From Lance McAlister’s blog:
From listener Justin:
“Now that the Reds have the target on their backs in the NL Central, this 14 game stretch coming up will have a huge impact on their playoff chances this season.
Unless the Braves can win 2 against the Mets in their Mon/Tues series, the Reds will play 14 straight games against .500 or worse opponents. his is the type of stretch where you HAVE to come out of it winning 8-10 of the 14. The Reds need to really separate while playing against the inferior opponents so that it doesn’t sting as bad if you lose a close series to a playoff contender.
17/18 vs Milwaukee 15-21…have lost 6 straight
19/20 @ Atlanta 18-19….6-4 over last 10
21-23 @ Cleveland 15-20….5-5 over last 10
24-26 vs Pitt 16-21….4-6 over last 10 (3 losses against Reds)
27-29 vs Hou 13-23….5-5 over last 10 (just dropped 3 straight vs. SF after sweeping Cardinals)
As it sits today, that’s 14 straight games, and 8 at home, vs teams that are currently holding a combined .425 record (77 W’s – 104 L’s)
What do you think..how important are the next 2 weeks?