Reds suddenly have golden opportunity to shake up chaotic NL Central race

The Cincinnati Reds return to Great American Ball Park on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader on tap against the St. Louis Cardinals. This will be the first time to the two teams have met this season, and it could quickly tip the scales one way or the other in a heated NL Central Division race.

Friday's postponement gave the Reds back-to-back days off and will also give Chase Petty a chance at redemption against the team that gave him an unfriendly welcome to the big leagues. Petty's Major League debut came in a similar scenario against the Cardinals in 2025. He was roughed up for nine runs and exited the game before completing three innings of work.

The right-hander will be Cincinnati's 27th man for Saturday's double-dip, and will be on the mound as the Reds' starter for Game 2. Petty pitched well during his lone MLB game earlier this season. He made a spot start for the Reds against the Chicago Cubs earlier this month, and allowed three runs on four hits over 5⅔ innings.

Veteran hurler Chris Paddack will take the ball for manager Terry Francona in Game 1, and will be looking to build off his first successful start with the Reds that came last week against the Cleveland Guardians.

Paddack went five innings and allowed two runs on six hits with three punch outs. A similar performance on Saturday would put the Reds in position to gain some ground on the Cardinals in the NL Central.

Reds can climb NL Central standings with strong series vs. Cardinals

After a brutal road trip earlier this month, the Reds fanbase was ready to abandon ship. Cincinnati was swept out of the Steel City by the Pittsburgh Pirates and then lost four straight games to the Chicago Cubs. It wasn't until the Redlegs welcomed the Houston Astros to Cincinnati that Francona's club got back to their winning ways.

The Reds have won four of their last seven, and heading into play on Saturday sit just 2½ games back of the Cardinals for second place in the division. The Milwaukee Brewers have won eight of their last 10 and are riding a four-game winning streak at the moment. Milwaukee is 2½ clear of St. Louis and five games better than Cincinnati, but the Brew Crew has two games against the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend.

In short, the Reds have a tremendous opportunity to make up for the early-May struggles with a strong finish to the month. If Cincinnati can somehow upend St. Louis this weekend and then take advantage of the slumping New York Mets in Queens, the Reds will be right back in the thick of what's going to be a brutal NL Central division race this summer.

It's much too soon to be looking ahead to October, but these division games matter. Currently, the Reds are just 1-9 against NL Central teams this season with their lone victory coming against the Pirates in early-April.

Eugenio Suárez is back and Ke'Bryan Hayes is now out of the lineup. Sal Stewart appears to have awaken from his rookie lull and has hit .360/.484/.640 over his last seven games. Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz have been red-hot, and Chase Burns is staring down Paul Skenes and Jacob Misiorowski in the chase for the NL Cy Young.

If the Reds can put their May slump in the rearview mirror, there's plenty of time for them to make some noise in the division. But they can't afford to drop the upcoming series to the Cardinals, and need to win at least two of the next three games.

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