Jonathan India and the Reds look to filet the Marlins in the Queen City

Reds Country, I have good news to report. The All-Star break did not diminish the Cincinnati Reds' impressive play of late as they took two of three from their division rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, at Great American Ball Park to open their second-half schedule.

The Redlegs have won seven of their last 11 games and have turned GABP into a true home-field advantage by winning eight of the last 12 contests playing in front of friendly faces. What's even more promising is just who the Cincinnati Reds (36-58) have been beating during their recent hot streak.

All seven of their victories have come against potential playoff teams in the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, and, the aforementioned, Cardinals. As a result, the Reds may be able to finally climb out of the National League Central basement as their next 10 games are against sub .500 clubs with seven of those contests at GABP.

However, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the Reds will need to take care of business versus the Miami Marlins over the next four days. One area Cincinnati will look to exploit this week is an anemic Marlins' offensive unit.

Can the Reds continue their dominance over the Marlins?

Entering play Sunday, the Miami Marlins (45-50) have the second-lowest team on-base percentage (.302) and the 12th ranked team batting average (.237) in the senior circuit. Currently, designated hitter Garrett Cooper is the only everyday player on the Marlins roster who sports an average above the .260 mark.

Miami has found some success on the pitching mound. Their staff ERA of 3.77, as of Sunday, ranks fifth in the NL. Much of that success can be directly attributed to All-Star Sandy Alcantara.

The right-hander has been spectacular posting a 9-4 record with an incredible 1.81 ERA in 20 starts this season. Thankfully, it appears the Reds will miss him this series considering he started yesterday versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Even though this is the first time the two clubs have squared off against each other this season, they will become intimately familiar with one another as they will play seven times in the next 10 days. Cincinnati has dominated the series over the past decade at GABP winning 20 of the 30 contests including seven in a row.