Numbers never lie

The Reds and Giants take the field in less than an hour for Game 1 of the National League Division Series. Cincinnati and San Francisco both have dominant pitching staffs, but this one will likely decided on who plays the best small-ball (AT&T is the ranked as the second most pitcher-friendly park by ESPN). To prepare you, we turn to the numbers:

Record

Reds 97-65 vs. 94-68 Giants

2012 regular season head-to-head

Reds 4 vs. 3 Giants

Last meeting on July 1

Reds 3 vs. 4 Giants 

Games decided by one run between CIN and SF

Reds 64 vs. 50 Giants

Opening Day payroll

Reds $76,181,365 vs. $118,216,333 Giants

Batting average

Reds .251 vs. .269 Giants

On-base percentage

Reds .315 vs. .327 Giants

Slugging percentage

Reds .411 vs. .397 Giants

Home runs

Reds 172 vs. 103 Giants

Triples

Reds 30 vs. 57 Giants

Stolen bases

Reds 87 vs. 118 Giants

Errors

Reds 89 vs. 116 Giants

Team ERA

Reds .334 vs. .368 Giants

Shutouts

Reds 12 vs. 14 Giants

Hits leader

Brandon Phillips 163 vs. 190 Marco Scutaro

Doubles leader

Joey Votto 44 vs. 39 Buster Posey 

Triples leader

Todd Frazier 6 vs. 15 Angel Pagan 

Home runs leader 

Jay Bruce 34 vs. 24 Hunter Pence

If the playoffs began today.....

If you're anything like me, you never really know what exactly the playoff schedule has in store. This year's added Wild Card team, among other changes, has added to the confusion. So, to the best of my understanding, here is what the National League playoff bracket would look like if the regular season ended yesterday. As you can see, the Nationals have the No. 1 seed with the best record, with the Reds at number two and the Giants at No. 3. In my opinion, that's a good match-up for Cincinnati. The Giants are now without Melky Cabrera, and ace Madison Bumgarner has been struggling as of late. San Francisco, too, is a much better option in my mind than having to face a postseason-Cardinals squad or the recently-purchased All-Star lineup of Los Angeles (Dodgers only one game back of NL Wild Card spot).