Last Game
The Reds completed their sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers a couple days ago, thanks to some clutch hitting from Ryan Hanigan. It was a come-from-behind victory that gave Aroldis Chapman his first Major League win. And with the Cardinals losing earlier that same day, the win gave the Reds an 8-game lead.

Next Game
Looking to actually win a game for the first time in a week and to reduce that 8-game lead are the St. Louis Cardinals. The Reds travel to St. Louis to start the final meeting of the two teams of the season. Everybody remembers the comments, the brawl, and the Cardinals series sweep that happened the last time these teams met. The Reds have gone 14-4 since then, while the Cardinals have fallen apart and played horrible baseball, going 5-13. Obviously, they’ll be hoping the Reds can provide some life-support to the season. The Reds will be hoping to sweep to take the lead all the way up to 11, which is one more than 10.

Bronson Arroyo will take on Jaime Garcia. The fireworks begin at 8:15pm EDT.

Expanded Roster Call-ups
For the first time I can really remember, the Reds haven’t skimped on calling up players when the rosters expanded. That could be because this is the first time the team hasn’t sucked ass since I’ve been following them, but it could also be because Bobo the Owner isn’t nearly as tight-fisted as Carl Lindner was.

Yonder Alonso, Carlos Fisher, and Corky Miller joined the Reds for the first game of September. Both Fisher and Miller had been with the team previously this year. Fisher had done well and should give manager Dusty Baker a pretty stocked bullpen. Miller was the catcher when both Hanigan and Hernandez were down earlier in the year. He had been moved off the 40-man roster, though, and Russ Springer was placed on the 60-day disabled list to get him back on it. Prized young prospect–and likely trade-bait since he plays Joey Votto’s position–Alonso made his Major League debut with a pinch-hit appearance against the Brewers.

More call-ups are expected today. With the expanded rosters, it will make it easy to re-activate Orlando Cabrera from the disabled list without having to send anyone down. Not to mention that I expect Edinson Volquez will be back up once he’s finished working on his mechanics in AA.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
With the Atlanta Braves losing yesterday, the Reds now have the best record in the National League at 78-55. This would give them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.