"Johnny Cueto Will Out Pitch Barry Zito"

The Reds start an 11-day, 10 game homestand starting with the San Francisco Giants. Monday starts the first game of four between the ball clubs. The Reds ended last night on high note winning the series against the Washington Nationals after their 19^th come from behind victory and 11^th in their final at bats.

The Cincinnati Reds (33-24) and the St. Louis Cardinals (33-24) are tied for the Central Division lead. The Reds have regrouped after a small rut the past week. The Reds finished their road trip going 3-3 and now return home where they are 19-11 on the season.

Johnny Cueto takes the mound for Cincinnati Monday night. Cueto has had his ups and downs this season. He got rocked in his last outing giving up 8 runs in 5 innings against St. Louis. He got lazy on the mound and went with the motions of the game. When he gets hit, he tends to try and speed up the game and it throws everything off balance. Tonight will be a different story and he will be back in his May form. Dusty Baker and Bryan Price talked with him at the end of April about slowing down the game and relaxing. The results were great with him going 4-0 in 5 starts with 1.59 era. I can only assume Baker and Price have already had a word with Cueto, so a little kick in the butt should do the trick.

The Reds have hit lefties fairly well on the season. Johnny Gomes is the biggest threat hitting .346(18/52) with 3 home runs and driving in 14 runs. Orlando Cabrera, Brandon Phillips, and Drew Stubbs have been good against lefties as well. Cabrera is hitting .386(22/57) with an on base percentage of .453. Since Cabrera is now the everyday lead off hitter, Cabrera should get on base a few times against Zito. Phillips is hitting .305(18/59) while scoring 10 runs and driving in 5 runs. Phillips is 4 for 10 against Zito in his career. Stubbs had struggled in April and picked it up in May. He stayed consistent against lefties though. Stubbs is hitting .279(17/61) while scoring 11 runs and driving in 8 runs. As far as home runs are concerned, 4 of 6 have come against lefties. A fun fact about Johnny Cueto, is he is 3 for 4 against lefties. My prediction is he gets a base hit tonight against Zito.

Jay Bruce has struggled against hitting .234 with 19 strike outs in 64 at bats. In the past 7 days, Bruce is hitting .217(5/23) with one run batted in. Tonight would be a good night for Bruce to sit and to give Heisey a start. Ironically Heisey has struggled against lefties going 1/16(.063), but he has been used inconsistently. His last at bat was a pinch hit against Houston on May 29^th and his last start was against Pittsburgh on May 25^th. My bold prediction is Heisey contributes offensively today with Gomes leading the way. You never know with Dusty though.

Predictions: Reds win 5-3. Cueto goes 6+ innings allowing 2 runs. Gomes drives in 3 runs. Heisey has 2 hits. Johnny Cueto gets a base hit off Zito.

Johnny Cueto (5-1 4.09) vs. Barry Zito (6-2 2.78)
Cincinnati Reds ML (-128)

All statistics were supplied from www.cincinnati.reds.mlb.com
and www.sports.yahoo.com

"Undefeated Streak On The Line"

The Cincinnati Reds will play in Washington against the Nationals for the second game of the series Saturday. The Reds are looking to bounce back after a bad 4-2 loss on Friday. Drew Stubbs and Jonny Gomes had a costly error that allowed 2 unearned runs that finished of the Reds late in the game. 

The Cincinnati Reds (31-24) trail the St. Louis Cardinals (32-23) by 1 game for the Central Division lead. The Reds have hit a rut in their season. They have lost 4 of their last 5 games with losses to Houston, St. Louis, and Washington. Tonight they are looking to avoid a 3 game losing streak. They have had one 3 game losing streak back in mid April where they dropped 5 games in a row. Mike Leake will try to stop the bleeding tonight.

Mike Leake is on the mound tonight for the Cincinnati Reds. This will be Leake's 11^th start of his young career. Leake was sharper in May than in April. In April, Leake went 2-0 in four starts with a 3.25 era. In May, Leake went 2-0 in five starts with a 1.88 era. Leake has been consistent all season long with 9 out of 10 quality outings. The Reds have lost the past three games despite Leake going 19.1 innings allowing 2 earned runs. The offense has cooled off in his past starts. In the last two starts, the Reds have been shut out for 13.1 innings Leake had pitched. Tonight the Reds need to score for Leake and let him take care of business.

The Cincinnati Reds have been hitting, but have stranded base runners the last few games. The Reds had 12 hits last night, but stranded 11 base runners. They hit into two double plays earlier in the game. They just didn't deliver last night. Tonight will be a different story though. In the past 7 days, Phillips(.462), Hernandez(.400), Votto(.385), Stubbs(.375), and Rolen(.364) are hitting well. With 5 starts swinging hot bats, the Reds are going to put up a few runs early and especially if Atilano walks some base runners. None of the Reds have faced Atilano before, so there is no previous history to factor in.

Luis Atilano is just like Mike Leake pitching in his first season in the major leagues. The two combined are entering tonight with 18 major league starts. Atilano has not been as consistent though. He went 3-1 in May with 6 starts, but had a 5.63 era. The record is what truly counts, but this indicates the Nationals were scoring runs for his starts. He is not a strike out pitcher and walks a runner every two innings. If he puts runners on base tonight, the Reds will score. The Reds are not going to strand 11 base runners two nights in a row.

My prediction will be the Reds win tonight 6-3. That would go over ½ run with some books or be a push at other books. Leake will go 7 innings tonight allowing 2 runs with Brandon Phillips and Drew Stubbs leading the scoring tonight.

Mike Leake (4-0 3.00) vs. Luis Atilano (5-1 4.70)
Cincinnati Reds ML (-134)
Cincinnati Reds -1.5 (+120)

All statistics were supplied from www.cincinnati.reds.mlb.com

"Rookie versus Ace"

The Cincinnati Reds will play in St. Louis against the Cardinals for the third game of the series Wednesday. The Reds are looking to win the series after their come from behind victory. Last night marked the 18^th come from behind victory when the Reds won 9-8.

The Cincinnati Reds (31-22) lead the St. Louis Cardinals (30-23) by 1 game for the Central Division lead. The Reds avoided dropping three straight with their win last night and took over first place. Tonight the Reds are looking to extend their lead to two games or leave St. Louis tied for first place.

Sam LeCure will make his second start of his young career. On May 28^th, LeCure beat the Houston Astros pitching a decent ball game. He went 6 innings, allowed 2 runs, and had 4 walks with 5 strikeouts. It was a great outing for your back end rotation spot, but it was the Houston Astros. They have been statistically the worst hitting team in the National League. The Cardinals are a completely different team. LeCure will need to pitch much sharper and throw more strikes tonight. If LeCure could duplicate his Houston outing, then the Reds would be in great shape and won't have to burn through the bullpen. 

The Reds received much needed bullpen help last night when they optioned Carlos Fisher to Triple A and put Mike Lincoln on the DL. They brought up fresh arms, Logan Ondrusek and Enerio Del Rosario. Last night Del Rosario won his first major league game after relieving Johnny Cueto. Cueto was hammered last night allowing 8 runs in 5 innings. Del Rosario allowed the 2 inherited runners, but had some bad luck with Rolen missing a play that was not charged an error. The bullpen went 4 shut out innings last night allowing 5 hits and 3 walks. That is not flawless, but it was a great job considering how the bullpen had been lately. Rhodes looked healthy and Masset threw the ball well. The bullpen should be ready tonight with Thursday being an off day. The fresh arms should take some pressure off Rhodes and Masset. 

Joey Votto finally returned to the lineup after missing six games. He was a huge boost with his bat going 4/5 with a solo home run and scoring 3 runs. Scott Rolen had a huge night with his third multi-homerun game with 4 runs batted in. As long as the Reds bats stay hot they can beat anyone including Carpenter. Last night Votto and Rolen were huge, but everyone contributed at some point in the game with the Reds having 14 hits and scoring 9 runs. Rolen and Gomes have been rbi machines in the past 7 days with 17 runs batted in between them. They are 19/45(.422) combined. Phillips and Stubbs have scored 14 runs and are hitting 20/54(.370). The one downside tonight will be Ramon Hernandez will probably be out of the lineup tonight. With Ryan Hanigan on the DL, Hernandez needs to stay fresh, so by sitting tonight he will have two days off. Corky Miller should get the nod tonight which could also boost LeCure. Corky caught most of LeCure's games in the minors this season, so he knows what he can do.

The bottom line is the Reds are worth a shot as dogs here tonight. Carpenter is the ace of the Cardinals staff, but he is beatable. The Reds lead the National League in several offense categories such as runs scored, batting average, and home runs. The over is worth a look here as well. It is only 8 runs. A small parlay would be worth a shot with a .5 unit to win over 2.3 units. The Reds get it done tonight. My prediction tonight is 5-4 Reds win.

Sam LeCure (1-0 3.00) vs. Chris Carpenter (6-1 2.93)
Cincinnati Reds ML (+200)

All statistics were supplied from www.cincinnati.reds.mlb.com
and www.espn.com

"Johnny Cueto Stops the Bleeding Tonight"

The Cincinnati Reds will play in St. Louis against the Cardinals for the second game of the series Tuesday. The Reds are looking to rebound after a poor effort Monday where they lost 12-4. Bronson Arroyo put the Reds down in a hole early and the bullpen finished off any hopes of coming back late.

The Cincinnati Reds (30-22) are tied with the St. Louis Cardinals (30-22) for the Central Division lead. Losing Sunday to Houston took away momentum for the Reds going into this St. Louis series. The Reds have lost two straight. The last time the Reds lost two straight was May 19^th and 20^th against Atlanta. The last time the Reds lost at least three straight was April 14^th and 15^th, where they had lost 5 straight. They have minimized their losing streaks, which is one factor for the Reds rebounding tonight and taking game 2 against the Cardinals.

Johnny Cueto had a superb May. Cueto had 5 starts going 4-0 with a 1.59 era. He had pitched 34 innings allowing 6 runs. He had a 37/7 strikeout to walk ratio. I expect Cueto to continue his good pitching into June. He truly has turned the corner in his pitching this year. Cueto has always had the stuff to get major league hitters out. One factor working against Cueto was his lack of concentration. He ended up with one inning late that would burn him. He would roll along and get too comfortable then get touched up for 3-4 runs in one inning. This year Cueto has avoided that one bad inning. Cueto is going to his fastball more and laying off the slider. He fell in love with his slider, but had troubles putting away batters. April was a rough month for Cueto where he was 1-1 with a 5.33 era. He had two starts against St. Louis though going 11 innings and 4 runs allowed. Considering how April was poor and he had success against the Cardinals, he should pitch well tonight. He defeated them April 30^th for this first win on the season. Cueto should give the Reds 6+ innings tonight allowing 1-2 runs.

The hitting was lackluster last night after falling behind early. The Reds are expecting to get Joey Votto back tonight after missing 6 straight games from a stiff neck. Having Votto back will be a huge boost to the team. Miguel Cairo played great in Votto's place, but the two are completely different players. Votto's bat and presence will boost the Reds tonight. If he were to miss his seventh straight game, then Cairo will get the nod one more time. In Votto's absence he hit safely in all 6 games going 12/28(.429) raising his average from .182 to .295. He scored 8 runs and had 3 rbis. The Reds bats were shutout on Sunday against Houston, but that was just one game. Along with Cairo, in the past week, Ramon Hernandez(.444), Johnny Gomes(.429), Brandon Phillips(.367) and Drew Stubbs(.364) are hitting great. In the past week they have each drove in 4 runs.

The Reds have never faced Waters before. He his pitching is first season in the majors filling in for Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse. In his last start he pitched 5 shutout innings against the San Diego Padres. The Padres lead the West Division, but they are the third worst National League hitting team with a .248 average and fifth worst in runs scored with 222 runs. If Walters shuts down the Reds tonight he deserves credit for shutting down a good hitting team. I expect the Reds to get a run or two early off him and let the bullpens decide the outcome.

The Reds bullpen is struggling right now. Arthur Rhodes has been the anchor of the bullpen, but had to leave Saturday's game because of a cramp. Mike Lincoln and Carlos Fisher have been really struggling lately. Nick Masset has pitched okay lately, but overall for the season below average. The Reds should get bullpen help soon, but until then the safest play on the board will be First Five Innings ML (+105)

Johnny Cueto (5-1 3.25) vs. P.J. Walters (1-0 2.00)
Cincinnati Reds First 5 innings ML (+105)
Cincinnati Reds ML (+110)

All statistics were supplied from www.cincinnati.reds.mlb.com

"Mike Leake vs. Felipe Paulino Part II"

The Cincinnati Reds will host the Houston Astros for the third game of the series Sunday. The Reds are looking to bring the brooms after winning the first two games handily.

The Cincinnati Reds (30-20) extend their Central Division lead to two games over the St. Louis Cardinals (28-22). The Reds are on a 4 game winning streak and have won 7 of their last 9 games. Sunday should extend the winning streak to 5 games.

Mike Leake has been a great story for the Cincinnati Reds. Leake was drafted 8^th overall in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. Leake is the first player since Xavier Nady to go directly from the draft to the major leagues. He went into Spring Training with a chance at the #5 rotation spot. Leake beat out Travis Wood down the stretch to win the job. The main factor for winning the job was Leake's control and ability to throw strikes. In his first two starts, Leake pitched 13.2 innings and walked 12 batters. Since then Leake has had 7 starts, pitching 46.1 innings and walked 10 batters. Leake leads the Reds pitchers with 8 out of 9 quality starts. Back in late April, Leake beat the Houston Astros in Houston. He pitched 7 innings allowing 1 run and striking out 5 batters. In May, Leake is 2-0 with 32.1 innings pitched, supporting a 2.23 era with 24 strikeouts and 7 walks. With a successful two months in the majors, Leake should pick up his fifth win on Sunday.

The Reds dominated Houston Saturday night. The Reds have outscored Houston 27-8 in two games. Jay Bruce and Ramon Hernandez combined for 4 home runs and 7 runs batted in Saturday. The Reds have had no problem hitting the ball this series as they are knocking the starters out early and teeing off on the bullpen late. Felipe Paulino will be no exception.

Paulino matched up against Leake in late April, losing 6-4. Hunter Pence had a costly error as it allowed 4 unearned runs of the six total. Paulino has bad luck with run support as Houston has scored 2 runs or fewer in 6 out of his 9 starts. Houston will have a hard time scoring runs Sunday against Leake. The lineup will be interesting. Laynce Nix has had success against Paulino going 5/12(.417) with a home run and 4 runs batted in. He was 0/4 against Paulino April 28^th. Jay Bruce won't sit and it will be tough to pull out Jonny Gomes. Bruce has gone 3/11(.273) hitting 2 home runs and driving in four runs against Paulino. In his last eight games, Bruce has gone 11/27(.407) scoring 5 runs, hitting 3 home runs and driving in 8 runs. Bruce will deliver again on Sunday. Cairo continues his hot hitting in place of injured Joey Votto. In the last 4 games Cairo is 10/18(.556) scoring 8 runs, hitting 2 home runs and driving in three runs. Dusty Baker said Joey Votto is getting better, so it sounds like Cairo gets another start Sunday. Ramon Hernandez will get the bulk of the catching duties with Ryan Hanigan going on the DL with a broken thumb. Hernandez is 8 for his last 12 in 4 games. The last hitter to mention is Drew Stubbs. Stubbs has collected a hit in 7 out of his last 8 games and in his last 4 games he is 7/16(.438) with 5 runs scored, 1 home run, and 4 runs batted in.

In conclusion the Reds bats are on fire. There is no easy out anywhere in the lineup. Mike Leake is even hitting .368 on the season. The Reds will dominate tomorrow and complete the sweep going into the St. Louis series. Paulino gets knocked out early and the Reds coast to a 8-2 win.

Mike Leake (4-0 2.70) vs. Felipe Paulino (0-7 5.08)
Cincinnati Reds ML (-178)
Cincinnati Reds -1.5 (+115)

All statistics were supplied from www.cincinnati.reds.mlb.com

"Aaron Harang: Time to step up"

The Cincinnati Reds will host the Houston Astros for the second game of the series Saturday. The Reds go into today after dismantling the Astros 15-6 on Friday night.

The Reds continued their dominance in the Central extended their record to (20-11). The Reds (29-20) lead the National League Central by 1 game over the St. Louis Cardinals (28-21).

Aaron Harang has been a huge disappointment going into the season once again. Since the arrival of Dusty Baker, Harang has been 12-31 the last two seasons. That is a huge drop off from his 2007 season of going 16-6. Aaron Harang needs to step up this game. He needs to step up for multiple reasons. The Reds have a lot of momentum. The pitching has been contagious with everyone having good success this season. Harang needs to continue the momentum tonight leading up to the St. Louis series Monday. This is Harang's ‘contract year essentially with a $12.5 million option waiting for next year. Not only will Harang not have his option picked up, he will have a hard time landing a contract of value. Sam LeCure won in his debut last night holding the Astros to 2 runs in six innings. If he continues to pitch well in place of Homer Bailey, the Reds will need to make a decision on Harang. Bailey was pitching well before landing on the DL with inflammation. The Reds also had good news with Edinson Volquez throwing early from his recovery of Tommy John surgery. They expect Volquez back in July, so Harang has a short leash. I expect an average outing from Harang tonight. The last three outings have been almost identical. Harang has gone 6.1, 6.0, and 6.0 innings while allowing 4 runs in each of his last three starts. I predict Harang will go 6.1 innings allowing 4 runs tonight.

The Reds scored 15 runs and had 19 hits last night. Typically a team will go cold the next game after having a field day the night before. Tonight will not be one of those games. The Reds should score early and often again former Cincinnati Red Brian Moehler. The Reds have had limited at bats again Moehler in the past. Joey Votto and Laynce Nix have had the most at bats, but neither will be starting. After a rough outing again Wandy Rodriguez, Jay Bruce should feel more comfortable at the plate tonight. Bruce is hitting 3/11(.273) with 2 home runs and 4 runs batted in against Moehler in his short career. Brandon Phillips is also 3/11(.273) against Moehler with the rest of the team having less than 4 at bats.

Miguel Cairo has been a huge boost to the Reds off the bench in place of the missing Joey Votto. Votto has missed the last three games going on to four with a stiff neck. That is an unusual stiff neck since the Reds have commented very little on the status of Votto. Cincinnati fans are beginning to speculate that Votto could be away because of his anxiety issues from last season. That is all speculation at this point, but what is known is Cairo has played great in his last three starts. Cairo has gone 8/14(.571) while scoring 6 runs, one home run, one run batted in, and one stolen base. Cairo is very important to the roster because he is the back up first basemen besides Ramon Hernandez. Cairo should continue his hot hitting tonight along with Jay Bruce delivering.

Brian Moehler has been in the bullpen for the Houston Astros this season. Moehler is filling in for Bud Norris in the rotation. Moehler has had average success this season posting a 4.42 era. My prediction will be over the posted total of 9 runs. This blog though will be supporting the Cincinnati Reds ML. The final score will be 7-5 Reds.

Aaron Harang (3-5 5.98) vs. Brian Moehler (0-1 4.42)
Cincinnati Reds ML (-165)

All statistics were supplied from www.cincinnati.reds.mlb.com

"Rookie Debut"

The Cincinnati Reds will host the Houston Astros for a three game series Friday. This will be their second meeting of the season since late April when The Reds swept Houston on the road.

The Reds rolled through the Pirates taking three out of four games. They Reds (28-20) lead the National League Central by 1 game over the St. Louis Cardinals (27-21). With their series win last night, the Reds have won 7 of their last 8 series. They Reds have played strong in the division with them at 19-11 on the season. This series will lead up to the big show down against the Cardinals to conclude May.

First I like the Reds to at least take 2 out of three games. The series price is (-225). That is pretty high juice, but I still like it offer. The Reds will send LeCure, Harang, and Leake to the mound this weekend against Rodriguez, TBA, and Paulino. The Reds should roll on Sunday with Leake's sensational rookie start in the big leagues. Harang is the weakest matchup in the bunch, but until there is a decision on who will start that game is a toss up. That brings me into today's game with Sam LeCure on the mound.

The first question somebody would ask would be who is Sam LeCure? If you're a Reds fan you would probably ask the same question. LeCure doesn't have all the media hype that surrounds Aroldis Chapman or the buzz that Leake had in Spring Training, but he has pitched well this season in Louisville. LeCure was drafted in the fourth round in the 2005 draft. He turned 26 years old earlier in May. LeCure was added to the 40 man roster before last season and pitched okay. He was 10-8 with a 4.46 era in 25 starts. He logged over 140 innings with 125 strike outs and 44 walks. Nothing initially jumps out when looking back on those stats. Everything was very average, but he had the opportunity to pitch a full season in Triple A. This year has been a huge turn around.

The Reds rotation was nearly set with Harang, Arroyo, Cueto, and Bailey. They needed a fifth starter going into Spring. They had many candidates with favorites Chapman, Leake, Wood, and Maloney leading the pick. LeCure was in camp as well and went under the radar with a nice Spring. LeCure pitched 7.1 innings with 3 runs allowed for a 3.68 era. He 4 strike outs with one walk. There is little to look at it, but it was a preview. This season in Louisville he has had 9 starts going 5-2 with a 2.55 era. In his 60 innings pitched he has 51 strikes outs and 15 walks. His last start on May 22^nd, he threw a one hitter against the Yankees Triple A team while striking out 5 batters. He was roughed up a bit in one outing giving up 5 runs in 6.2 innings, but has been great the remaining eight starts. According to John Fay, he has an average fastball topping out at 92. He throws a sinking two-seam fastball, a curveball, a changeup, and slider. The key tonight will be throwing strikes. That is the key with any pitcher, but with an average fastball that is important. I can imagine his nerves will play a part tonight, so if he gets through the first inning unharmed he should pitch a good ball game against the worst hitting team in the National League. The Astros are batting .229, 9 points behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. LeCure will be the fifth Red to make his major league debut behind Mike Leake, Logan Ondrusek, Chris Heisey, and Enerio Del Rosario.

Wandy is pitching below expectations this season and the Houston Astros have been playing poorly most of the season. The Reds should be able to score off Wandy, but I look at this game as low scoring if the Reds are going to win. I am looking for LeCure to give the Reds six innings and 2 runs allowed. The Reds should hopefully get Joey Votto back tonight after missing the last two games with a stiff neck. I would sit Jay Bruce tonight as he is hitting .067(1/15) against Wandy. Jonny Gomes and Ramon Hernandez have had good success off Wandy with Gomes hitting .364(4/11) and three runs batted in Ramon hitting .385(5/13). Hernandez would be a good fit to start tonight to help LeCure out with his first major league start and he has decent success off Wandy. Votto is hitting .318 and Phillips is hitting .222 off Wandy with the rest of the starters tonight having seen little of Wandy. Each night the Reds have a new guy as hero having a big game, so I will look towards Gomes being the guy tonight. My prediction will be a 4-2 Reds winner.

Sam LeCure (0-0 0.00) vs. Wandy Rodriguez (2-6 4.33)
Cincinnati Reds ML (-122)
Cincinnati Reds Series (-225)

Statistics were supplied from www.cincinnati.reds.mlb.com and
www.minorleaguebaseball.com

"The Reds should dominate the Pirates"

The Cincinnati Reds will host the Pittsburgh Pirates for the fourth game of the series. The Reds go into today leading 2-1 in the series. Bronson Arroyo shut down the Pirates for 7.2 innings with Daniel Ray Herrera and Cordero cleaning up for the 4-0 shut out.

The Reds have been a sleeper team as I predicted in Spring Training. They have been very competitive during the season. The Reds (27-20) lead the National League Central by 1 game over the St. Louis Cardinals (26-21). The Reds have been on a roll. The Reds are 6-1 their last 7 series. They won series' at St. Louis, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, at Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and at Cleveland. They lost a two game series at Atlanta on walk off wins. They should have split the series, but lost the game when leading 9-1 and 9-3 in the 9^th. Since that heart breaking loss on a walk off grand slam from Brooks Conrad, the Reds have four of their last six games. The Reds swept the Pirates in Pittsburgh two weeks ago outscoring them 16-1.

Johnny Cueto has turned the corner in his third season in the big leagues. After a poor April where he went 1-1 with a 5.33 era, May has been completely different. Cueto is 3-0 with a 1.93 era in four starts including a 1 hitter at Pittsburgh. Cueto has been throwing more strikes and finishing off batters. Earlier in the month Cueto would get a batter down two strikes, but could not get an out pitch. In May he has been striking out more batters (28K/28Innings).

The Reds lineup has been producing. Joey Votto has been consistent all season and his currently leading all National League first basemen in most offensive categories. In the last week Votto is 7/23 (.304) and has homered driving in 6 runs. Drew Stubbs has been slumping most of the season with the bat, but has been driving in runs or scoring when he gets a hit or reaches on base. In the past week Stubbs is 8/23(.348), scoring two runs, driving in two runs and three stolen bases. Orlando Cabrera has been a great upgrade at shortstop because of his offense. The Reds lead the Major Leagues in hitting with RISP and 2 outs. Cabrera has been a big contributing factor to that statistic as he is 7/19(.368) and driving in 8 runs. In the past week Cabrera is hitting .375(9/24) with three runs scored, four runs batted in and three stolen bases. Ramon Hernandez and Ryan Hanigan have combined for 8/27(.296) the past week. I imagine Hernandez will get the start since he was a big boost to Cueto pitching well and he tossed his one hitter with Hernandez.

In conclusion the Reds are hot. They Pirates are not. Charlie Morton statistically has been one of the worst pitchers in the early 2010 season and I expect the Reds to drive in some early runs with Cueto shutting down the Pirates offense. Below are three plays for the game that I am very confident in. I am leaning on a 6-1 type game with the Reds winning their seventh of eight series.

Johnny Cueto (4-1 3.60) vs. Charlie Morton (1-8 8.71)

Cincinnati Reds ML (-170)
Cincinnati Reds -1.5 (+125)
Cincinnati Reds -2.5 (+190)

All statistics were supplied from www.cincinnati.reds.mlb.com

WrestleMania XVI
The Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels
The Streak versus The Career

The Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels is a re-match from WresetleMania XXV. The previous match was the 2009 Match of the Year. At the awards ceremony Shawn Michaels accepted the award and then issued a challenge to the Undertaker for a re-match stating that he would beat him.

The Undertaker declined Shaw Micahaels challenge, so Shawn Michaels vowed he would win the Royal Rumble and challenge the Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XVI. Shawn Michaels had a valiant effort, but was eliminated late in the match by Batista. Shawn had blown his big opportunity to face Undertaker, but did not give up on his goal for one more match. At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Shawn cost the Undertaker his World Heavyweight Championship with Sweet Chin Music allowing Chris Jericho to pin the Undertaker.

On an episode of Raw, Shawn explained his actions and issued his challenge once more to the Undertaker. Undertaker accepted his challenge on the condition that Shawn would put up his career on the line. At this point Undertaker had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Shawn had accepted the stakes and the match was official. No longer would the World Heavyweight Championship be involved, but instead the stipulation would be the winner must be decided by pin fall or submission. It gives the re-match a new feel from last year with the No DQ stipulation.

The Undertaker is currently 17-0 at WrestleMania. Undertaker made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania VII defeating "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. Following is the list of his victories since.  

VII (1992): Defeated Jake "The Snake" Roberts, IX (1993): Defeated The Giant Gonzalez, XI (1995): Defeated King Kong Bundy, XII (1996): Defeated Diesel, XIII (1997) Defeated Psycho Side for the Championship, XIV (1998) Defeated Kane, XV (1999) Defeated Big Boss Man, XVII (2001) Defeated Triple H, XVIII (2002): Beat Ric Flair., XIX (2003): Beat The Big Show and A-Train, XX (2004): Beat Kane, XXI (2005): Beat Randy Orton, XXII (2006): Beat Mark Henry, XXIII (2007): Beat Batista for the World Title, XXIV (2008): Beat Edge, XXV: (2009): beat Shawn Michaels.

His undefeated streak is impressive with 17 wins in the last 19 years at WrestleMania. I don't see the streak ending this year though. Shawn Michaels would be a worthy opponent to end the Undertaker's WrestleMania streak, but I believe this streak will never end. Rumors have it that Shawn is planning on retiring with this match being his last. For the past few years Shawn has considered retirement, but Vince McMahon has always talked him into working a few months more. Whether Shawn retires or not will be undecided, but he will take a lengthy break as he has worked non stop for the past few years. Shawn will be called upon during SummerSlam to return in some capacity. I believe Shawn will retire as career ending stipulations never hold up. There are always some loopholes or they completely ignore it months later to bring back wrestlers. One example would be Ric Flair. Two years ago Shawn Michaels ended his career, but he went on to wrestle down in Australia during Hulk Hogan's tour and recently wrestled on television on TNA Impact. So even if Shawn loses here it will not necessarily mean the end of his career. This match tonight should be another nominee for Match of the Year between two future Hall of Fames.

WrestleMania XXVI - No Count-Out Retirement Match - University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona - PPV
The Undertaker Wins (-350)
5Dimes