Cincinnati Reds: Elimination of Mental Mistakes Key to NL Central Crown

After dropping three straight games, the Cincinnati Reds have reeled off two straight wins and now sit one game behind the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central.

However, even in victory the Reds are making the sorts of mental errors that could derail any chance they have of emerging victorious in their division this year, and over the upcoming All-Star break the message needs to be sent that those mistakes won't be tolerated.

Sure, you can point to rocky spots for the starting rotation or the Reds inability to get consistent production from the cleanup spot behind superstar first baseman Joey Votto as reasons why the Reds have scrambled to keep pace in the NL Central. Those assertions both have merit.

With that said, however, what has to be driving manager Dusty Baker absolutely bananas is watching his club repeatedly shoot itself in the foot, whether it's by running themselves out of innings or prolonging those of their opponents.

The Reds committed a pair of errors in their 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres, which was very uncharacteristic for a team that leads the National League with a .986 fielding percentage and has committed a NL-low 43 errors on the season.

Those errors, which were both of the headshaking variety, led to runs for the Padres. Were it not for the fact that Cincinnati was playing a San Diego team that was 18 games under .500 they easily could also have cost the Reds the contest and a game in the standings.

It's not just the defense that has had lapses on the Reds' marathon 11-game West Coast swing. In the two games preceding Saturday's victory the Reds had runners picked off first base. Those baserunning gaffes didn't cost Cincinnati in their 6-0 win Friday evening, but the same can't necessarily be said for Thursday's one-run defeat.

Simply put, nothing will dash a team's postseason aspirations quicker than repeatedly making boneheaded mistakes in the field or on the basepaths, costing themselves opportunities while affording extra ones to your opponents.

Is it the biggest problem facing the Cincinnati Reds right now? Probably not. However, it's the easiest one to fix, and Baker needs to do so by hammering home one word to his players over the break.

Fundamentals.

The Reds need to get back to them, because this sort of sloppiness isn't going to fly when Cincinnati begins the season's second half with a big three-game set against the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ballpark.

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