The Cincinnati Red s and San Diego Padres open a three game series today in San Diego. The Reds are trailing the NL Central by 5 games and they are 1.5 games behind in the NL Wild Card. Meanwhile, the Padres are just 3 back of the Dodgers in the NL West and they currently lead the Phillies by a game in the NL Wild Card. The Padres have won their last two games and 7 of their last 10 overall. The Reds have fallen from grace. They are losers of 6 straight and 7 of their last 10.

The Padres are a -125 favorite in tonight’s game. They are sending Clay Hensley to the mound. He’s 8-10 with a 3.94 ERA. His last outing was his best of the season. He went seven strong innings against the Colorado Rockies and allowed one lone run. The Padres are hoping he can build on that for tonight’s game. Hensley has turned it on in August. He had 1.52 ERA in four starts.

Cincinnati just can’t get a break. First the Dodgers rough them out and now they get the Padres. However, things might be looking up. Bronson Arroyo is taking the hill tonight. He’s 10-9 with a 3.52 ERA. He’s not pitching as well as he was at the start of the season, but he just might give the Reds some hope of winning tonight’s contest. Some think that hitters are getting used to Arroyo now and it’s just a matter of time before his ERA and performances worsen even more.

The Padres are -125 today and the Reds are +105. It’s a close contest with the edge going to the Padres. The Padres are looking to add more distance between them and the rest of the NL Wild Card field. They want to keep within striking distance of NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers.