Cincinnati Reds start August above .500 after horrendous July

The Cincinnati Reds are once again heating up as the calendar turns to August in 2017.

The Cincinnati Reds already have more victories in August than they did in all of July.  They only had 8 wins in July.  It was the only month this season where the Reds didn’t have double digit wins.

So far in August the Reds are 9-8.  So far this season, they have not had a season over .500.  Their May of 13-15 was the best month to date so far this season.

The Reds opened August by potentially ending the Pittsburgh Pirates’ chances of the playoffs.  The Pirates needed a sweep, but the Reds took two of three.  Now the Pirates are five games out of first and in fourth place.

When the Reds returned to Great American Ballpark, they faced the tough assignment of the Saint Louis Cardinals.  They loss two of three to Saint Louis, but there is a more important story here.  The first two games had scores of 3-2 and 4-1, showing the Reds could contain the Cardinals’ batters.

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Then the Reds avenged some of the losses that effectively ended their season.  The Reds lost nine in a row to the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.  When the Padres came to Cincinnati, the Reds won three of four and only gave up more than three runs once.

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After facing the middle of the National League Central and a weak team from out west, the Cincinnati Reds took on the best teams in the division.

After a 4-3 home stand, the Reds traveled to play the Milwaukee Brewers.  They won the first game in a slug fest before losing the next two.  The good news about the slug fest is that they scored double digits in runs for the first time since Cinco de Mayo against the San Francisco Giants.

Then Reds went to visit the Chicago Cubs and the wheels appear to be falling off a bit.  The Reds split the four game series with the Cubs, but allowed more than 8 runs per game.  They were 1-1 in games in Chicago in which the Cubs score ten or more runs.

At 9-8 August could easily be the best month of the season for the Reds.  The pitching appears as good as it has been all season.  Watching Jesee Winker and Phil Ervin is an added bonus.

Next: Who's next? (to come up from the minors)

This is the same thing that happened last season.  The Reds looked competitive once Jay Bruce.  This year that guy may have been Tony Cingrani.