

AUGUST 30TH-PITTSBURGH PIRATES

7 IP/4 H/3 R/2 BB/7 SO/HR

BAA .160/ERA 3.86/WHIP 0.86

GRADE: 82.54% (B)

RATES: 15.38% H/11.54% R/7.69% BB/26.92% SO/3.85% HR

PER 9: 5.14 H/3.86 R/2.57 BB/9.00 SO/1.29 HR

AUGUST 26TH-CHICAGO CUBS

6.1 IP/7 H/3 R/2 BB/8 SO/2 HR

BAA .269/ERA 4.26/WHIP 1.42

GRADE: 78.95% (C)

RATES: 25.00% H/10.71% R/7.14% BB/28.57% SO/7.14% HR

PER 9: 9.95 H/4.26 R/2.84 BB/11.37 SO/2.84 HR

AUGUST 31ST-PITTSBURGH PIRATES

8 IP/9 H/2 R/BB/6 SO/2 HR

BAA .273/ERA 2.25/WHIP 1.25

GRADE: 87.04% (B)

RATES: 28.13% H/6.25% R/3.13% BB/18.75% SO/6.25% HR

PER 9: 7.88 H/2.25 R/1.13 BB/6.75 SO/2.25 HR

STARTERS

40.1 IP/35 H/12 R/9 BB/40 SO/7 HR

BAA .224/ERA 2.68/WHIP 1.09

GRADE: 86.04% (B)

RATES: 22.01% H/7.55% R/5.66% BB/25.16% SO/4.40% HR

PER 9: 7.81 H/2.68 R/2.01 BB/8.93 SO/1.56 HR

BULLPEN

11.2 IP/11 H/5 R/2 BB/13 SO

BAA .239/ERA 3.86/WHIP 1.11

GRADE: 81.59% (B)

RATES: 24.44% H/11.11% R/4.44% BB/28.89% SO

PER 9: 8.49 H/3.86 R/1.54 BB/10.03 SO

PROBABLES FOR WEEK 23

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

9/2 MAT LATOS VS BUD NORRIS 7:05

9/3 DYLAN AXELROD VS MIGUEL GONZALEZ 7:05

9/4 MIKE LEAKE VS CHRIS TILLMAN 7:05

NEW YORK METS

9/5 BARTOLO COLON VS ALFREDO SIMON 7:10

9/6 DILLON GEE VS JOHNNY CUETO 4:10

9/7 ZACK WHEELER VS MAT LATOS 1:10