Will the Reds roll over for the Brewers?

[endaround]

The Reds have now wrapped up the central. So are they going to play hard against the Brewers?

 

1)Giving their guys a rest now a week before the playoffs is the perfect time to do so.

 

2) It behooves them to have the Wild Card go to the very end.

 

3)While Milwaukee might have issues with the Cardinals, the Reds hate them with a fiery burning passion.

[ninja33]

makes some sense in theory, but

 

a) I think professional athletes are too competitive to essentially roll over and not really play.

b) It behooves them to have the wild card go to the very end, especially if they have the #1 seed/homefield. They have something to play for.

[HiAndTight]

I don't think there is a whole lot of love lost between the Brewers and Reds as it stands, and I don't think this is the perfect time to rest their players.

 

It'd be more likely they'd do that vs the Cardinals the way the schedule works out.

 

I think just like with the Nationals, we're going to have to go out and earn each win without any help from Cincy, and then hope that Washington and Cincy are battling for Home Field like the Brewers and D-Backs where closing out last season.

 

Right now the two are in a dead heat, and luckily, the Cards will have to face Gio/Wang/Zimmerman in their three game series, and it looks now like Cueto, Arroyo and Latos in the final series.

 

That's enough that if we can come out of the Reds series 2 games back....we're going to at least have a CHANCE in that final homestand.

 

I'm a little worried about San Diego though. They've been playing well.

 

 

I just hope that extra innings loss to the Cards doesn't end up being the difference. A sweep of the Cards and we're obviously looking a whole heckuva lot better at just .5 games back. It'd be poetic though to knock the Cards out...even if we don't really have a team that can contend in a 7 game series, just to send them home would be worth it at this point.

[KCBrewerfan34]

Aren't the Reds still playing for home field in the playoffs?

[moofnelson]

It'd be poetic though to knock the Cards out...even if we don't really have a team that can contend in a 7 game series, just to send them home would be worth it at this point.

 

Well, considering the Cardinals have ended 2 of the 3 Brewers playoff appearances, I think we owe them one this year.

[GoudaBrew]

Excuse the football analogy, but this is kind of like 2010 when the Bears had the division wrapped up and faced the Packers in week 17. They could have rested their starters or they could have played to win and kept a red-hot Packers team out of the playoffs. They opted to go for the win, lost anyway, and the rest is history. If I'm the Reds, I'd much rather face the Cardinals right now than the red-hot Brewers.

[pebadger]

The Reds will try to win every game. If anything, the Cards might catch a break depending on whether the Reds do anything funky with their starting pitching in order to get things lined up for the NLDS, but otherwise there is too much out of their control to try to engineer anything in terms of matchups.

[jerichoholicninja]

Roll over? No. But look at the lineup they put out tonight. Certainly not their best effort.

[endaround]

I think they'll take their ABs seriously. I just expect their pitchers not to work deep, to see how deep their bench is and for Brandon Phillips to avoid diving for any balls .

[markedman5]

No but it looks like the Nats will lay down for the Cards

 

DKnobler ‏@DKnobler

Bad news for Brewers: Davey Johnson says he'll rest regulars once Nationals clinch. Nats play Cardinals next weekend.

[fondybrewfan]

I imagine he would still use the pitchers though to keep them regular. Even if WAS does resta guy or two each game they are still more than capable of beating STL a couple times.

 

Also by clinch is he refering to the NL East or Home Field Advantage. Home Field Advantage might come down to the last game.

[markedman5]

He meant clinch the division...said he doesn't care about home field.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/danny-knobler/20351159/davey-johnson:-'i-don't-care'-about-the-best-record-in-the-league

[torts]

Reds rotation for series against MKE

 

CUETO

ARROYO

LATOS

[TURBO]

ugh, well, it was still fun to be able to believe again, even if only for a little while...

[AZBrewCrew]

Reds rotation for series against MKE

 

CUETO

ARROYO

LATOS

 

Ouch

[rluzinski]

I think they'll take their ABs seriously. I just expect their pitchers not to work deep, to see how deep their bench is and for Brandon Phillips to avoid diving for any balls .

 

Agreed. I could also see the starting position players get a couple extra days off.

 

And teams are hot till their not. The Brewers have the much worse run differential and already traded their ace away. There is no way the Reds would prefer to face the Cardinals.