The Cincinnati Reds are locked into a division race with the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates and with a record of 65-52, the team is just five games back in the division race and with the two teams above playing each other this week, Joey Votto and company have the chance to make up ground against the Chicago Cubs.
The Reds are about to get Ryan Ludwick back after he missed basically the entire season and whiel the team has gone just 6-8 over its last 14 games, they have come on lately and have won four of the past five games and now will have a chance to beat up on the hapless Cubs. The offense has been a big issue for Dusty Baker and company and especially Joey Votto over that stretch, as the team is hitting under .200 over that stretch. The team won 3-2 at San Diego and now that Ludwick is back, that might be all the offense needs after he hit nearly 30 homers last season.
Ludwick was injured in the opening series against the Angels and now he comes back after hitting .136 with one homer and four RBIs during a 13-game minor-league rehab stint and the Reds are happy to have him back. Mat Latos has been one of the most consistent pitchers for the Reds this season and he comes in with an 11-3 record and 3.21 ERA and he will pitch against Travis Wood, who has also been very good for the Cubs while going 7-8 with a 3.04 ERA, but he is 0-3 over his last five starts against his old team in the Reds with a 4.50-plus ERA.
Wood is just 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA over the last five games and he missed out on a decision against Philadelphia last week and now will be back on the mound on Monday. The Cubs have lost eight of nine at home and they will start a home stand of 10 games this week at the Friendly confines. The Cubs are just 52-65 this season and are 18 games out of first place, but they could play spoler for the Reds, Cardinals and Pirates, as all those teams will play against each other towards the end of the season and depending on how it shakes out, it could be three teams from the NL Central in the playoffs for the National League.
"I'm a guy who notoriously has hit doubles, home runs and driven in runs," Ludwick told the team's official website. "That's what I want to do. If I can't do that, it's going to be tough. I want to help the team win, and people are expecting me to come in and be in midseason form and hit 10-15 home runs the last two months."
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