Everything gets underway Friday at Great American Ball Park andes to a close with a prime-time Sunday broadcast on ESPN. 

Currently fourth in the NL Central, the Reds (48-50, -8.7 units) are closer to first in their division than to the Braves (58-41, +8.5) who lead the NL wild card chase. Pitching has been a problem most of the season, Cincy ranking 12th in the NL with a 4.06 ERA. And now the offense, second in the Senior Circuit in scoring, is struggling. 

Cincinnati returns home from a short trip to Pittsburgh where the Reds crossed the plate just three times, all of the runs in their only win. They’ve been blanked three times in the last 13 games and scored three runs or less the last five. 

Reds hitters now face turning things around against two of the toughest pitching staffs in the next 10 days with Atlanta this weekend and the Giants in town next weekend. 

The Braves would lead four other divisions but have the misfortune of playing in the same National League East with the Phillies. Fredi Gonzalez’s lineup ranks about average in the National League in scoring and is among the top home-run clubs in the league. But the Braves’ strength is on the mound with a top-5 ERA (3.25) and a rotation among the best at delivering quality starts. 

It’s the second and final series for the two clubs this year. A late-May meeting in Atlanta went 2-1 in favor of the Braves and the UNDER. The Reds took two of the three games played in Cincinnati a year ago, the UNDER going 2-1. 

Game 1 – Friday, July 22, 7:10 PM (ET) 

Friday’s series opener might be the biggest for the Reds in terms of pressuring the front office to trade for a top starting pitcher. Bronson Arroyo (7-8, 5.57) is on tap for Cincinnati, and the veteran righthander has been nothing short of horrible recently. He’s been particularly bad at home where the club has won just four of his 11 starts and he owns a 5.35 ERA. 

Arroyo has surrendered 22 earned runs over his last four starts (8.25 ERA), and served up nine homers in that span. Somehow the Reds are 2-2 in those games. Rumors have Cincy GM Walt Jocketty looking at Tampa‘s James Shields and Colorado‘s Ubaldo Jimenez.

He was popped for a pair of long flies among the nine hits he gave up in three innings at Atlanta on May 28, a 7-6 Braves win as -145 chalk. He has a 6-3 lifetime record vs. the Braves, but an unsightly 5.70 ERA. 

Jair Jurrjens (12-3, 2.26) gets the call for Atlanta and the young All-Star ising off the worst start of what has otherwise been an outstanding season. Jurrjens was touched up for six runs in five frames last Sunday vs. the Nationals, but the Braves pulled out a 9-8 win as -165 MLB betting favorites. 

Jurrjens tossed a gem on May 29 vs. the Reds, eight innings of 1-run ball in a 2-1 victory as -125 chalk. It’s his only career dubya in four outings. 

It’s no surprise to see the Braves favored on the road in this one with opening MLB odds pegging Jurrjens a -115 money line favorite at many sportsbooks, as high as -120 at others. The game total is eight runs.

Game 2 – Saturday, July 23, 4:10 PM (FOX) 

Saturday’s matinee on FOX is the only one of the three games to favor the Reds as far as the starting mound matchup goes. Derek Lowe (6-7, 4.37) is in line for the Braves against Cincinnati‘s Homer Bailey (4-4, 3.74), with both hurlersing off winning efforts. 

Bailey has had troubles away from Cincinnati, but he’s been solid in his four starts at home. The righty out of La Grange, Texas is 3-1 in those outings with a fine 2.39 ERA in 26.1 innings at Great American and opponents only batting .216 against him. This will be the first time he faces Atlanta, and just his fifth start sinceing off the DL on June 26. 

Lowe has just one decent outing in his last seven trips to the bump and suffered a very rough go at the Reds when the clubs met in May (3.1 IP, 5 ER, 5 BB). That was a bit out of character for Lowe as far as his career vs. Cincinnati has gone with a 4-2 record and 3.89 ERA. 

Game 3 – Sunday, July 24, 8:05 PM (ESPN) 

Not exactly the marquee pitching battle ESPN was probably hoping for when picking this game for the Sunday night telecast, but intriguing nonetheless. Rookie Brandon Beachy (3-2, 3.75) goes for the Braves opposite Dontrelle Willis (0-1, 3.38) for the Reds, definitely one of the least likely prime-time matchups one would expect to see before this season began.

Beachy forced his way onto the club during the spring and got off to a decent start before being sidelined on the DL for about five weeks. He came back strong with two starts in June, but the Braves are 0-3 with him on the mound in July and the youngster ising off the worst start of the season this past Tuesday in Colorado (4.2 IP, 6 ER, 5 BB, 2 HR). This is his first career meeting vs. Cincinnati. 

The 29-year-old Willis is making just his third start of the year as he tries to somehow rediscover the magic from 2003-06 when he ranked among the top pitchers in the game. The southpaw saw the Braves last year while with the Diamondbacks, and Willis couldn’t find the plate as he walked six and needed 95 pitches to get through the fourth inning.

 

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