The Cincinnati Reds will wake up on Monday morning at 65-60 overall, 5 games over the .500 mark, and 1.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the National League playoff chase.
Next up for them? A three-team, two-city, nine-game road trip on the west coast, a trip that has (historically) sent many a Reds season southward in the standings. This time, though, they’ll be facing a Los Angeles Angels club that’s under .500 and an Arizona Diamondbacks club that sold hard at the trade deadline before finally returning to LA to take on a Dodgers club that dug itself out of its abyss to sweep the San Diego Padres this weekend.
It’ll be an effort, and nothing less, even if the Diamondbacks just lost three of four to the Colorado Rockies this weekend. Really, they did.
Brady Singer, Hunter Greene, and Nick Martinez are lined up to face off against Mike Trout and the Angels beginning on Monday, with each of their games slated for a late-night 9:48 PM ET start time. That pushes Zack Littell and Andrew Abbott to starts in the series against the Diamondbacks, though Nick Lodolo – who pitched on August 4th before hitting the IL with a blister issue – could potentially return at some point in this stint and mix things up (though I’d wager he’ll be back at the end of this particular road trip.)
It’s yet another chance for Terry Francona and his young club to take advantage of a couple clubs who simply aren’t in it this year, something they’ve often struggled to pull off in their competitive schedule. And for you, loyal followers of the Reds, you’ll get the chance to stay up way past your bedtime to watch it all unfold.
Monday’s game will be carried by FS1 should you not be able to watch it on FanDuel Sports Network, while Wednesday’s series finale in Anaheim will be carried on MLB Network, too.