A Red Showdown In Cincinnati

Don't look now but the 2010 playoffs are starting tonight for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Redbirds are in Cincinnati to start a three game series with the Reds. If Cincinnati sweeps the series, the Cardinals may not be able to repeat as Central Division Champions.

The Cardinals head to the Queen City as the underdogs. There play has been up and down over the last week. After sweeping the Pirates, who they should have swept, the Redbirds looked really shakey against a very weak Houston Astros team.

Granted, Houston was in the middle of a winning streak. But over the course of the series, won by the Astros, Cardinal pitching surrendered 31 runs. This after the St. Louis hurlers only gave up two runs to Pittsburgh.

The Florida series started on a great note with a Cy Young type performance from the ace of the staff, even though he is not called that, Adam Wainwright. Wainwright shut down the Marlins, giving up only two hits in picking up the complete game and his 16th win of the year.

The next game against the Marlins, which was the second start for Jake Westbrook wearing the birds on the bat, really was not his fault. This time the bullpen coughed it up letting Florida off the hook.

Notice a trend here? Probably something that Cardinal fans do not want to think about, but the series with the Reds, is probably not going to be won at the plate. It is going to be won 60 feet and six inches away from the plate.

Starting tonight, the Redbirds will send Chris Carpenter to the mound. He has owned the Reds winning eight straight starts. This season, he has already defeated them three times. Over his 21 innings against the Reds, he has given up just three runs.

The Reds will send their rookie sensation Mike Leake to the mound. Leake, who went right from college to the big leagues, did not lose this season until his 13th start. Although, this could be a good time for the Cards to see him as he has lost back to back starts.

So the advantage in the first game has to go to St. Louis, and for that matter, so do games two and three.

Game two will have Redbird rookie and nine-game winner Jamie Garcia taking the ball. Garcia has been an unexpected surprise for St. Louis with one of the best ERA's in all of baseball, which is right now at 2.53.

The Reds will counter with their 11 game winner Johnny Cueto. If Garcia pitches the way he has for most of the season, this game could a 1-0 or 2-0 affair and a win for St. Louis.

The final game of the series will see 16-game winner Wainwright on the bump. He will go against Bronson Arroyo. So far this season, Arroyo has 12 wins and an ERA close to four.

While it really looks like the Cardinals have the advantage on the mound, the Reds have the advantage at the plate.

Cincinnati leads the National League in runs. St. Louis is in seventh. The injury bug has been with the Reds of late, but they still have several formidable bats including Joey Votto, who hit his 28th home run of the season yesterday.

Other intangibles that come to the table. Cincinnati has not been swept at home since last season. That would be the only way the Cardinals could leave Ohio with the division lead.

The other is consistency, something that St. Louis really has not been all season. The Reds come back home as one of only three teams with a winning record both on the road and at the Great American ballpark.

The Cardinals, while good at Busch, not so much on the road. While they are 23-21, St. Louis has won only two of their past nine series on the road.

In the grand scheme of things, will this series end the season for the Cardinals if they are swept? Probably not. These two teams will play one more head to head series. That will happen over the Labor Day weekend in St. Louis.

But, being just a game or two out as opposed to five come Wednesday afternoon, makes the road to the end of season look more like a mole hill, then a mountain for the Cardinals.

Stay tuned.