10* Cincinnati (8:10 ET): Yesterday, I joked that maybe the Angels are in need of OUR blessing as they’d won when we took them Tuesday and then lost Wednesday when we laid off. Well a play on the Halos yday resulted in another win for both them and us. The same joke could be made regarding the Reds, who are 2-0 this season when we back them and a terribly disappointing 3-8 otherwise. Well, good news Reds fans. I’m taking your team as my Game of the Week for Friday!

Cincy was humiliated last night, losing 13-0 at Cleveland. That was an Indians team which had been at the bottom of the league in scoring until yesterday. Luckily, Trevor Bauer will start tonight’s game for the Reds. Bauer has a 0.68 ERA and 0.525 WHIP in two starts thus far, both of which were against Detroit. The Brewers have never faced Bauer before, so they’re at a disadvantage.

Of course, it won’t matter how well Bauer pitches if the Reds can’t score. They’ve been shutout in back to back games and haven’t scored a run in 23 innings. But that was facing the Indians tremendous pitching staff. Milwaukee’s pitching hasn’t been nearly as sharp, though they did allow only three runs (all yday) in a two-game sweep of the White Sox. But I don’t have a ton of faith in Eric Lauer, who starts today for the first time after starting the year on the COVID-19 list (came into contact with someone who had the virus). Lauer went just 14-17 in two seasons with San Diego. His ERA was 4.43 in 52 starts. 10* Cincinnati