Reds off to great start after sweeping Brewers
CINCINNATI -- Sure, one could get away with saying the Reds are on pace to go 162-0, but that isn't going to happen. It's too early to order World Series tickets or hand the National League Central flag back to Cincinnati.
After a three-game sweep of their rival and fellow division favorite Brewers, the Reds can definitely say they have a good chance to build on some momentum out of the gate. "We've got a long way to go, but I will take a good start any time you can get it," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. Entering Monday's off-day, the Reds' .350 team average led the Major Leagues and they led the NL with eight home runs, 23 runs scored and 22 RBIs. Those eight homers -- all at cozy-sized Great American Ball Park -- were spread among seven different hitters. In Sunday's 12-3 win, Cincinnati collected 19 hits and every member of the starting lineup had at least one. There is a lot going right and even when things were looking all wrong on Opening Day, they turned out right. A three-run walk-off homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth by Ramon Hernandez sealed the first win and got the Reds off and running. "Since Monie had the walk-off home run, the momentum has been in our favor," said fellow catcher Ryan Hanigan, who hit two homers on Sunday. "We kind of rode that high for the last couple of games. The Brewers have a great team. They're going to be in the mix. They have a great offense, great pitching. It was just our weekend." Coming out of Spring Training, the rotation trudged into the regular season with Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey on the disabled list and Bronson Arroyo dealing with mononucleosis. The Reds survived Edinson Volquez's rocky start and although he was hit hard for a career-high three homers, he settled down to reach six innings and didn't let the game get away. Travis Wood, originally the projected No. 5 starter, and Arroyo followed with seven strong innings apiece. Neither Wood nor Arroyo issued a walk. Reds pitchers have a 3.67 ERA that is ninth in the NL and are second in the league with the fewest walks allowed. And even though Milwaukee clubbed six homers of their own, they were all solo shots and the damage was minimized. And the defense that committed just 72 errors last season (a club record) has made only one error in the first three games. Milwaukee won't likely be going away any time soon. The Reds and Brewers meet up later this month from April 25-27 and have 13 more head-to-head games in all. "That's a good team, but I think we're the better team," Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks said. "That's just the way it is. [Series like that] is part of the game and it's a wake-up call, but we're going to play better." The upcoming schedule is favorable for the Reds. Next up are three home games vs. the Astros, who started their season 0-3 like Milwaukee. The Reds were 10-5 vs. Houston last season, 22-9 over the past two seasons and took seven of the last eight series. A West Coast trip follows for six games vs. the D-backs and Padres. The Reds swept three at Arizona last season and were 5-2 in the season series. Near the end of last season, they dropped two of three at San Diego. The rest of the month features home games vs. the Pirates and D-Backs, followed by a road trip to St. Louis and Milwaukee. The April 22-24 series vs. the Cardinals will be a highly anticipated one, given the bad blood that flowed between both sides last season during a hotly contested pennant race. The Reds are catching St. Louis possibly at a good time. Besides already losing elite starter Adam Wainwright for the season, slugger Matt Holliday is out for an extended time after an appendectomy. "The way we played the Brewers, it was very impressive," second baseman Brandon Phillips said. "Hopefully we keep that up for our next series. In this game, it's not that much you can be surprised about. They're a great team. I think we just got them this series. It's still early." The last time the Reds opened a season 3-0 was 2005, but they finished that season 73-89 and never were in contention. For the eternal optimists, however, there were also 3-0 starts in 1990 (4-0), '76 (4-0), '75 (3-0), '40 (3-0) and '19 (7-0). Those just happen to be years of the Reds' five World Series titles.Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Mark My Word, and follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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