Apr 22, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; The Reds celebrate on the field after they beat the Chicago Cubs in 13th innings at Great American Ball Park. The Reds won 5-4 on a walk-off single by Cesar Izturis. (David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports)

When you’re on a roll and you see the Chicago Cubs on your schedule, you can’t help but display a slight grin. Chicago heads into GABP in the NL Central cellar with a record of 18-28, 12 full games behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals.

Meanwhile, the Reds are tied for second with the Pittsburgh Pirates who both own a record of 29-18. That is a tie for baseball’s third best record. The Good Guys can’t let down their guard though. Got to take care of business against the Cubbies.

Game 1: Friday – Scott Feldman (4-3, 2.19) v. Bronson Arroyo (4-4, 3.28), 7:10 PM ET.

This will be Feldman’s first start against the Reds.

Only three Reds have ever faced Feldman (Jack Hannahan, Cesar Izturis and Shin-Soo Choo) and none have what you would call splendid results. Miserable might be the better choice of words. Of the three mentioned, the “best hitter” is Izturis…with an average of .182 (2-11) in 12 plate appearances.

Arroyo has the ability to confound the Cubs. He owns a lifetime 11-9 record (28 games with 26 starts) with an ERA of 2.99 and a WHIP of 1.148.

It should be of no surprise that Nate Schierholtz is the most successful Cubs hitter (10 PA minimum) when facing Bronson. He’s 3-for-10 (.300) with an RBI against him.

The other side of the coin? Hard to imagine that Alfonso Soriano struggles when facing Arroyo. In 56 plate appearances, he’s only batting .196 (10-51) with only 1 home run. Arroyo has struck out Soriano 15 times.

Game 2: Saturday – Travis Wood (4-2, 2.24) v. Homer Bailey (2-3, 3.09), 4:10 PM ET.

This will be the second time this season the Reds have a shot at their former teammate. Although the Reds won the last time they saw Wood, he did not get the decision as the Reds came from behind and eventually won a 5-4, 13-inning affair. A Cesar Izturis walk-off single ended that game.

Only one Red has 10 plate appearances against Wood: Zack Cozart. He’s 3-10 but has 5 whiffs. Of note is that Jay Bruce is 2-5 with both hits being home runs and Todd Frazier is 4-8, but in the last time they squared off, ToddFather was 0-3.

When facing Chicago, Bailey has exhibited success from a win-loss standpoint going 5-2, but his era is slightly over 5 at 5.02 and hid WHIP is a lofty 1.586.

And Homer doesn’t like to see Darwin Barney at the plate. Barney is 7-17 (.412) in 18 plate appearances. Soriano is a non-spectacular .227 (5-22 in 23 PA) when he faces Bailey.

Game 3: Sunday – Matt Garza (0-0, 0.00) v. Johnny Cueto (2-0, 3.02), 1:10 PM ET.

Both Garza and Cueto has occupied a spot on their respective team’s disabled list this season, but this is the most intriguing matchup of the three games.

When Garza faces the Reds, he is 1-2 with a 3.80 ERA and 1.479 WHIP, but the Reds haven’t faced Garza since 2011. That season accounts for all four of Garza’s outings against the Redlegs.

Garza has surrendered only 1 home run to the current crop of Reds: Jay Bruce. Joey Votto is only a .200 hitter against him (2-10). Brandon Phillips does well when facing the Cubs righty as he is 4-12 in 13 PA.

As for Cueto, he owns an 8-6, an ERA of 3.01 and WHIP of 1.211 when facing the Cubs. As much success as Barney as against Bailey, it’s quite opposite with the Reds ace. Cueto has a grasp on Barney as he has a career .154 batting average (2-13).

You could say Soriano has some good feelings when Cueto is throwing. He’s 11-40 with 4 HR and 6 RBI. The average may not blow you away (.275), but when he does hit Cueto, it has meaning.

All right. Series predictions?

Look a the standings. Not just in the division, but for all of baseball. St. Louis (30-16) has MLB’s best record. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh (29-18) share baseball’s third best record. The Texas Rangers (30-17) is the team that breaks the NLC stronghold. Texas owns baseball’s largest division lead at 5.5 games.

The update starts with the Cubs…

May 22, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; So Alfonso Soriano is tired of losing. If he had agreed to the trade, he could be in San Francisco. (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

Chicago Cubs

We know that the majority of folk who are not Cubs fans cite the words “Cubs suck” on a daily basis. Well, seeing as the Cubbies are in the cellar of the division, those in agreement may grow, but there is a slight bit of light.

How’s that? They’re only a half-game behind the struggling Milwaukee Brewers. More on the Brewers in a bit.

That light could fade as Chicago hits GABP for a three-game series against our beloved Redlegs. The Reds have eon 9 of the last 10 games between these two teams including 5 of the 6 this season. The losing is grating on one Alfonso Soriano.

Wait. During last year’s trade deadline-mania, wasn’t there a potential deal that could have sent Soriano to the Giants? If Soriano is frustrated by the losses (as Carrie Muskat of MLB.com notes), why did he nix that deal? He would only go to one West Coast team: the Dodgers. That is according to an August 2012 note from Phil Rogers.

Considering the state of things in LA right now, he would be in the same situation only with a better record.

Milwaukee Brewers

Yesterday, Reviewing the Brew’s Lou Olsen went through a bit of pain to bring this to our attention…

Well the last month has had almost nothing good, but there has been plenty of bad and ugly. As of this morning (05/23) the team is 9-23 since the last Brewers Banalities installment. Essentially, they have won 9 games in the past month. That is so bad that I am pretty sure Clint Eastwood would rather team up with an orangutan then the Brewers.

One issue has been the Brewers starting rotation. Milwaukee starters own a combined record of 11-19, an ERA of 5.28 along with a WHIP that reads 1.498. The Reds added to that during their last homestand. Cincy outscored the Brewers 22-11 in sweeping the three games.

Now, the Pirates are coming into Miller Park.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Reds fans note certain bats that are “struggling”, but the Pirates have a few in their fold, too. Tom Smith from Rum Bunter informs us that the Pirates offense needs to “come to life”.

In a video interview I did prior to the Brewers visiting GABP (which can be found on BRM’s home page), I stated that I thought if the Pirates got the arms in the right frame of mind, they would be a difficult team to face. Scratch that as the bats have not produced.

Hmm… Strange thing is that the Buccos head to Miller Park with the same record as the Reds and their overall offensive numbers aren’t that far from what the Reds’ bats have produced.

St. Louis Cardinals

For every pitcher that goes down, the Redbirds sprouts another. Redbird Rants states that the newest addition to the Cards rotation is Tyler Lyons. All Lyons did in his debut was go 7 innings and allowed one whole run. One.

Starters Chris Carpenter (who began the season on the DL), Jake Westbook, Jaime Garcia are all on the DL. Carpenter has shown positive signs during his rehab. It is unknown when Westbrook will reappear. Garcia’s 2013 is done due to needing surgery. Closer Jason Motte, done for the season. Fernando Salas is on the DL as well.

No worries by the Arch. They score enough, but will it eventually catch up to them?

May 15, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Detailed view of an official MLB baseball in a glove in the Atlanta Braves dugout prior to the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

For the first time this season, a team on the farm owns a winning streak that extends beyond five games.

If you think back to how the Bakersfield Blaze already owns three separate losing streaks of at least 7 games, they are the most unlikely candidate to accomplish such. Well, as you will see, the Blaze are streaking hot.

Taking 3 of 4 across the farm is nice, but starting a slump is in full force for one affiliate.

Here’s your quick tour of Thursday’s games.

Louisville Bats

Paw Sox 0, Bats 10 (Box)

W: Cingrani (2-0, 0.00) ; L: Doyle (3-4, 4.63)

In his first game back in Louisville, same as it ever was for Tony Cingrani. Before he was promoted to Cincinnati, Cingrani couldn’t be touched. The issue, as was becoming the case as a Red, was pitch count as Cingrani tossed 97 pitches with 57 going for strikes. The Bats bats supplied him with plenty of offense as 8 of the 9 lineup spots got at least one hit and the duo of Felix Perez (3 RBI) and Josh Fellhauer (4 RBI) drove in 7 of the 10 runs.

Next Game: 5/24 v. Pawtucket, 6:35 PM ET. Armando Galarraga (2-2, 2.37) looks to bounce back from his last outing.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos

Blue Wahoos 3, Lookouts 5 (Box)

W: Nelo (3-0, 2.60) ; L: Van Mil (0-2, 3.63) ; SV: Elbert (1)
HR: PNS: Mattair (5)

As hot as the Blaze has been, the opposite holds true for the Blue Wahoos. Last night’s loss was the fifth in a row and the third time this season Pensacola has a losing streak of five games. And the offense had a shot at scoring more than 3 runs as the Blue Wahoos had 5 different starters with at least 2 hits.

Chad Rogers went 6 innings and only allowed 3 hits and the run he surrendered was unearned.

Next Game: 5/24 @ Chattanooga, 7:15 PM ET. Ryan Dennick (2-3, 3.00 ERA) will look to snap the skid.

Bakersfield Blaze

Ports 3, Blaze 4 – 11 innings (Box)

W: Muhammad (1-0, 1.21) ; L: Hassebrock (1-3, 4.94)
HR: BAK: Smith, M (5)

Make it 6 in a row for Bakersfield. Needed a pair of extra frames, as Steve Selsky‘s 11th-inning single drove in Ryan Wright to give the Blaze the win. Juan Silverio extended his hitting streak to 14 games and despite the no-decision, Jon Moscot (5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 SO) looked good over his 5 innings of work. Pat Doyle worked 3 shutout innings in relief.

Next Game: 5/24 v. Stockton, 10:30 PM ET. James Allen (2-4, 4.62 ERA) goes for the lucky #7.

Dayton Dragons

Whitecaps 6, Dragons 7 (Box)

W: Klimesh (2-0, 4.80) ; L: Knudson (0-1, 2.45) ; SV: Lucas (5)
HR: WM: Kirksey (3) , Martinez, M (4) . DAY: Rahier (5)

Dayton got behind early, took the lead in the middle innings, and a little back and forth in the late innings before the Joe Terry doubled in Zach Vincej in the bottom of the 8th to give the Dragons the one-run win. It was the second RBI of the game for Terry.

Next Game: 5/24 v. West Michigan, 7:00 PM ET. Sal Romano (4-3, 3.28 ERA) will look to keep the wins coming.