When: Sunday, June 27, 1:10 PM (ET)

Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH

Who: Bronson Arroyo (7-3, 4.35 ERA) vs. Mitch Talbot (7-6, 4.08 ERA)

The hits keep on coming and the pitching is steadily improving for the Cincinnati Reds these days. Sounds like the salad days for the men in red lately, although I submit that is hardly the case as the St. Louis Cardinals are in their rear-view mirror, just one-half game back of Cincinnati in the National League Central.

Fortunately, the Reds have another golden opportunity to maintain or preferably extend their lead over St. Louis when they play their third and final game of their series against the Cleveland Indians at Great American Ball Park on Sunday afternoon.

The pitching matchup seems to favor the Reds – on paper – as Bronson Arroyo goes up against arguably the Indians’ best strting pitcher, Mitch Talbot.

As always, Cincinnati will need to keep their already hot bats hotter and another stellar outing – save for the wildnes – from Arroyo will ensure that the Reds will extend their winning streak to 6 games.

While most of the lineup for the Reds on Sunday is doing fairly well, a boost from Orlando Cabrera will go a long ways. Seems like he is slowly getting out of that mini-slump that he is in, but a few more games will tell the tale.

When the Reds are on the mound:

At least Arroyo will not have to worry about facing Russell Branyan as he was just traded to the Seattle Mariners, so his job is already easier. Yet he will need to neutralize Shin Soo-Choo and Travis Hafner – assuming Hafner plays as the Indians will not use the DH. Since Branyan is gone, the likelihood of that happening increases. But the player that worries me is former Reds player Austin Kearns.

When the Reds are at the plate:

Talbot has faced the Reds for a total of a whopping 2 at-bats – the two at-bats belonging to Ramon Hernandez. so basically he is a newbie against Cincinnati.

Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jonny Gomes should do well vs. Talbot. As a matter of fact, I will go as far as to say that the home runs will be plentiful. In other words, Talbot’s time on the mound will be pretty short.

The Reds Report’s Projected Lineup:

1. Brandon Phillips
2. Orlando Cabrera
3. Joey Votto
4. Scott Rolen
5. Jonny Gomes
6. Jay Bruce
7. Drew Stubbs
8. Ramon Hernandez
9. Bronson Arroyo