| 11 August 2010
The series with St. Louis went even worse than any Reds fan could have imagined. It might feel like the season is over now and the Reds are 6-7 games back of the Cardinals.
However, the fact is they are just one game back and there is plenty of baseball left to be played, including a three-game series in St. Louis in early September.
The Reds aren't going anywhere and despite their 5-10 head-to-head record against the Cards this year, I still think Cincinnati has the better overall ballclub. (Insert homer joke here.)
As for the "brawl" on Tuesday night, I'm sure I would be calling Brandon Phillips a complete punk if I was a Cardinals fan. I actually liked what he had to say to Hal McCoy about hating the Cardinals because they are a team that bitches and moans about everything. Everyone that follows Major League Baseball would agree with that.
However, if you are going to make those comments, don't go up to Yadier Molina and play pat-a-cake with your bat to his shinguard. Especially not twice. Molina definitely instigated things, but Phillips should have went up to the plate and not said anything to the Cardinals' catcher. I know it's his usual routine, but after calling their team a "bunch of little bitches" don't try and act all buddy-buddy with one of their players the very next day. I personally think Molina is a punk as well - and you could tell he wanted nothing to do with Phillips when it looked like it was about to go down (after Phillips flipped his batting helmet off and got in Molina's face) - but I actually don't fault him for this one. And if Phillips is going to talk mess, going 2-for-14 in the series makes him look like all talk and no walk. I hate to say it, but it's true.
However, speaking of bitches, is there a bigger one than Chris Carpenter in the entire league? This prick can't get along with his own teammates let alone anyone else. What a good pitcher, but a pathetic excuse for a man. The only good thing that came out of Tuesday was seeing his bitch-ass get thrown into the netting behind home plate.
But now it's time for the Reds to turn the page and focus on the rest of the season if they don't want to let what has been a great season up to this point get away. The bad news is that the schedule is brutal the next couple weeks, starting with a home series with the Marlins on Friday. (And yes, Thursday's off day came just at the right time. This team needs to regroup after getting embarrassed by the Cardinals.) Their ace Josh Johnson will be on the mound to face Edinson Volquez in the series opener.
Then - brace yourself here - the Reds will embark on a nine-game West Coast road trip beginning on Tuesday. It includes three games in Arizona, three in LA and three in San Francisco. As every Reds fan knows, West Coast trips have been the bane of the Reds' existence at times, especially late in the season when they are in the playoff race. (Such as the last time they were in the race this late in a season, 2006.)
So, these next 2-3 weeks will tell us if the Reds are going to stay in the race, or whether the sweep at the hands of the Cardinals truly was the turning point of the season. I tend to think it will be the former. The Reds are a good team and they will not go away quietly, despite the Bad News Bears act they displayed over the last three games. The pitching is good and that will allow Cincinnati to stay in the hunt and keep the pressure on the Cardinals.
And by the way, what the hell are they waiting for in terms of calling up Aroldis Chapman. He should have been up a week ago. Hopefully they make that move soon because a lefty throwing 103 out of the pen is an exciting proposition. And his numbers at Louisville lately have been extraordinary. Get Chapman in Cincinnati ASAP!
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