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| Sums up the 2nd half of the Indians season, lost. |
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| Mat Latos, guided the Reds to their 80th win on Wednesday. |
Cincinnati Reds 80-52 (1st place in the NL Central by 8 games; best record in the MLB)
42-24 Home 38-28 Away RS: 577 RA: 498 DIFF: +79
This edition of the Cincinnati Reds are starting to get compared to some of the greatest (if not the greatest) Reds teams in the franchises history. With the 6-2 win and sweep over the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday, the 2012 Reds became the 1st MLB team to reach the 80 win mark, in just their 132nd game. This mark is only 2nd behind the 1976 team in the club history, when the "Big Red Machine" only needed 125 games to reach the 80 win mark. The second half of the season has been pretty special for the Reds, especially if you think about it, they have been playing without Joey Votto since mid-July. After the All-Star Break, the Reds have been the best team in baseball with a record of 33-14, and have received outstanding pitching from their starters and contributions at the plate from outfielders Ryan Ludwick and Jay Bruce, along with Votto's replacement Todd Frazier. Speaking of Votto, he finally started his rehab this week and should be back with the Reds over the weekend down in Houston. It's going to be up to Reds manager Dusty Baker, to make it all work as Votto rejoins the line-up on how he will deal with playing time for players like Ryan Ludwick, Todd Frazier, and soon to be called up (fingers crossed) Billy "I like to steal....bases" Hamilton. With 30 remaining games, 15 at home; 15 on the road, the Reds opponents have an avg. win % of .455, making it the 2nd easiest schedule left of the contending playoff teams. Projected to win 97 games, the Reds are primed to make some noise come October.
Cleveland Indians 55-75 (4th place in the AL Central 17.5 GB; 5th worst record in the MLB)
31-34 Home 24-41 Away RS: 525 RA: 672 DIFF: -147
With 32 games left (including todays game vs. the A's, which they are leading 1-0 1st inning), whats the number of games the Indians will win in the final month. 12....10....8....6....haha, gosh at this point winning a series looks impossible. With just 5 wins so far in the month of August, its been one long summer "dog days" for the Tribe up in Cleveland. This teams run differential (-147) is the 2nd worst in all of baseball just in front of the Houston Astros (-190), who have the worst record in the MLB. If its not the bats scoring runs, its been the pitching staff not being able to shut down the opposites lineup. This has definitely been a disappointing 2nd half of the season, for the Indians and you start to wonder what the off-season will bring for this franchise, as they have fluttered the past two summers in the 2nd half of the season. Grady Sizemore never saw the field after signing a one-year deal (stolen money) and as a Indians fan you held your breath whenever Travis Harfer stepped out of the dugout, in fear he might get hurt walking towards home plate. Changes are a most for a franchise that still seems to be in a fog ever since their collapse in the 2007 ALCS.
Browns Note:
The Orange and Brown finish their preseason schedule with their 4th preseason game tonight at Cleveland Brown Stadium vs. the Chicago Bears. Starting QB Brandon Weeden will sit out tonight's game, as backup QB Colt McCoy gets the start. The final preseason game is a waste (ex. last nights Pats/Giants game), as dudes continue to fight for the 52nd 53rd roster spots. Mix feelings surround the Browns, as they continue to wait on the return of rookie RB Trent Richardson, still in hopes of him making his season debut during the teams season opener vs. the Philadelphia Eagles (Sept. 9th).
Look forward to a new piece for the blog tomorrow sometime, called "Urban Renewal" as I discuss the start of CFB, Urban Meyer, and my weekend predictions and picks for the opening weekend of college football.
