NL Central Standings (via MLB.com
Why yes, it is Wednesday, it can only mean we have another recap. I must say, this has definitely been fun to do thus far, even though my team is in last place.
Cincinnati Reds
The Reds are hanging around at the top of the Central. No need to get crazy or anything like that during June. There’s still a lot of baseball left to be played.
However, with two straight losses, including Tuesday night’s game against Cleveland, the Reds lead is only 2.5 in the Central. The Reds lost Tuesday night 3-2 in extra innings. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a game winning two-run homer off of Aroldis Chapman to get the win.
This weekend, they’ll play a three-game series against some team called the Minnesota Twins. I hear their catcher stars in some shampoo commercial. I really don’t know what that’s all about.
Check out C-ing Red for all the latest news on the Reds.
Pittsburgh Pirates
It’s June and the Pirates are still in second place. What’s going on here? Just think, two weeks from now it will be July and they could still be in second by that point and time.
The Pirates have won three straight and are 20-11 at home. It’s really quite amazing to see them playing this great of baseball. Their most recent win was Tuesday night against the Twins, 7-2.
Pittsburgh will be home again this weekend as they take on the Detroit Tigers. The last time these two teams played each other in a series, Justin Verlander pitched a no-hitter, which took place May 18. I’m not sure how Detroit’s rotation is set up, but Verlander could possibly pitch against the Pirates this weekend, most likely Sunday.
Now I was told we might have a new Pirates beat writer soon. However, if you would like to join the soon-to-be Pittsburgh page, go here for more information.
St. Louis Cardinals
Speaking of Verlander, he picked up the win over St. Louis Tuesday night. He only had three strikeouts and gave up three runs, but the win was still there for Detroit.
With their Tuesday night loss, St. Louis is 34-34 for the season. If there’s any good news for the Cardinals, it’s that they’re only 4.5 games out of first place. So, at least they got that going for them. Look at it that way.
After they’re done with Detroit, they hit the road again for a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals. Maybe they can score some wins during those games.
If you want to read up more on the Cardinals or you’re really good at crushing beer cans with your forehead, I suggest you check out Aaron Miles’ Fastball in the Aerys baseball section.
Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee lost a 10-9 game to Toronto Tuesday night, which was their second straight loss. What made the loss even tougher for Brewers fans to digest was they lost the game in the ninth with John Axford on the mound.
It hasn’t exactly been a fun season for Axford. He’s 1-4, his ERA is 5.60 and he’s converted 12 of 16 save opportunities. If there is any good news, Axford welcomed his new son into the world today.
After they wrap up their series with Toronto, they play a three-game set with the Chicago White Sox. They play the Reds in Cincy early next week.
If you’re the type that has different types of mustard stashed away in some cabinet in the basement, then maybe you would be interested in writing for the Brewers for Aerys. Click here for more information.
Houston Astros
Houston is coming off of a tough 2-0 loss to the Royals Tuesday night. With their win over them Monday, they’ll try to go for the series win Wednesday.
The Astros no doubt need to win the series against KC, after getting swept over the weekend by the Texas Rangers. With Cleveland this weekend, they’ll need to stay focused and ready to go.
After the Cleveland series, they’ll host a four-game set, starting next Monday, against San Diego. If you’re looking to read more on the Astros, check out Tales From the Juice Box. I’m still waiting to read a good Capri Sun story, but I’m patient.
Chicago Cubs
We’ve won two in a row against the White Sox! This calls for a celebration … maybe later!
It’s nice to see the Cubs take the first two games of the series against the White Sox. After they lost two of three to both Boston and Detroit, this makes it much less painful, that’s for sure.
The Cubs will go for the sweep Wednesday. After that, they head to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks.
To read up on all the Cubs news, check out A League of Her Own. I like to think of the blog as a secret club complete with a secret handshake and decoder rings. I don’t know if they actually have that stuff, but I still like to think that about LOHO.
