3 reasons the Reds can stun the Dodgers in NL Wild Card series

Billy Heyen

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3 reasons the Reds can stun the Dodgers in NL Wild Card series image

No one is giving the Cincinnati Reds much of a chance.

And sure, it's the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers on the other side, the expensive defending World Series champs.

But the Reds have a chance.

This is baseball, a quirky game with plenty of good fortune involved, and in a best-of-three series, truly anything could happen.

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And here are three reasons the Reds can pull off the upset:

Don't sleep on the pitching

The Dodgers have the big-name pitchers lined up for the three games: Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani.

But the Reds have some horses of their own.

Hunter Green will get the ball for Game 1, and he's a true ace. He's as dominant as Snell, and it's a game that could be decided by one run.

Zack Littell will pitch Game 2, and he's a cool redemption story who has turned himself into a consistent, winning pitcher in the back half of his career.

And the lefty Andrew Abbott in Game 3 has been stellar all year. He's got a 2.87 ERA and will give a different look than the righties for the first two games.

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Elly is back

Elly De La Cruz was on a prolonged slump for much of the summer. He didn't hit a single home run in August.

But in the last 15 days, De La Cruz has batted.275 with three home runs, two steals and a.908 OPS.

Teams need their superstars to help them pull off upsets. And De La Cruz has heated back up at the right time.

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They've got Tito

Terry 'Tito' Francona is the Reds' manager.

This man ended the 86-year curse of the Boston Red Sox.

Who's to question whether he can beat the Dodgers in a three-game series?

The Reds may need optimal bullpen usage and a few timely substitutions to beat the Dodgers. They may also need a manager who understands his players to know exactly how to motivate them. Francona has that covered.

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Staff Writer