be OK with in terms of the split?

What would you be..

--HAPPY WITH
--OK WITH
--absolute worst acceptable
--would be a disaster.

--Happy with 6-5 (or better of course).
--OK with 5-6
--worst acceptable 4-7
--disaster 3 wins or less.


West coach can be a bitch. I think if I were the reds I woulda sent Cueto out a day or so early to get the jet lag taken care of.
Think the Giants have a string of great pitching performances so I think for JC to win he needs to give up 2 runs or less.

This first series could make or break the trip. 4 games in San Fran is tough, and they're rolling right now. I could see us getting swept easily.
.500 on a west coast trip is great anytime. Since its 11 games 6-5 or 5-6 will be ok.

5-6 at the worst.

I'd be happy if, regardless of their record after the 11 games, the Reds were a solid second place in the Central behind the Pirates.

And as a bonus, I'm saying that by "solid second", you'd even be doing good enough to be right there in one of the Wild Card slots. I am the spirit of generosity!

7 or more wins -- HAPPY WITH
5 or 6 wins -- OK WITH
3 or 4 wins -- absolute worst acceptable
2 or less wins -- would be a disaster

2 game lead going out, needs to be no worse than 2 games behind and all-star break

The Dodgers are awful right now without Kemp and Ethier....

mhs95_06;1213986 wrote:7 or more wins -- HAPPY WITH
5 or 6 wins -- OK WITH
3 or 4 wins -- absolute worst acceptable
2 or less wins -- would be a disaster

2 game lead going out, needs to be no worse than 2 games behind at all-star break

No matter what happens today, looks like the Reds are right in my OK WITH range! And sure enough Pittsburgh did well, but the Reds won't be more than 2 games out.

My biggest disappointment is missing watching so much of the road trip. Power was out for 3 of last weekends games, then after that missed a lot falling into snoozing in front of the TV and computer. 2 games, Monday and last night, I tried to take a pre-emptive nap ahead of and Monday I woke up for the last inning, and I just now woke up and missed all of the 6-5 game. Hopefully today I'll be able to take in the finale!

To me, the most regretful moment of the trip, and kept the Reds from being in my HAPPY WITH category occurred in the 9th inning last Sunday. The Reds were down a run going to the 9th and had 3 straight singles to load the bases with none out. Cairo then gets the 4th single in a row to LF scoring the tying run, and it seemed like the go-ahead run was conceded by not even throwing home, and that Ludwick would have had a 99% chance to score if he was sent. But he was not sent, which set up the Reds worst issue which is getting runs in from 3rd with less than two out. And they had two shots at it and failed, left the game tied and lost in the bottom of the 9th. Now if the 3B coach is on the ball he knows the situational hitting weakness and wants to try to avoid it, and takes the slight risk of sending Ludwick to take the lead. They get the lead and the situational hitting pressure goes way down and with runners still on 1st and 2nd and no out, the chances are good for getting even more runs, especially with the Giants closer now having lost his edge giving up the lead, making the Bruce misplay in right that eventually lost the game a moot point.

That would have given the Reds a 3-1 series win against the toughest of the three teams to start the road trip and they would have been "hot" going into hamstrung LA.

Turns out the series with the LA was the only one they lost, which it makes it in the end something I'm OK WITH in spite of the Pirates being in 1st place. Just a shame the Reds couldn't have done better getting so much good starting pitching. Quality starts in the 3 left coast NL parks just aren't as valuable as getting them other places! The suspect bull-pen and poor situational hitting took this road trip from possibly great, to just okay.

6-5 it is. Good thing it wasn't any worse with the Pirates going 9-2 to cut 3 games off the Reds 2 game lead going into the trip.

They were on the verge of having another west coast disaster. They were 3-5, roady weary, eyeing a 4 day break and coming off losing 2 in a row against a Dodger team who just wasnt scoring any runs.
But they sucked it up and won 3 straight. Anyone want to give Baker any of the credit of keeping them on task the last three days?

Nope. I doubt it was dusty that kept them on track.

They turned the trip from complete crap into not bad. I can live with being just 1 game out of first at the break. Last season we were 4 games out, 4th place, 2 games under .500. Now we're 1 game out, 2nd place, 9 games over .500.

thavoice;1221466 wrote:They were on the verge of having another west coast disaster. They were 3-5, roady weary, eyeing a 4 day break and coming off losing 2 in a row against a Dodger team who just wasnt scoring any runs.
But they sucked it up and won 3 straight. Anyone want to give Baker any of the credit of keeping them on task the last three days?

I give the team credit for winning in spite of Dusty. Frazier should be the everyday 3B, there is no argument Dusty can make for playing Rolen more than once every 7 or 8 games. Heisey needs to be in center everyday, and Ludwick in left.

I don't like Tony LaRussa the person, but loved his managing style. He didn't play someone based on the name on their jersey, he played the guys that would get it done, and I wish Dusty was that way.

se-alum;1221487 wrote:I don't like Tony LaRussa the person, but loved his managing style. He didn't play someone based on the name on their jersey, he played the guys that would get it done, and I wish Dusty was that way.

Well, he's certainly not following that style for the All-Star game.

For what it is worth, not a bad trip. Still in contention, and the Pirates have a history of fading post all star break. The biggest concern, in my opinion, is leaving runners stranded in scoring position.

Reds are still relying on the HR. After a slow start this year I think they are at about where I thought they would be record-wise.

Think the telecast the other day, or on radio, said that this is the first time since maybe 1900 or before the reds have used their opening day rotation for this long.
Each of them have shown alot of promise, and if a couple can be a little more consistant then this team is something to be reckoned with.
I am hoping that over the break that Dusty sees the light with Frazier at 3rd. Tracey Jones on WLW says that DB hates Frazier, but he says alot of things tongue-in-cheek.
The reds need to see what heisey can do. He doesnt get enough regular PT.

Stubbs........so frustrating.

Thuuz, a mobile app for sports fans, uses detailed algorithms to rate the excitement of live sporting events on a 0-100 scale. It also rates players.Here’s Thuuz top 10 most exciting players from the first half.
1) Joey Votto
2) Josh Willingham
3) Carlos Beltran
4) Andrew McCutchen
5) Austin Jackson
6) Josh Hamilton
7) Carlos Gonzalez
8) Mike Trout
9) Jose Bautista
10) David Wright
Individual excitement reflects a combination of statistical production and impact on game outcomes.
Also of note regarding Votto, his homerun off the Nationals’ Henry Rodriguez was the clutchest at-bat of the season so far, according to Thuuz metrics.

..

GOAT

justincredible;1221484 wrote:They turned the trip from complete crap into not bad. I can live with being just 1 game out of first at the break. Last season we were 4 games out, 4th place, 2 games under .500. Now we're 1 game out, 2nd place, 9 games over .500.

And in 2010 we were 8 games over .500

I'd say we're just fine. Pirates won't keep up the pace.

I really think by the end of July the pirates need to be 7 games up to win the division.
Also the trade deadline could completely change things. As the pirates are apparently in on upton and Quentin.